News & Events

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a briefing as coronavirus cases continue to rise in various states across the country. Click on the link below:

0:41 / 1:32:15https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDATyI-g7Io

Poughkeepsie, NY… Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro hosted his 25th COVID-19 online Town Hall via Facebook Live and highlighted many of the County’s milestones in the fight against coronavirus. The County Executive has hosted these online forums weekly since mid-March, providing updates and answering questions relating to coronavirus, County efforts, state actions and more. The forums have been a well-received resource with hundreds participating live and thousands viewing the forums in the archives. The archive of the online discussions, including today’s, can be viewed on Dutchess County Government’s YouTube page.

County Executive Molinaro said, “I am exceptionally proud of the things we’ve accomplished over the past four months. Our community was thrown headfirst into a public health crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen in generations, and we responded with professionalism, love, and strength. I am so incredibly proud and thankful for our exceptional public servants and volunteers who have been working around the clock for months to keep us all healthy and safe.”

County Executive Molinaro reviewed Dutchess County’s most recent COVID-19 data posted on the County’s COVID-19 data dashboard:

o 4,213 total confirmed cases
o 60,652 tests completed
o 179 current active cases
o 7 hospitalizations
o 151 deaths
o 3,883 recoveries

Accomplishments County Executive Molinaro highlighted from the past several months included:

• Dutchess County’s Coronavirus Hotline (845-486-3555) has fielded nearly 8,000 calls, in 10 different languages, over the last 116 days of operation. Staffed by county employees and Medical Reserve Corps volunteers, call center operators take time to listen to every caller and help them work through their unique situations. The call center made a seamless transition to move to remote operation for the health and safety of operators, with no disruption to service. At the height, of the pandemic, the call center operated 7 days a week. Currently, the call center operates Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm, averaging approximately 35 calls per day.

• The Dutchess Responds Food Connection, which provided critical connections to food resources during the peak of the pandemic, concluded its vital mission earlier this week, having delivered more than 14,000 meals over the last 14 weeks, as the demand for the program has waned. A collaboration between Dutchess County Government, Dutchess Outreach and the Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County, the program completed its successful service to families throughout the County adversely impacted by the pandemic. More than 660 inquiries were made to the Food Connection’s hotline, with nearly 600 households served by the program.

• Supporting local businesses and organizations has been paramount through the pandemic. At the outset in early March, County Executive Molinaro mobilized an economic Rapid Response Team, a coalition of local business community partners, and the Dutchess Business Notification Network was established, providing critical information and resources, including guidance about essential and non-essential designations. Since its inception, the network has communicated with over 9,000 local businesses and nonprofits with daily updates on resources, guidelines and information, as well as hosting supply drives to provide critical PPE to reopening businesses, webinars on new regulations and financial support options, and more.

• Additionally, the County Executive has hosted weekly and bi-weekly conference calls with community leaders, elected officials and others including school districts, college and faith-based communities, to ensure residents had access to accurate, timely, and transparent information throughout the pandemic.

• The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) of Dutchess County registered its 1,000th member in June, seeing its ranks of volunteer swell during the pandemic. The MRC of Dutchess County, which supports the County’s departments of Emergency Response and Behavioral & Community Health when responding to incidents of all kinds, boasted a robust membership of 488 volunteers at the end of 2019. During 2020, membership more than doubled in less than six months, reaching 1,000 by mid-June.

The County’s MRC members recorded 4,200 volunteers hours in 2019, a record at the time; as of earlier this week, MRC volunteers this year had logged nearly 5,000 hours, already surpassing the 2019 total and, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculations, contributing $138,000 in economic value to the County through late June.

MRC volunteers are active and vital throughout the year, not just during the current pandemic, assisting the County at Office for the Aging senior picnics, citizen preparedness trainings and healthcare drills, among other activities. Members also take part in engaging trainings and seminars throughout the year.

• Dutchess County created an alternate care site at Dutchess Community College to help if local hospitals exceeded their capacity. With 176 rooms, 457 beds on four different floors, DCC’s Conklin Hall was prepared to receive hospital overflow with 50 medical and non-medical professionals from multiple disciplines, including primarily MRC volunteers. However, because of individual efforts like social distancing and wearing face coverings, as well as efforts by the County early on, including prohibiting large gatherings and closing schools, public health officials and the County’s partners at Nuvance Health made the decision that the DCC Recovery Site was no longer necessary, and the recovery center was decommissioned in May.

