COVID-19 Volunteer Needs

ULSTER COUNTY COVID-19 HOTLINE: 845-443-8888

VOLUNTEERS:
We have included both virtual and on-the-ground volunteer opportunities below and in our Volunteer Application.

Alternatively, you can sign up for our Action Alerts & E-news to join our community of neighbors helping neighbors here in Ulster County. Please pre-register for all opportunities so that we can alert you of any changes and practice social distancing, limiting the number of volunteers at any one time/place. Please note, those that are in a highrisk category, live with someone in a highrisk category, have regular contact with someone who is in a highrisk category, exhibit fever, cough, shortness of breath should not signup for in-person opportunities. You can also Join our FaceBook Group or text UlsterCorps to 22828 to get started.

AGENCIES: If your agency/non-profit has additional volunteer needs you would like shared, please complete this form or email president@ulstercorps.org, call/text 845-481-0331, or post directly to our FaceBook Group or Page.

Specific ways you can help out:

Kingston Emergency Food Collaborative
The City of Kingston, Rise Up Kingston and other partner organizations in Kingston are working together to ensure that our community has access to the resources they need during this time of great disruption. As of now, the Collaborative is looking for people who are willing and able to assist with a variety of volunteer efforts such as food and supply deliveries, facilitating intake calls, making outbound calls, moderating social media, collecting forms submission information, scheduling other volunteers, and other needs as they arise. Fill out the volunteer interest form here or call (888) 316-0879.

SAFETY NOTE:
It’s our goal to support containment and to prevent further infection. Please only volunteer if you are: 1) symptom free, and 2) have not been exposed to anyone expressing symptoms of COVID-19. We will provide volunteers, to the best of our knowledge, with the best practices to avoid spreading infection while engaging in volunteering.

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Ulster County Department of Health is seeking doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to assist in the County’s response to COVID-19. Ulster County is recruiting local, regional, and statewide volunteers to assist our local health care system during this time. The statewide database ServNY is also being utilized to surface and recruit volunteers. The announcement is specifically seeking licensed medical and health care volunteers, including retired health care professionals.
Health care professionals who are interested in volunteering should fill out the form here:
https://covid19.ulstercountyny.gov/ulster-county-medical-response-volunteer/

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Hudson Valley Fabric Mask Initiative
As of right now, we have been asked to sew fabric masks for local volunteers, nursing homes, and for nurses at local hospitals. WE NEED THEM ASAP… like today:) Your service is needed and so very appreciated at this time!
There are enough masks for dealing with sick patients at this point, but they need to conserve their stock of disposable surgical masks for that population. But, a large percentage of people who are COVID-19 positive have no symptoms and the spread to our healthcare workers or anyone in the essential supply chain right now is risky. Grocery store workers, construction, janitors, are also high risk populations.
Homemade protective gear is *not an acceptable substitute for PPE*. The official CDC policy is do whatever you can if you have nothing else. Cloth masks won’t completely stop airborne virus but do drastically decrease the amount of transmission that comes with touching virus particles on surfaces and introducing those into the mouth and nose through face touching, and there are many studies showing the efficacy of these masks to partially filter the airborne virus.

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New Paltz Neighbor to Neighbor
New Paltz Neighbor to Neighbor is a community wide effort that simply could be referred to as a neighborhood “wellness check”. With our older community members and those with special needs most vulnerable to the Covid-19, it’s important that their health and well being is checked on from time to time these next few weeks. We are seeking volunteers to help organize and participate in this outreach.
A phone call to our older neighbors would be appreciated and reassuring that a community cares. We are organizing this by our voting districts to better map out neighborhoods for volunteer canvassing.
We need healthy, enthusiastic persons to pitch in and follow the protocols for healthful interaction particularly if contacting someone in person is needed.
If you or someone you know is interested, or you know someone in need, please post below or send me an email at wmurray@villageofnepaltz.org.

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Red Cross Blood Drives
The Red Cross now faces a severe blood shortage due to an unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations during this coronavirus outbreak. Healthy individuals are needed to donate now to help patients counting on lifesaving blood. We understand why people may be hesitant to come out for a blood drive, but want to reassure the public that we have implemented additional precautions to ensure the safety of our donors and staff.
This blood shortage could impact patients who need surgery, victims of car accidents and other emergencies, or patients suffering from cancer. One of the most important things you can do to ensure we don’t have another health care crisis on top of the coronavirus is to give blood. If your regular volunteer activities have been put on hold during this time, but you are healthy and feeling well, please make an appointment to donate blood or platelets as soon as possible by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
Also, any former Red Crossers that would like to re-engage, please have them contact disastersupport.eny@redcross.org. All new volunteers will need to go through our registration process, which can be easily started by going to www.redcross.org/volunteer.

