DSS Code Blue LETTER TEMPLATE/GUIDE

Letter to Otsego County Department of Social Services Commissioner Lisa Winne

Please feel free to write the letter in your own words and from the heart.
The part in bold indicates key items to include.
[Replace text in brackets with personal details.]

Letter Template:

Dear Commissioner Winne,

I am writing to express my concerns regarding the handling of the recent winter storms and cold weather advisories. As I’m sure you are aware, many unhoused people in Oneonta were stranded during dangerous extreme weather conditions. I do not believe that DSS is being compliant with Code Blue requirements.

Despite PIT counts, it seems that DSS is not equipped to provide shelter for the growing number of unhoused people in Otsego County. A single warming station with 10 beds that is only open in the evenings is not enough for the City of Oneonta.

Amazingly, local community organizers were able to open their church as a temporary shelter. However, that burden should never have fallen on kindhearted individuals. It should have been handled by DSS, Otsego County, and the CIty of Oneonta.

[Feel free to share your personal connection or feelings about what the folks at the First United Methodist Church did during this crisis.]

Several times throughout the last week of January, there were weather advisories telling people to stay indoors as much as possible and warning that the cold could cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes. Despite that warning, one of the solutions offered by DSS during that time was to require people to travel to designated locations to pick up bus passes, and then travel from Oneonta to Cooperstown. It seemed that only after public pressure that alternative solutions were offered in Oneonta, such as extending the Chestnut Street warming station hours.

It should not take this kind of public pressure for shelter to be provided during a Code Blue emergency. DSS has an obligation to ensure that everyone is provided shelter, and to prepare for cold weather advisories. DSS needs to take action as soon as advisories are released, not days later.

The unhoused population will not have to advocate for themselves alone any more. The residents of Otsego County are seeing what is happening and demanding better. We demand quicker response times to weather advisories, extended warming station hours, and more shelter space for the 40+ unhoused people in Oneonta.

Thank you for your time and consideration on this vital matter.

Sincerely,
[Your Full Name]
[Your Full Address]
[Your Email Address]
—

Mail TO:

DSS Commissioner Lisa Winne
140 County Highway 33W
Cooperstown, NY 13326

EMail:

winnel@otsegocountyny.gov - DSS Commissioner Lisa Winne
purdys@otsegocountyny.gov - Deputy DSS Commissioner Sarah Purdy
steelel@otsegocountyny.gov - Secretary to the Commissioner Linda Steele
wilsons@otsegocountyny.gov -  County Administrator Steve Wilson

CC: martinia@otsegocountyny.gov - Otsego County Board Representative Adrienne Martini, Head of DSS Committee