• For 15 weeks, employees and volunteers from the Department of Emergency Response, Office of Central Services, and Medical Reserve Corps of Dutchess County, who made up the “COVID Supply Unit,” have helped receive shipments, coordinate deliveries, and even assemble face shields and COVID-19 testing kits. In total, the team distributed critical personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals, nursing homes, first responders, adult care facilities, congregate care facilities and group homes, doctor and dentist offices, and other healthcare professionals, including:

o 332,975 Surgical Masks
o 110,935 Fabric Face Masks
o 107,237 N-95 and K-N95 masks
o 42,103 Gowns
o 34,657 Face Shields

• Since the County reported its first positive COVID-19 case in mid-March, its Office for the Aging (OFA), through its Home Delivered Meals (HDM) program, has served 25,000 meals to seniors who were added to the program as a result of the pandemic, as more seniors remained homebound as the result of social-distancing guidelines. By April, a month after the pandemic first affected Dutchess County, the OFA delivered 350 percent more home-delivered meals than before the County’s first COVID-19 case was reported.

• Dutchess County has 373 trained contact tracers, including County employees, MRC members and community volunteers. Following an abrupt decision by New York State Department of Health to change contact tracer numbers requirements, Dutchess County launched a community volunteer recruiting program. Thanks to the more than 600 individuals who volunteered to become contact tracers, Dutchess County was able to enter Phase 1 on May 26th.

• In March, County Executive Molinaro signed an executive order allowing the previously vacant temporary housing units (PODs) at the Dutchess County Law Enforcement Center and Jail Campus to be repurposed as Emergency Shelters for those in need. The County partnered with Hudson River Housing (HRH), Mental Health America (MHA), Dutchess Outreach and the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office to offer 24/7 shelter and other services to as many as 100 individuals throughout the pandemic.

• The County’s Department of Community and Family Services (DCFS) worked with local childcare providers to increase day care availability and eligibility for local families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. By eliminating the “family share” requirement and increasing eligibility standards, DCFS has been able to ensure day care for 1,086 children from 543 families as of June 2nd.

• Dutchess County Government has provided a wealth of online information through the Dutchess County website throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

o Since going live on March 31, COVID-19 Community Impact Dashboard has had over 934,000 visits.
o Launched in February, Dutchess County Coronavirus webpage, dutchessny.gov/coronavirus, has had more 1.1 million views.
o Launched in May, the Dutchess County Restarting Dutchess webpage has had nearly 80,000 visits.

Starting next week, County Executive Molinaro will shift to one online town hall forum per week to be held on Wednesdays. The next COVID-19 Town Hall on Wednesday, July 8th at 12:30 p.m. As with all previous online town hall forums, the event will be broadcast live on the Dutchess County Government Facebook page, and American Sign Language interpreters will translate the conversation. For information on how to participate and view past online COVID-19 community conversations, view the County’s Coronavirus webpage.

Poughkeepsie, NY… Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro hosted his 24th COVID-19 online Town Hall, highlighting the County’s continued success in the fight against COVID-19; discussing the latest updates in the “Restarting Dutchess” reopening process; and answering questions from residents as they viewed the event on the County’s Facebook page. The full online discussion can be viewed on Dutchess County Government’s YouTube page.

Highlights from today’s online Town Hall discussion included:

• County Executive Molinaro reviewed Dutchess County’s most recent COVID-19 data posted on the County’s COVID-19 data dashboard:

o 4,207 total confirmed cases
o 59,637 tests completed
o 180 current active cases
o 7 hospitalizations
o 151 deaths
o 3,876 recoveries

• The County Executive also shared that the drive-through COVID-19 specimen collection site at the Intermodal Center at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill will be closed effective Thursday, July 2nd, as Nuvance Health, which operated the site, transitions to offering COVID-19 testing at its primary and urgent care facilities including Nuvance Health Medical Practices’ urgent care centers on Route 55 in LaGrange and on Route 9 in Wappingers Falls. Since mid-March, Nuvance’s four drive-through sites, two of which were in Dutchess and Ulster counties, collected over 47,600 specimens. For a complete list of Nuvance facilities and FAQs on testing, visit the Nuvance Health website. For other COVID-19 testing sites in Dutchess County, visit dutchessny.gov/coronavirustesting.

