House being tested with thermal imaging camera, from Energy.gov
Image by Energy.gov

Family Economics & Community Resiliency

Communities are defined in many different ways by the diverse people who belong to them. Here at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties, we work with communities of all kinds and configurations, providing training, resources and facilitation to help individuals, groups and municipalities identify the issues that are most important to them, to envision potential strategies and solutions, and to organize and take action for change.

Family Economics & Resource Management: Educational programs that deal with personal financial and household management can empower individuals and families to realize increased prosperity, self-sufficiency and sustainability. Programs offered in this area deal with such topics as budgeting, savings plans, stretching resources, using credit wisely, consumer rights, home organization and identity theft prevention.

Healthy Home Environments: Environmental stewardship begins at home. We offer workshops and guidance on energy conservation, improving indoor air quality, emergency preparedness and other home environment issues, like home safety, water conservation and on-site waste management systems. Reducing food waste and achieving zero-waste lifestyles are also being addressed.

Community Resiliency: Facilitating collaborations and partnerships with local agencies, organizations and groups with like-minded goals in the areas of fair housing, reducing recidivism, creating livable communities, improving environmental protections and other related pursuits can result in better management practices, more effective public policies and other meaningful resources that enhance community strengths, leadership and capacity. One recent community resiliency collaboration that demonstrates this is the 2019 Columbia-Greene Interagency Yellow Pages Directory of Programs and Services. This publication lists most of the health and human services agencies, groups and organizations that participated the half day professional development, outreach and networking event held May 22, 2019 as well as some that have participated in past interagency awareness days. 

Last updated March 4, 2021