The meeting at Village Hall to discuss the Trudy Farber Resnick Building in relation to Ulster County Services drew a good-sized crowd last Wednesday evening, May 24.

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger greeted the gathering by noting how happy she was that the room was full and the community in Ellenville was taking notice. She wanted everyone to understand that country government would be responding to what the village community decides.

Metzger was accompanied by several county officials, including Johanna Contreras, Laura Nordstrom, Esi Lewis, Evan Menist and Victoria Reid.

Reid, the deputy director of innovation for Ulster County, explained that more than 200 people had taken an online survey before this event. Of them, 88% were from Ellenville and 44% work in the village. The takeaways included a large percentage, 53%, who felt unable to access county services. The key service mentioned again and again was mental health services, and that brought things around to the Trudy Farber Resnick Building.

That building, which is on Center Street next to the library, was constructed by the Resnick family — the people behind Channel Master, the first large-scale manufacturer of TV aerials, which were essential equipment to capture early TV signals. Trudy Resnick-Farber had perished, suffocated by mistake by a mentally disturbed individual who eventually served 38 years in prison for his crime.

The Trudy Farber-Resnick building was donated to Ulster County with the express purpose of bringing social services, especially mental health services, to the village.

Metzger touched on the need for such a center in her remarks. She said, “Despite the distance from Kingston to Ellenville, there is no reason for ignoring the village and the whole southwestern part of the county.” She also saluted the village for its cheerful diversity. “This is a rich community with diverse people and it deserves a lot!”

All true, though those who report on Ellenville are aware of the poverty there, too, and poverty is usually accompanied by mental health stresses. Indeed, Ellenville police have reported many times that dealing with mental health situations is one of the major issues they face, and police are not really trained for that.

Following Metzger’s remarks, the meeting moved to set up four corner displays, with large-format paper where discussion ensued with groups rotating around the room. The discussion topics included social services, senior services, children/families and general government issues. As the discussions wore on, the county staffers manning the corners wrote down a list of topics mentioned.

Noticeable at the top of most lists was the issue of transportation. That really comes down to the distance to Kingston, and for anyone without a car, the major effort involved to get to social services in Kingston. This requires two buses with a change in Kingston and can take all day. Taking small children or an elderly person on such a trip can be arduous and exhausting.

After a full rotation, with each group moving through all four corners of the room, round green dot stickers were distributed. Everyone was asked to place the stickers beside the topics discussed that they felt deserved the most attention.

Surprises were few. Mental health was the overwhelming top choice, the senior discussion added Parkinson’s disease care, the general government discussion did propose something different and interesting: the appointment or creation of a county services “concierge” serving Ellenville. This would involve someone, or a small office, that would take calls and walk-ins, and direct people to the appropriate place, or give them the phone numbers to access services.

Other ideas that were rewarded with green stickers included having a “real office” for the Department of Motor Vehicles set up in the Trudy Resnick Farber building. Currently the DMV visits the village, but “not frequently enough,” to quote several who commented on this.

Discussion of children and families swung around the huge and difficult issue of housing. The village, the entire country, indeed the region, suffers a lack of “affordable” housing. That lack leads to families doubling up in apartments, with as many as nine people in three rooms with one bathroom. However, this is a problem that not even housing subsidies can easily solve. The county will examine its options there.

Other important issues from the “children and families” discussion corner again included transportation, and paperwork, just getting the (many) forms required to access services and learning how to fill them out.

The crucial nature of mental health services was put into focus by Becky Burke, a teacher at Ellenville schools, who explained how the lack could affect a child contemplating suicide. “Suicidal thoughts on Friday evening, with no crisis service available over the weekend, means that kid has to hold on until Monday morning when she or he can access mental health service at the school. That’s why on Monday mornings by 7:45 a.m. that office is already full.”

The meeting ended on a note of optimism. Metzger pronounced herself satisfied that the community had come out and expressed at least some of its concerns. Along with her staffers she would be taking a major haul of useful data and comments back to Kingston for further contemplation and possible actions.