Red Cross Volunteers
We are looking for volunteers to help at our Blood Drives, as well as many remote opportunities with virtual training.  Here is a great link that connects perspective volunteers to the positions in critical need right now. 

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Join the Ulster County Animal Response Team (UCART)!
Here’s a great way to volunteer remotely – get certified to join the Ulster County Animal Response Team (UCART)! If you want to become certified and join us if we are deployed please take the certification classes below (available online) and return copies of certificates to us via email ucart@ulstercorps.org. Also there are additional ICS courses that certified members can take for additional training. Click here for links to free online certification courses.

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ServNY – Health Care Professionals Needed
By its very nature, a disaster often overwhelms a community’s ability to quickly provide appropriate care to victims. Often, volunteers are needed to extend the community capacity, including the capacity of hospitals, to respond to a disaster. In the case of volunteers who provide medical or mental health care, it’s essential they have the proper credentials and skills to treat people affected by the emergency. The ServNY volunteer management system, administered by the department’s Office of Health Emergency Preparedness (OHEP), is a Web-based registry of individuals who make themselves available to assist on behalf of New York State during an emergency. Licensed health care professionals willing to respond to a disaster—either locally, statewide, or across the nation—are strongly encouraged to register with ServNY. Registering before the need arises is important, as credentials are verified upon registration and periodically thereafter. This helps to ensure that when a community needs extra hands, those hands are qualified to provide the appropriate care. When volunteers are needed, ServNY will automatically notify potential volunteers via phone or e-mail with the information necessary for a volunteer to determine if they are ready and available for the assignment. Get started here.

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Get started with the registration and certification courses needed to join your local fire or rescue squad. The County’s emergency services consist of 51 fire departments, 19 ambulance squads and 19 law enforcement agencies. Most fire departments and ambulance, or EMS (Emergency Medical Service) squads utilize volunteers to staff their organizations. The communities in which we live depend on volunteers. Please complete the following information so that we may forward your registration form to the correct agency. A representative of that agency will contact you. Please note that this is not a membership application – each agency has their own application form.

UC Explorer Program
The Explorer program provides young men and women age 14 to 20 opportunities to explore the fire service as a career while providing experiences which help develop interpersonal, leadership and organizational skills. Explorers not only get an immersive first-hand look at the fire service, but they are also given the opportunity to enjoy organized social activities, competitive events, and community interaction while working in a professional atmosphere. Explorers are exposed to all aspects of public safety, with an emphasis placed on fire and EMS skillsets. Ulster County Explorers go through training with Ulster County Fire Instructors and mentors, to meet the recommended “Best Practices” developed by the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control. The objectives of the Explorer training are to promote learning, teamwork, leadership, and organization with a hands-on approach that allows the member to experience fire department operations under the close supervision of professionals. At the age of 16, they would be able to join the local volunteer fire department within their community which opens more training opportunities as well as partake in a tuition reimbursement through the Fireman’s Association of the State of New York for college credits attained from a New York State chartered two-or-four-year school.
Explorer Registration Form

Join Mohonk Preserve’s Trailhead Ambassadors
Become a volunteer Trailhead Ambassador and play a vital role in welcoming new and returning visitors to the Preserve during the busy summer and fall seasons. Share your love of the land by meeting and greeting the visiting public, suggesting hikes, and answering questions. Shifts are on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30am to 12:30pm and 12:00pm to 3:00pm. This is an outdoor volunteer position located at the Mohonk Preserve Visitor Center. In accordance with state and CDC guidelines, we have instituted new safety standards, including requiring masks and social distancing at the trailheads. Training, snacks, and refreshments provided. Active volunteers receive perks for serving, including access to the land to recreate.
To volunteer or for more information, contact Andy Reynolds, Volunteer Programs Manager, at volunteers@mohonkpreserve.org.

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For more information visit:
https://ulstercountyny.gov/coronavirus
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Coronavirus Site
New York State Department of Health Coronavirus Site
Family of Woodstock 24 Hour Crisis Hotline: Call/Text: (845) 679-2485

If you are in need of assistance, please call:
Ulster County COVID-19 Hotline: (845) 443-8888
New York State COVID-19 Information Hotline: (888) 364-3065
Family of Woodstock 24 Hour Crisis Hotline: Call/Text: (845) 679-2485
Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 273-TALK (8255)
Ulster County Mobile Mental Health: (844) 277-4820