Camp HASC (Hebrew Academy for Special Children), located in Parksville, Sullivan County, in the heart of the Catskill Mountains, cut the ribbon on a new five-million-dollar healthcare facility courtesy of the state and federal governments. Many donors also contributed to the building project, all displayed on the walls in the entrance to the hospital known as Bais Refuah (House of Healing).
State and federal elected officials as well as state agency officials attended the ribbon-cutting on Monday, July 29, 2024. At a dedication ceremony that lasted more than one hour, the effusive accolades kept pouring out.
“I am not disappointed. When I see the playground outside, when I see the kids, they are like kids. They are really amazing,” Assemblyman Lester Chang (R – Sunset Park, Brooklyn) said. “This is what it should be – playing in an uninhibited environment with no prejudice. They are as free as they should be. The adults here, the people, the founders – we have to thank them… Many decades ago, developmentally disabled kids were being shuttered.
“I’m sure some of them will turn out to be useful and contributing members of our society. They can function if you give enough care, time, and love for these people to thrive. That’s the most important word is thrive. To thrive is to grow,” Chang said.
The executive director of Camp HASC gave a brief tour of the facility.
“We’re very proud about how this whole facility came out. We have 57 rooms in this medical center including overnight hospital-grade rooms for individuals to be observed or who might have some type of a strep throat or a cold or something like that they would be able to stay at what is essentially a hospital wing overnight. We provide 24-hour care. We have five exam rooms including an emergency exam room which leads directly out to an ambulance bay that goes straight out to the street. There is a room for nebulizers, tube feeding, windows for medication. It’s really big and it’s really awesome,” said Rav Juda Mischel.
At the event, it was announced that additional federal dollars are coming to Camp HASC.
“Last year, Senator Schumer awarded Camp HASC a grant for a generator to power the brand new Bais Refuah [and] an additional grant to rehab and upgrade the Camp HASC program needs,” said Abe Eisner, chairman of the board of the HASC organization. “I was informed this morning [that] Senator Schumer is also supporting a grant for Camp HASC to expand and rehab the dining room and the kitchen.” The HASC organization did not provide specific details about the project.
The emcee of the ceremony, Chaskel Bennett, kept the program moving along with positive words about everything he talked about. “We come together at this extraordinary oasis of goodness. The opportunity to come here, one of the most extraordinarily significant places in the entire world, is one I cannot pass up. It is our honor to be here, at Camp HASC. We are extraordinarily honored to be in a place where G-d’s presence resides,” said Bennett, a longtime Jewish community leader.
“The Bais Refuah [is] really what this entire facility and the entire campus can be called – a house of healing, not just for the campers but for the extraordinary selfless staff, the executive leadership, and all of humanity. In a world that has seemingly lost its humanity, we come back here to recalibrate.”
Congressman Marc Molinaro (R – Catskill, Greene County), serves all or part of 11 upstate counties, including Sullivan County. Molinaro is married and has four children, one with a developmental disability. His daughter, Abigail, is on the Autism spectrum. Camp HASC has a special, personal meaning for him.
“This is a house of hope. I was here a year ago and I can tell you that as a father with a child with a disability, we yearn for camps like HASC. We yearn for opportunities for our kids to experience life like everyone else,” he said. “I tell people all the time that when my son Jack enters school, he simply needs to get off the school bus. When my daughter Abigail enters school, I have to engage in hand-to-hand combat. My daughter is 20 years old now. Thanks to New York state, she can stay in school until she’s 22. We want our kids to experience life as G-d intended it. Camp HASC is just that place.”
Among the dignitaries at the ceremony was New York state Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald, who heaped a load of praise on the facility. “What you have done here is beautiful. When I look at Camp HASC, I feel at home. I see it was well-designed, not only that it was well-built, but it’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s exciting. There are places for little kids to hide in. There are places designed that are intentional so people get the care they need. I see the people care deeply about the souls you take care of,” he said.
Bennett spoke effusively about the benefits of Camp HASC. “I hereby accept upon myself the commandment to love my fellow as myself: For us it’s [a] mitzvah, it’s the commandment of V’ahavta l’reiacha kamocha. Their physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being. That’s what all good people of the world share in common – we seek the betterment of the other,” he said. “This is a gathering of helpers, of good people, at a time where it seems that darkness and confusion really rules the day… In Hebrew we call it machlokes… This bipartisan gathering just proves something that we all live with and know, that light is stronger than darkness and that good triumphs over evil.”
