Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association Receives $5,000 Grant

February 22, 2010

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA—Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation announced today that it awarded $5,000 to the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association for health prevention services related to the H1N1 influenza pandemic. Berkshire Taconic has donated a total of $328,161 to the organization over the past 12 years.

“The pandemic occurred during a fiscal year impacted by the economic downturn,” said Pat Tremblay, executive director of the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association. “Without the assistance of Berkshire Taconic, we would not have been able to respond as rapidly and thoroughly as we did to this community health risk. The foundation has been a good neighbor, providing grant support to Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association, which in turn supports our efforts to improve home health and hospice services to area residents.”

The Berkshire Taconic Foundation grant provided the financial resources for Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association to educate its nursing staff about the pandemic, the vaccine and immunization techniques; educate the entire staff regarding prevention efforts related to H1N1; hold a “train the trainer” seminar with regard to fit testing clinical staff for N95 respirators; “fit test” all clinical staff to N95 respirators; work with area school nurses to provide education about the H1N1 pandemic and to plan school based vaccination clinics; advertise the clinics; and hold clinics both at the organization’s home office and throughout the community.

Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association serves 12 towns in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut: Salisbury, Lakeville, Taconic, Sharon, Falls Village, Canaan, East Canaan, Cornwall, West Cornwall, Cornwall Bridge, Norfolk and Goshen. Founded in 1904, it is the oldest rural visiting nurse agency in the state. Today, the organization provides in-home nursing and hospice care, physical, occupational and speech therapy, the services of a medical social worker and a full range of preventive and health maintenance services to individuals, employers, schools and day care centers. It is the only visiting nurse agency in the area offering 24-hour care.

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation was founded in Salisbury, CT in 1987. Since that time, Berkshire Taconic has distributed over $15 million to benefit residents of the Northwest Corner of Connecticut through scholarships and grants for programs in the arts and education, health and human services, and environmental protection. Berkshire Taconic is the community foundation for Northwest Litchfield County, CT, Northeast Dutchess County and Columbia County, NY, and Berkshire County, MA, building stronger communities and improving the quality of life for everyone in its region. Berkshire Taconic is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.

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