• The Dutchess Responds Food Connection, which provided critical connections to food resources during the peak of the pandemic, concluded its vital mission earlier this week, having delivered more than 14,000 meals over the last 14 weeks, as the demand for the program has waned. A collaboration between Dutchess County Government, Dutchess Outreach and the Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County, the program completed its successful service to families throughout the County adversely impacted by the pandemic. More than 660 inquiries were made to the Food Connection’s hotline, with nearly 600 households served by the program.
Demand for the Food Connection has recently diminished as Dutchess County Government has connected residents to the Department of Community and Family Services for benefits, including unemployment; Dutchess County Public Transit buses have resumed full service, enabling more residents to shop for themselves; and as the countywide infection rate has decreased, residents are more comfortable shopping in public.

• County Executive Molinaro, Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, the Dutchess County Commission on Human Rights and the Northern Dutchess NAACP are hosting “A Listening Town Hall: People of Color Sharing Their Stories in Dutchess County” on Tuesday, July 7th from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. Special guest Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security for President Obama, will join this Zoom town hall to talk about his experience growing up in Dutchess County and the importance of fostering open conversations like this one. Elected representatives from every town, village and city in the county will be on the call to hear testimony. Those who want to speak during the town hall will be given 3 minutes and must register prior to the event’s start at http://www.DutchessNY.gov/ListeningTownHall.

• To help address the financial challenges the County is facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the County Executive also announced Dutchess County Government has developed a separation incentive program to provide employees with an opportunity to separate from County service with a choice of incentives. Through this incentive, the County will seek to find savings by either holding vacant or deleting the vacated position, or a similar position within the department. This voluntary workforce adjustment, which includes incentives for retirement and separation, follows dramatic reductions in sales tax revenues—the County’s largest single source of revenue—as well as delayed State aid and no Federal aid yet approved to offset these losses.

• Following the announcement yesterday that the 2020 minor league season has been canceled by Minor League Baseball, including the New York-Penn League’s Hudson Valley Renegades, County Executive Molinaro reminded viewers there’s still a lot to look forward to at Dutchess Stadium, a Dutchess County Park, this summer, including summer sports camps, amateur baseball games, bobblehead giveaways and the “Dutchess County Goes Renegade!” Independence Day fireworks event this Saturday, July 4th.

A collaboration between Dutchess County Government, the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Silo Ridge Field Club, and sponsored by Central Hudson Gas & Electric iHeartMedia of the Hudson Valley, the Mitch Nesheiwat family, and Eastdale Village, “Dutchess County Goes Renegade!” will offer free, socially distant fireworks displays on July 4th beginning at 9:30 p.m. at each of the following sites:

o Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill
o Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck
o Silo Ridge Equestrian Center in Amenia

Gates will open at each venue at 7:30 p.m., and parking is limited at each site. No alcohol will be permitted at this carry-in/carry-out event, and residents are asked to remain near their car for the duration of the event. There are no restrooms available at any venues.

County Executive Molinaro will host the next COVID-19 Town Hall on Thursday, July 2nd at 3 p.m. As with all previous online town hall forums, the July 2nd event will be broadcast live on the Dutchess County Government Facebook page, and American Sign Language interpreters will translate the conversation. For information on how to participate and view past online COVID-19 community conversations, view the County’s Coronavirus webpage.

Dutchess County Government continues to provide residents the most current information on its COVID-19 Community Impact Dashboard, as well as guidance on its website, dutchessny.gov/coronavirus, its Coronavirus hotline, (845) 486-3555, and its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Poughkeepsie, NY… Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro announced today the Dutchess Responds Food Connection has concluded its vital mission of connecting residents in critical need of food resources as a result of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic to food and other necessities, having delivered more than 14,000 meals over the last 14 weeks, as the demand for the program has waned.

The Dutchess Responds Food Connection, a collaboration between Dutchess County Government, Dutchess Outreach and the Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County, made its final deliveries earlier this week, completing its successful service to families throughout the County adversely impacted by the pandemic. More than 660 inquiries were made to the Food Connection’s hotline, with nearly 600 households served by the program.

County Executive Molinaro said, “I’ve always been overwhelmed by how Dutchess responds during difficult times, and our Food Connection has been a integral part of our COVID-19 relief effort, providing nutritious food to so many who have been touched by this pandemic. Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen a marked decline in inquiries made to our Food Connection, a clear indication our County – as a community and as an economy – is moving forward from the pandemic as we continue Restarting Dutchess. We thank our community partners for their willingness to collaborate during this unprecedented period, as well as their efforts to safeguard the health and well-being of our residents.”

The program was established to support those most impacted by the shutdown of services and businesses to stop the spread of Coronavirus. Coordinated by the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development, the Dutchess Responds Food Connection began operation in mid-March, with Planning and Development employees answering the Food Connection hotline and recording inquiries from residents. County employees and volunteers delivered meals; each delivery consisted of nine meals – three meals per day for three days.

