Poughkeepsie – The Dutches County Well being Board has offered its 2025 Public Well being Affiliation Award for Dutches Outreach and its govt director, Renee Fillette.
Dutches Outreach is a vital opponent of meals insecurity within the county. Meals insecurity is an official time period of the USDA that describes when folks don’t have sufficient nutritious meals to eat and have no idea the place their subsequent meal will come from.
Whereas humbly accepted the prize within the title of Dutches Outreach, Fillette mentioned: “I’ve spent most of my profession working in Dutches county and I select to do it as a result of I really feel that this county is an innovation heart for the non -profit sector, the place every little thing is feasible.”
Dr. Melissa Nelson-Perrone, president of the Dutches County Well being Board, took a second to quote statistics from the 2024 Feeding America report that signifies nearly 30,000 residents of the Dutches County, together with kids, elders and dealing households, expertise meals insecurity.
Beneath Fillette’s management, Dutches Outreach has expanded its programming, together with an affiliation with Nuvance Well being to supply folks with details about ample diet, whereas serving to sufferers to acquire entry to such meals. The affiliation has resulted in a 50 p.c discount in hypertension amongst program members affected by power hypertension.
“The tireless dedication of Renee Fillette to public well being, its potential to advertise vital associations, and its revolutionary method to meals insecurity is the rationale why she and her group are effectively worthy of this award,” Nelson-Perron mentioned to the Dutches County Legislature on Monday night time.