The program then turned to the two retiring elected officials being honored at the ceremony: Assemblywomen Aileen Gunther, who was the chairwoman of the Assembly Mental Health Committee, and Helene Weinstein (D – Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn), who was a longtime chairwoman of the budget-writing Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
“Aileen has fought on so many issues. She has not been afraid to stand with us, to stand with our community, regardless of what the political consequences may be,” said Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D – Borough Park, Brooklyn). “There might have been some to her, but she didn’t care because it was the right thing to do. She fought on issues that ultimately came to fruition and stuff that we’re still fighting on. It’s been a great partnership.
“Aileen brought together Helene and me to get $5 million from the budget for a therapy center at Camp HASC. She was so passionate about this. She did not settle for half or three-quarters. She fought and she fought for the $5 million. This was Aileen’s vision. This is what she wanted. This is what she dreamed of and this is what she got done,” Eichenstein said.
Another member of the Assembly stepped up to the microphone to make a few comments about her two friends and colleagues. “When you go up there [to Albany], you make relationships with people for a lifetime. Aileen and Helene are mentors. They are strong women in an area where women’s voices aren’t always heard,” said Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato. “Helene took on our budget as chair of [the Ways and Means Committee]. Aileen takes on mental health, which is a difficult area. You have to balance the money we don’t have with the needs of many, many people in an area that touches everyone in New York state. She’s done it with class and grace but with a firm, firm nurse’s hand to let you know what’s important.
“These are two people who are going to be missed in leadership, but they taught us so much. They taught us how to speak up for communities and do what is right and speak up for issues that are important and not back down.”
For some reason, Weinstein did not attend the ceremony at the camp. Gunther, 70, stepped up to the podium to receive her award and to explain that she is retiring to spend more time with family. Gunther succeeded her husband, Jake, after he passed away from cancer a few months after being diagnosed.
“The last 20 years have just been amazing for me. As a nurse, we help people, and across my whole district I was able to meet people that I loved, that needed help, and [there was] something that I could actually do about it,” Gunther (D – Forestburgh, Sullivan County) said. “I brought money back to this district and I always made sure it went to places that’s going to help lots and lots of people. Part of me is sad to leave my current position, but I have six grandchildren [from her three children]. [Camp HASC] is amazing. I was talking to the nurse and said, ‘You know, I still have my [nursing] license, so I’m continuing to serve people. Places like this should be all over the country, not just here. Thank you, HASC, for what you do for people that need your help.”
Speaking about Weinstein, Bennett said, “What I liked about [her] was that she was a straight shooter. She was an elected official, not a politician. Public service, not a panderer with honesty and integrity, not just a yes-man or woman.”
“If after 44 years in elected office, you can leave office with your head held high in New York state, being acknowledged by your colleagues on both sides of the aisle… If everyone says you’re a good person after 44 years in Albany, you’ve done your job,” he continued. “I have had the honor of working closely with Assemblywoman Weinstein on behalf of our growing community for well over 25 years. Few, if any, have served their constituents with more respect, effectiveness, and sensitivity. Helene is known far and wide as someone with deep integrity and we’ve all been extremely well-served by her…I congratulate Helene on an extraordinary career and thank you for your friendship, guidance and service to our community.”
Succeeding Weinstein will be New York City Councilman Kalman Yeger (D – Midwood, Brooklyn). He has secured the Democratic, Conservative, and Republican lines on the November ballot and is running unopposed.
“In my current role in the City Council, what I do is help HASC in their other efforts,” Yeger, 50, told The Jewish Press. “For example, the Rambam Medical Center – I funded capital and we’ve helped them build and expand once they’ve already built it. I’ve done that for the last six years. I will find different resources to do different things but HASC is special in my heart already. It’s in my district now down in the city. It’s an important part of what I believe in and I’m going to be their partner as long as they let me.
“You get near [the campers] and you see their joy. Some of them articulate it in different ways and some of them can’t necessarily, but if you are in their presence, you can feel it,” he continued. “It’s just an amazing holy place. The kids jump into your arms (the ones who are more vocal, more relationship-oriented). It is just like you’re seeing their joy in real time and in real life and you know what that means. It’s unquantifiable. We are in a place that was literally consecrated as holy by the service of the people who have made this dream come true. You can’t quantify the lives that are changed by the existence of Camp HASC. And all the other like institutions.”