During its first two weeks of operation, the Dutchess Responds Food Connection averaged 13 inquiries and made 19 deliveries each day; the past two weeks, those daily averages dropped to less than five inquiries and nine deliveries. During the life of the program, the Food Connection averaged eight inquiries and 14 deliveries daily. At its peak, the Food Connection received 27 inquiries in one day and made 41 deliveries in a single day.

Demand for the Food Connection has recently diminished as Dutchess County Government has connected residents to the Department of Community and Family Services for benefits, including unemployment; Dutchess County Public Transit buses have resumed full service, enabling more residents to shop for themselves; and as the countywide infection rate has decreased, residents are more comfortable shopping in public.

Residents who remain in need of food resources will be connected to local partners, such as Dutchess Outreach and Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County.

County Executive Molinaro said, “Our community is fortunate to have coordinated network of organizations – be they food pantries, the County’s Office for the Aging or others – that provide critical food resources year-round to local residents. We will continue to work with these partners to ensure residents’ urgent food needs are met – not only during this pandemic, but beyond.”

More information about the County’s “Restarting Dutchess” efforts is available online. Dutchess County Government continues to provide residents the most current information on its COVID-19 Community Impact Dashboard, as well as guidance on its website, http://www.dutchessny.gov/coronavirus, its Coronavirus hotline, (845) 486-3555, and its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Are you in need of a tablet with low cost internet?

The recent pandemic has forced us to distance ourselves from the outside world. Along with
many other businesses and doctors, the Beacon Housing Authority is relying heavily on the
internet to communicate with people. If you are not connected to the internet, you could be
missing out on important information but we can offer you a solution.

The BHA has T-Mobile Tablets available to any resident who needs one. Here is what you
need to know:

Description of the Tablet Program

 Residents receive free tablets from T-Mobile and will only pay for low cost
high speed unlimited Internet service.
 There is no credit check required.
 Cost of Internet service is $10 per month per tablet.
 Households with children can receive more than one tablet however; they
will be charged $10 per month for each tablet in that household.
 You will pay the $10 per month per tablet directly to the BHA. The
payment must be paid separately from your rent with a check or money
order made out to the Beacon Housing Authority (No Cash).

If you are interested or need more information, please contact Noah in the office at 845-831-
1289.

Do you receive the emails and robo calls from
the Beacon Housing Authority?

The BHA uses email and robo call as a fast and easy way to share information with tenants. If
you are not receiving them you may miss out on important information or opportunities for
your family.

To register for the robo call: Please call the office and request to be added. Make sure you
also provide your telephone number.
To register for emails: visit our website at beaconhousingauthority.org. Scroll down to the
green tab and register your email. Or call the office and request to be added.

We strongly encourage you to sign up for both the robo calls and the emails.

Below are updates and resources for businesses, employers, and employees. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you believe would benefit from this information.

Update for Tuesday, June 30

• The Department of Labor has released an online tool to help individuals determine if they qualify for paid sick leave due to COVID-19. It can be found HERE. A tool for employers is currently being developed.
• Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order mandating a 14 quarantine and eliminating emergency paid sick leave benefits for individuals that voluntarily travel to states on New York’s Travel Advisory list. The Executive Order can be found HERE. The Travel Advisory list can be found HERE.
• Governor Cuomo also approved an additional 30 day extension of his Executive Order that allows restaurants and bars to serve cocktails and wine to go.
• Beginning July 6, outdoor, low-risk sports and recreational activities can resume. The full list can be found HERE.
• OSHA is reminding employers of their duty to protect employees from the risks and dangers of heat exposure. Guidance on how to ensure your employees are safe can be found HERE.
• Our region is targeted to enter Phase 4 on July 7, but businesses and organizations can begin preparing now to reopen.
• Regions in Phase 4 are also permitted to hold social gatherings of up to 50 people; and indoor religious gatherings will be allowed at up to 33% of the indoor site’s capacity.

If you have any questions regarding the information in this notification or any other business related concerns and suggestions, please email Contact@DutchessBNN.com. Please do NOT contact elected officials regarding information in this email as they are currently inundated with handling the government response to this crisis. This network was created to help coordinate responses and share the burden, and we ask that you please contact us with any questions or concerns so our elected officials can focus on their task at hand. Thank you for your continued support through this time.

If you were forwarded this email, but would like to be added to the email list, please let us know by emailing contact@DutchessBNN.com