September 2015 
You or someone you know may be a perfect fit for the Rural Health Service Corps, RHNSCNY's AmeriCorps National Service Program, which provides meaningful service and learning opportunities for people committed to improving the health and well-being of those living in South Central New York. 
Want to know more? Click here to see descriptions of available full- and part-time positions.                  AmeriCorps logo
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For more information please visit our website at
or call us at
(607) 692-7669.

Coming Soon


National Rural Health Day is Thursday, November 19, 2015. Thank a Rural Health Provider for all they do and stay tuned for how we plan to celebrate!


Recent Media
Read media coverage about just a few of Rural Health Network's collaborative programs and activities.







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Rural Health Service Corp is seeking three more AmeriCorps members to serve with Mothers and Babies Perinatal Network.  Visit our website for additional details and application information for these and other AmeriCorps positions.


 

Recent Publications

 

Rural Broome Counts
  Report Completed

Rural Broome Counts Assessment Report

Click image above to
view the full report.

Rural Health Network recently published the results of a year long needs -assets assement that identified some of the strenths and challenges of rural Broome County communities.  A presentation on Rural Broome Counts was held in August and we have since shared our findings at six additional venues throughout the county.

The full Rural Broome Counts (RBC) report is now available for use by all stakeholders. RBC will be updated every three years to allow us to monitor rural Broome County's status and provide information for other planning efforts.  Throughout the upcoming year, RBC will focus further effort into researching poverty within rural Broome.

Rural Health Network is the lead agency for Rural Broome Counts, a project made possible through the generous support of United Way of Broome County, the AmeriCorps/VISTA programs, and the New York State Office of Rural Health, Rural Health Network Development Program. 

Access the full RBC report, RBC Power Point presentations, and one-page summaries of RBC challenges on the Rural Broome Counts webpage.

For more information, contact Brooke Ann Coco at [email protected] or 
607-692-7669. 
Click image above
for the full report


Navigating Change 2013-2014 Progress Report



We're pleased to share highlights of our recent projects in this 2013-2014 Progress Report.


After discovering that only 22 percent of eligible Broome County children were receiving free summer meals, the Food and Health Network of South Central New York (FaHN), Broome County Child Hunger Task Force, and many partners initiated work to address why so many children were missing out on a critical resource. Through the hard work and support of a wide range of people and organizations, FaHN was able to implement a summer meals assessment project to learn how to better support summer meal sites, sponsors, and recipients. This year, four new summer meal sites were added in Broome County, bringing the total number to 31 and increasing the opportunity for children to access free, nutritious meals.
 
With the support of a capacity-building grant from the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation, FaHN was able to expand activities in 2015 by hiring a full-time Staff Coordinator. A grant from the Roger Kresge Foundation provided support for the summer meals assessment in Broome County.
 
Throughout the assessment, FaHN and our partners were able to address several major barriers to participation in summer meals. To read the full article,
click here.


Partner Highlight: Food Bank 
of the Southern Tier
This is the second in our series of Partner Highlights. 
Each quarter, we will share and highlight the exemplary work 
of one of RHN's partner organizations. 

Erin Summerlee (FaHN), Randi Lynn Quackenbush (FBST), and Lyndsey
Lyman (FBST) at the Closing the
Hunger Gap Conference.

Earlier this month, Food and Health Network (FaHN) Coordinator Erin Summerlee traveled across the country to Portland, Oregon to join colleagues from the Food Bank of the Southern Tier (FBST) at the bi-annual Closing the Hunger Gap Conference. In March Erin joined the same colleagues in Washington D.C. for the Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, and again in May at the first NYS Anti-Hunger Conference in Saratoga Springs. Thanks to an almost decade long partnership with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, FaHN has had an opportunity to actively learn, engage, and collaborate with stakeholders in the emergency food system. 

Matthew Griffin, Director of Agency Services & Programs at Food Bank of the Southern Tier, first began representing the Food Bank at FaHN meetings in 2007, and serves on the FaHN Steering Committee. Some of the many highlights of this partnership include: 

* Community Education: Mutual assistance and support for RHN's Growing Health Conference, FBST Annual Agency Conference, and HPNAP Contractors' Meeting showing the connection of our work; Food Day events; and NYS Farm to You Fest!.

* Advocacy: Collaboration on advocacy and education to key food system decision makers at the local state, and federal level on 2015 Child Nutrition Reauthorization and other key policy issues; presentations to the NYS Council on Food Policy during listening session and annual meetings.

* Summer Food Service Program: FBST President and CEO is a co-chair of the Broome County Child Hunger Task Force, and staff actively provide guidance and shared best practices for summer meals work in Broome County, and for linking efforts across the region. 

* Farm to School: FBST backhauls local apples from Reisingers Apple Country in Watkins Glen to schools in the Broome-Tioga BOCES districts as part of a farm to school program. Without this, the high cost of transportation would be too great of a barrier for connecting these local apples to students. 

During the Closing the Hunger Gap Conference, Erin and her colleagues Randi Lynn Quackenbush and Lyndsey Lyman shared in conversations with leaders from around the country on how to address root causes of hunger, poverty, and inequality, while also building thriving food systems. While there is still far to go, these collaborative, regional partnerships lay an important groundwork for change.

To learn more about the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, visit: Food Bank of the Southern Tier

Pictured L to R.  Front:  Erin Summerlee, Maggie Reeger, Haley Desilet, Dee Lambert, Nick Cecconi.  Middle:  Julie Pitts, Emily Hotchkiss, Josie Maroney, Mary Maruscak, Cindy Martin, Sohaib Fasih-Ahmad.  Back: Pamela Guth, Janice Parker, Donna Wickham, Jack Salo.
The Rural Health Network SCNY staff and AmeriCorps members held a retreat on August 28th at Turkey Trot Acres in Candor, NY.  The day included training sessions on trends in illegal drug use and rural cultural competence, staff input for the strategic planning process, and team-building activities.  

The staff input for strategic planning is being shared with the Strategic Planning Committee comprised of Board Members and staff representatives.  The group is looking at the strengths and competencies of the Rural Health Network SCNY, the needs of rural people and communities, and opportunities to focus our strengths in 2016-2018.