Thrive On Network

06/01/2026

🔥 CHK IGNITE Week One: Building Skills & Building Team

Following Orientation, our CHK IGNITE Early Thrivers stepped into their first official week of lessons — beginning the work of building both practical skills and personal leadership — and the foundation is already taking shape!

🌱 On GROW Day, students were introduced to the “5 C’s” curriculum created by our MSW Intern Katy: Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring — five core values that will guide their personal growth throughout the program.

🛠 On BUILD Day, students learned foundational construction skills, including workplace safety, PPE, the anatomy and purpose of hammers and nails, and practicing how to use tools safely and confidently.

🤝 On SHARE Day, the focus shifted from tools to teamwork when early thrivers tackled communication and teamwork challenges that pushed them to collaborate, problem-solve, and reflect on how they support one another.

Through communication challenges, a marshmallow tower-building activity, reflection exercises, and group discussions, students explored what it means to collaborate, lead, and support one another under pressure.

In our IGNITE program, every lesson is connected. We’re not just teaching young people how to build projects — we’re helping them build confidence, relationships, and leadership skills that strengthen community.

The spark keeps growing. 🔥

05/29/2026

✨ INTERN SPOTLIGHT: Katy ✨

This year, we had the privilege of welcoming our very first SUNY Albany MSW intern through the Early Thriver Program's Curriculum to Community track. Katy quickly became an invaluable part of the THRIVE ON! team, bringing thoughtfulness, compassion, and a strong social work perspective to everything she touched.

From helping build our IGNITE program for young men with special learning needs to mentoring youth one-on-one, Katy consistently showed up with a genuine commitment to supporting young people and strengthening our community.

Over the course of her internship, Katy contributed to numerous initiatives across our organization. She helped cultivate meaningful relationships with the youth and staff at Children's Home of Kingston, supported the afterschool program at the Kingston Motel, mentored participants YOUTH force cohorts, developed a community needs assessment for Colonial Gardens, and got messy alongside youth in hands-on projects ranging from paper mâché art to cooking in the Early Roots Kitchen.

Behind the scenes, Katy was also a trusted thought partner during strategic planning conversations, helped strengthen partnerships with clinical providers, contributed thoughtful, creative, and meaningful content to the Kingston Digest, and brought practical ideas that improved program flow and youth engagement.

Her impact can be seen not only in the projects she supported but in the relationships she built. The youth trusted her and respected her, which can clearly be seen in the photos as they listened to Katy, followed her lead, and expressed pure joy in her group lessons. Community partners valued her perspective, and our team benefited greatly from her insight and dedication.

Thank you, Katy, for your perspective, your bravery to take on new challenges, your joy, your kindness, and for helping us create opportunities for young people to grow, lead, and thrive. We are so proud of your growth and the incredible opportunities that lie ahead for you. We are excited to see all that you'll accomplish in the future! 💚

05/05/2026

🔥 CHK IGNITE Orientation: The Spark is LIT!

Before we grow food, build infrastructure, cook meals, and serve the community - we have to build the team!

Our CHK IGNITE students kicked things off with two powerful orientation days and the energy in the room was great. Students learned what CHK IGNITE is all about and right away we started shaping the culture of the program together.
Through games, conversations, and partner interviews, students shared their goals, interests, and the skills they want to build this year. We talked about leadership, community impact, and what it means to be part of the THRIVE ON! YOUTH Force Track.

But the most important part?

Students helped create the foundation for how we work together.

From respect and safety to how we support each other when the work gets challenging, the group co-created the expectations that will guide the entire program.

The spark has officially been lit!
Next up: the real work begins.

04/21/2026

Something powerful is taking root in Downtown Kingston, and you should know about it...

Introducing CHK IGNITE — a collaboration between THRIVE ON! Network and the Children’s Home of Kingston, designed to connect youth to community, to land, and to leadership.

This isn’t just a program! It’s hands-on food systems work rooted in real community impact and generational change.

Over the course of this year, CHK students will meet THRIVE ON! 4 times each week to learn employable life skills through community service work under the following themes:

🍳 COOK — build culinary skills and nutrition literacy through preparing meals for food-insecure families
🌱 GROW — cultivate food and leadership in rhythm with the Hudson Valley seasons through gardening and personal development workshops
🛠 BUILD — learn employable life skills through constructing the infrastructure that makes sustainable growing possible
🤝 SHARE — distribute food, advocate, and strengthen community partnerships

From soil preparation to harvest to food distribution, IGNITE puts young people at the center of community change, igniting their passion and shaping their character through exploration, confidence, competence, connection, and care.

We’re not just teaching skills, we’re cultivating future leaders who understand that food, land, and community are deeply connected.

And you know what - this is just the beginning. (So stay tuned 😊)

12/19/2025

We are immensely grateful to be one of the nonprofits to receive a grant award from the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley this year. And what a high honor to be amongst such amazing company. Congratulations to all of the deserving nonprofits selected this year!

