3 nonprofits in running for award at Sullivan Nonprofit Leadership Summit

MONTICELLO — Three nonprofits will vie for a $5,000 "innovation" award during Sullivan County's annual Nonprofit Leadership Summit on March 6 at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

Crystal Run Village's "New Directions New Lives" initiative, the Manor Ink youth-run newspaper and Rural & Migrant Ministry's youth economic group were chosen out of 13 applicants for the award, summit organizers announced Thursday.

Organizers also announced the two keynote speakers: Greg Berman, director of the New York City-based Center for Court Innovation; and Doug Sauer, executive director of the Albany-based New York Council on Nonprofits.

"The energy that starts flooding into Bethel Woods on the morning of the summit is simply indescribable.""The needs and the purpose of the summit are no less today than they were three years ago," said Amanda Langseder, one of the summit co-chairs.

The innovation award was created to recognize innovative new programs, marketing campaigns or collaborations between nonprofits.

The two runner-ups will each get a $500 prize.

Crystal Run Village made the short list for an initiative it launched in April 2010 to improve outcomes for its developmentally disabled clients.

Public relations Director Carolyn Vallese called it a major culture shift in which staff use a "person-centered" approach to identify clients' most important needs.

"We estimate that more than half the individual participating in our program have shown improvement in all facets of their lives," she said. "It's a good model that any business could use."

Livingston Manor Ink began printing in June 2012. It is sponsored by the Livingston Manor Free Library and the nonprofit Community Reporting Alliance.

Rural & Migrant Ministry made the final for its youth-run business, Basement Bags, which is based at First Presbyterian Church in Liberty and run by Sullivan County high-school students in RMM's Youth Economic Group.

The group produces silk-screened cotton canvas tote bags. The bags are imported from a cooperative in Mexico and dyed using a commercial silkscreen press.