April 30, 2018
Thank you to Catskill Hudson AHEC who created Billie’s Medical Adventures. The program, recently utilized at Astor’s Head Start in Beacon, uses puppets to familiarize students with a nurse prior to their required health screenings. It was a success! The puppets put the students at ease.
Billie’s Medical Adventures was created by Catskill Hudson Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in an effort to familiarize preschool and elementary age children with common health screenings to take the stigma out of a potential scary first-time medical experience for these young students.
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April 11, 2018
Astor Services is offering a five-credit Continuing Education qualified training session on suicide prevention and intervention for community clinicians that work with at-risk children. The April 25 event, “Hope as a Skill: The Assessment, Clinical Management and Treatment of Suicidality”, will be presented by M. David Rudd, Ph.D. at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel, 40 Civic Center Plaza in Poughkeepsie, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A skills-based workshop, the program will center on suicide risk assessment, clinical management and brief cognitive behavioral therapy for suicidal behavior, including a review of applicable empirical work, clinical examples and targeted role playing that address interventions demonstrated to reduce risk. Ethical issues and recommendations for documentation will also be reviewed.
Rudd is president of the University of Memphis. A Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, he also continues funded research, along with his affiliation with the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah, as co-founder and scientific director. He has conducted research, written and presented extensively on suicide prevention and treatment of children and adolescents.
Cost for the workshop is $150, including continental breakfast, lunch, hotel parking and five Continuing Education hours for licensed social workers, mental health counselors, creative arts therapists and marriage and family therapists.
The registration deadline is April 18.
To register or for more information, contact Raven Maldonado-Brown; rmaldonadobrown@astorservices.org or (718) 231-3400, ext. 12245.
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March 23, 2018
Noted actors and Rhinebeck residents, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton have again teamed up with Astor Services for Children & Families in the renovation of the children’s units in the non-profit’s residential treatment center (RTC) in Rhinebeck.
Last year Morgan and Burton worked with dozens of volunteers to provide critical hands-on assistance in the project’s first phase. That work included the mini- renovation of 10 of RTC’s 44 beds and other areas, with the couple developing finish selections and designs, securing pro-bono contractors, and coordinating donated goods. Now the famed duo is back to continue that work on another wing of the RTC, including another 10 beds plus the wing’s kitchen common areas, with the project slated for this spring.
Funding for the second phase of the project was raised during Astor’s Ghost Stories event, which was headlined by Morgan and Dean and held late in 2017. The event raised enough to cover renovation costs for the RTC’s remaining three wings.
Hilarie Burton, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and new baby
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“Children living in Astor’s residential treatment center are benefitting tremendously from the support of Hilarie, Jeffrey and our community’s truly generous volunteers, donors and pro-bono workers,” said James McGuirk, Ph.D., Executive Director and CEO. “Their wonderful contributions not only make a tangible difference in the kids’ everyday lives, but also lets them know their community appreciates how much they matter.”
“Once these four existing wings are renovated, our endgame is to raise enough money to build an entirely new wing,” said Burton. “I’m proud that out of all of New York state, our community is where the Astor organization decided to bring these important kids.”
Astor provides behavioral and educational services for children and their families in the Hudson Valley and Bronx.
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March 13, 2018
Astor Services for Children & Families was among the dozens of providers that shared concerns related to New York’s vulnerable children and families, social service providers, and program funding needs during recent Lobby Day events in Albany.
Astor Services for Children & Families, which provides behavioral and educational services for children and their families in the Hudson Valley and Bronx, was among the dozens of providers that shared concerns related to New York’s vulnerable children and families, social service providers, and program funding needs during recent Lobby Day events in Albany.
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February 28, 2018
Actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton Return for Second Phase of Renovation Project at Astor Services for Children & Families
Noted actors and Rhinebeck residents, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton have again teamed up with Astor Services for Children & Families in the renovation of the children’s units in the non-profit’s residential treatment center (RTC) in Rhinebeck.
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February 27, 2018
Community must be vigilant, comprehensive with help for troubled teens
With the recent tragedy of another high school shooting — this one at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — attention has again focused on the increased need for children’s mental health services.
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February 14, 2018
Cabaret Raises Funds to Support Lawrence F. Hickey Center for Childhood Development
A fundraising tribute to Cole Porter helped Astor Services for Children and Families raise more than $18,000 on Feb. 3. The funds will benefit children and families at the Lawrence F. Hickey Center for Early Child Development which helps provides mental health services to young children with emotional and cognitive challenges, according to a press release.
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January 18, 2018
Astor Announces its 8th Annual Cabaret with Stacy Sullivan
Astor 8th Annual Cabaret Event Release
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Fall 2017
This Fall issue will explore tele-psychiatry as a therapy tool, the club Blaqlist in the Bronx, a wave of Brooklynites opening hotels and inns in the Catskills, and much more.
