About Tri-Town Community Wellness

The mission of Tri-Town Community Wellness is to positively impact the health of regional residents by developing, implementing, and sustaining a culture of community wellness.

Community Education

The mission is primarily achieved through community education. A variety of learning opportunities are offered including classes in nutrition, weight management, exercise opportunities, informational sessions, and seminars to address community needs and meet the goals of our mission statement.
The Butt Stops Here, a tobacco use and smoking cessation program, is offered several times a year to assist those addicted to nicotine to become free of this burden and gain control over the health-damaging effects of continued use.

Tritown Community Wellness has also targeted obesity in the local community. Type 2 Diabetes is often associated with being too heavy and getting too little physical activity. Various weight loss classes have been offered including Mission Meltaway (a Type 2 Diabetes prevention class) and Aim for a Healthy Weight (a homegrown version of a public domain weight loss program). Recently, LIFESTEPS®, a weight management program was offered. During LIFESTEPS® participants learned about managing eating behaviors healthfully, portion control, increasing physical activity, and improving health status. The group lost a total of over 276 pounds during the 16 week program and learned a variety of new behaviors to maintain their healthful lifestyle.

Lack of opportunities for physical activity is a problem often cited by local residents in the quest for a healthier lifestyle. Tritown Community Wellness has organized various exercise programs to address this need, including Middle Eastern Folk and Belly Dancing, Chair Aerobics, A Fine Degree of Fitness, Senior Fitness, Yoga, Tai Chi, Zumba®, Tap Dancing for Adults, and many more. Check our program schedule for a list of current classes organized by Tritown Community Wellness and held at Tritown Regional Hospital.

Grants Awarded

Tri-Town Community Wellness was proud to award mini-grants to community groups and organizations that designed programs that supported Tri-Town Community Wellness’s Mission to positively impact the health of regional residents by creating and sustaining a culture of community wellness. Nineteen organizations applied. Eleven applications were selected and awarded funding for their projects which included:

• Tri-Town Boys’ and Girls’ Club – Project requested funds to purchase an AED unit. In addition, Staff from the club received training in CPR, First Aid, and AED use.
• Opportunities for Otsego –Project titled Healthy Happy Kids—Happy Healthy Futures was funded to provide nutrition education to parents and staff to improve children’s health and reduce childhood obesity.
• Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care –Project was titled “Community Conversation – An Informative, Educational Presentation and Open Forum”. An evening session was held at Sidney Memorial Public Library with a panel discussion of experts and a social time following for those who attended.
• Unatego Junior-Senior High School – Project provided funding for an Adventure Challenge for ninth grade students at Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.
• Sidney Area Youth Advocate Program – Proposal requested funds to provide seed money for implementing a small skateboard park near the Keith Clark Park Walking trail.
• Sidney Community Garden – Proposal requested funding to provide water pipes from River Street to the site of the currently forming community garden as well as a small parking lot which will be of use to those accessing the walking trail, the garden and the proposed Veterans Memorial Park.
• Sidney Memorial Public Library – Proposal named Eat Right with Color requested funding for new cookbooks, nutritional education and resource materials to update the library’s current collection.
• Bainbridge Soup Kitchen – Funds were awarded to help financing new refrigeration equipment for the soup kitchen which is in its third decade of operation in Bainbridge.
• Sidney area First Aid/CPR/AED – In cooperation with the American Red Cross, thirty Boys Scouts, leaders and community members received training in First Aid, CPR, and AED use.
• Sidney Senior Village –- The existing gardens at Sidney Senior Village received a boost with this project which funded containers and needed equipment for vegetable and flower gardening in moveable containers.
• Sidney Community Volunteer Coordinator – This project will fund a pilot project to identify community volunteer opportunities and local businesses and individuals who are in need of assistance. It is hoped that the needs assessment and other data collected from this project will be the beginning of a local cooperative effort to bring people together to improve our community.
• Tri-Town Boys’ and Girls’ Club – A small grant was given to the club to purchase a start up set of snowshoes. It is hoped that groups and organizations will be interested in borrowing the equipment for various outdoor winter programs and that the equipment will provide local residents of all ages an increased opportunity to be more physically active in the winter than in the past and thereby improve health and vitality.

Additional Outreach

Other community improvement efforts have included wellness screenings and exercise equipment given to the employees of Amphenol; fitness equipment provided for the Sidney High School; improvement of the trail through The Pines; exercise resource materials for Sidney Memorial Public Library; and the purchase of dental supplies for the Sidney School Based Clinic.