The Bronx Blaqlist has set an ambitious agenda.
“We hope to eventually become a cultural institution on par with
the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, or even the New York Public Library,”
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July 2017
Local Magazine publication Living Rhinebeck features Astor Services in their July 2017 issue.
The Rhinebeck community is introduced to the building housing Astor Services.
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Spring 2017
Read about Bronx Borough President, Mental Health Awareness Month, Hudson Valley Restaurant Rojo, and so much more.
This is important to remember since the majority of youth experiencing mental health symptoms go undiagnosed
and without proper treatment.
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October 7, 2016
Everything from an interview with Pixar animator Peter Sohn to the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Fest, and Morgans Cat Cafe in Red Hook is covered in this issue of Astor Family Magazine Fall 2016.
In our Astor Family Magazine Fall 2016 local fiber artist & felter Mickey O’Neill explains: “people like to know where things come from. They like to follow the full circle from washing it to making it into yarn and selling it here or at farmers’ markets.”
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August 09, 2016
Marathon runner Laura Betros seeks to raise $3000 for Astor Services for Children & Families at NYC Marathon.
Marathon runner Laura Betros seeks to fundraise $3,000 to support the children at Astor Services for Children & Families. Laura is running under Team Catholic Charities in the 2016 (TCS) NEW YORK CITY MARATHON. Learn more about Laura’s efforts and how you can help her meet her goal.
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April 2016
Read our new issue online today!
Our Spring 2015 issue of Astor Family Magazine is here. This issue highlights Astor’s strategy in positioning its programs, services and community outreach to be in the vanguard of the changing tide of children’s mental/behavioral health. We again bring you stories about our community, recipes, poetry and artwork.
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October 2015
Read our latest issue today!
Our Fall 2015 issue highlights Astor programs in the Bronx, our partnership with Bard College, fascinating articles about our community and much more! Community events, recipies, reviews, art and poetry.
“No family is completely immune to the potential need for the kind of help Astor gives children and families. An investment in Astor continues the process of binding this community resource to the people it serves in the Hudson Valley (which includes the Bronx).” writes Arthur Schiff in the new issue.
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May 11, 2015
Thank you Notre Dame Club of the Mid-Hudson Valley for your continued support!
“We hope that this garden, in turn, will then help breathe a fresh life into the children of Astor who will get to enjoy it this growing season. We look forward to future endeavors with all our friends at Astor Services for Children & Families,”
said Les McCarthy, Notre Dame Club member.
Thank you Notre Dame Club of the Mid-Hudson Valley for your continued support during your Annual Hesburgh Month of Service! We know that our kids appreciate this garden!
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April 2015
Read the latest issue of Astor Family Magazine
Our latest issue of Astor Family Magazine is overflowing with fun and helpful content. You can find this issue available throughout our area, or read the online version here »
“My first visit to Astor left such an indelible impression that I remember it like it was yesterday. The kids’ artwork showed a desire for the basic things that many of us take for granted: a room of their own, a family, a hug. I was drawn in by a strong desire to help…” writes Theresa Dryfoos, Donor / Consultant, Astor Services for Children & Families, in the new issue.
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March 16, 2015
Hyde Park Head Start Kids meet Libby, a K-9 Labrador Retriever.
On March 11, Deputy O’Brien from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office visited Ralph R. Smith in Hyde Park and brought along his partner, a Labrador Retriever, Libby. Libby is a specially trained K-9 that can sniff out accelerants (flammable liquids) that may have been used to cause a fire.
At the end of the presentation all children were able to meet Libby up close and even pet her.
“This was a great opportunity for our children to meet local law enforcement and learn about all the things police do, as well as give many children a chance to meet a friendly dog,” said Monica Lee, Hyde Park Head Start Head Teacher.
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January 23, 2015
Ralph R. Smith Elementary School in Hyde Park invited Astor's Hyde Park Head Start kids to see a wildlife show in the school's auditorium.
The kids in our Hyde Park Head Start Program were treated to a wonderful wildlife assembly called “A World of Animals.” Bill Robinson, wildlife expert, visited Ralph R. Smith Elementary School this January to introduce children to a wide array of animals.
Robinson showed the children a red tail hawk, horned owl, baby alligator and a snake.
“The kids had a blast! They were able to see the animals up close and personal and sat attentively for about forty minutes,” said Monica Lee, Hyde Park Head Start Head Teacher.
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December 11, 2014
Thanks to the generosity of donors, children and families in our Hudson Valley programs got the chance to experience the childhood they deserve.
On the weekend of December 5, 2014, 250 children in our Head Start and Early Head Start Programs, along with their families, went to see “Sesame Street Live” at the Civic Center in Poughkeepsie.
All the children in our Head Start and Early Head Start programs come from low income families. Having a fun-filled day seeing Elmo and his friends was truly a dream come true for many.
“Families and children enjoyed and were grateful,” said the Early Childhood Center Director.
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