31 Ulster Nonprofits Receive $180,000 in Community Grants

Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley has awarded $542,000 in 2025 Community Grants across Dutchess, Putnam, and Ulster Counties—our largest grant cycle ever.

In Ulster County, 31 nonprofits received a combined $180,000, representing an unprecedented investment in organizations strengthening health, housing, arts and culture, education, food access, and community well-being.

Awarded organizations include Ulster Immigrant Defense Network, People’s Place, Ulster County Habitat for Humanity, Ellenville Regional Hospital, United Way of Ulster County, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, Kingston Emergency Food Collaborative, YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County, The Center for Photography at Woodstock, and many more.

Grantees were honored at the Ulster County Community Changemakers reception on December 9 at the Center for Photography at Woodstock.

💬 Laura Washington, CFHV President & CEO, shared:
“Community input guided this year’s grants, helping us address the most pressing needs while continuing to support the programs that make this region such a special place to call home."

💬 Brian Wallis, CPW Executive Director, added:
“Binding ourselves into the social fabric of this community has been essential to CPW, and grant giving makes this possible. The grants provided through the Community Foundations are crucial to the lifeblood of the Hudson Valley.”

12/17/2025

We are thrilled to have popping up with us again this Saturday at the Pink Pantry!

Stop by to pick up some gear to keep you warm this winter. Coats, boots, hats, gloves, scarves, and blankets. All free!

We'll see you this Saturday 12pm-3pm at . As always, we'll have fresh local produce and other food items available absolutely free.

12/11/2025

Announcing the remaining Pink Pantry pop-up dates for the year:

The Pink Pantry will be open this Saturday, December 13, and next Saturday, December 20, from 12-3 pm at the Broadway Bubble. Please note that we have moved inside for the winter season. You can find us in the community hub space.

The Pink Pantry was created to address the food assistance gap on weekends. Over the past couple of months, we have been so grateful for all of the people who have shown up to not only support this effort, but also support our neighbors.

Last weekend, Community Action's Outreach Department donated brown bags packed with goods, and Beauty for Ashes popped up with us and had a variety of clothing options available! It's because of partners and donations like these that we are able to diversify the offerings at the Pantry so that everyone who comes can be helped in some way.

If you or someone you know could use a little support on the weekends, please share this opportunity, and we hope to see you there!

Interested in volunteering, donating, or supporting the Pink Pantry in some way? Just DM us and let's talk!

11/10/2025

This past spring, our first cohort of Curriculum to Community Early Thrivers learned of the need for food assistance in Kingston on the weekends. Based on the information included in their final recommendation, we were able to spend our summer planning a way to address this gap. Then, last month, we popped up The Pink Pantry at the Broadway Bubble’s Bubblefest event.

Through this pop-up style pantry, we were able to serve over 70 people, and we're excited to do it again!

Announcing our next Pink Pantry pop-up, this Saturday, November 15, at 2 pm, as part of the Bubble’s Friendsgiving event. We will have fresh produce, personal hygiene products, books, and more!

The Pink Pantry intends to be open, pop-up style, at the Bubble on Saturdays throughout the end of the year. Please consider joining our efforts to feed our community during this time of uncertainty in food access and assistance. If you are interested in donating to the pantry, volunteering, or both, just send us a DM!

A huge thank you to , , , , and for their generous donations that made this pantry possible.

10/08/2025

Update: we're back up! Again, please resend any email correspondence sent since last Friday to ensure we are up to date in our communications with you.

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We have learned of an outage that occurred over the weekend, causing our site and email to be down. Please note that if you have sent us any emails since Friday, we have not received them.

We are actively working to fix this issue. In the meantime, please send us a direct message on any of our social media platforms if you need to contact us.

We are hoping to be back online in the next 48 hours and will continue to provide updates via our social media accounts.

09/30/2025

It's and we're excited to announce a new arrival to our team.

The work we've done this year in our Early Thriver Program's Curriculum to Community track has earned us the honor and privilege of being an official field placement site for SUNY Albany's Master of Social Work program!

Meet Katy, our very first MSW field placement student! Katy is a first year MSW student who hails from Marlboro, NY. She is a Swifty (Taylor Swift fan for those unfamiliar), connoisseur of musicals, lover of makeup, and enjoys making people laugh.

Katy chose the field of social work because she has always had a desire to help people. She sees this field as an opportunity to discover more ways to provide aid to those in need.

In just her short three weeks with us, Katy has been instrumental in our Adjunct track of the Early Thriver Program, assisting Francis with program development and ex*****on. She's also working within our Rootwork program furthering our mission to support grassroots efforts in our community. She came ready to hit the ground running and isn't afraid of a challenge.

Katy will be with us for the entire school year and will be deep in mission focused work throughout Kingston. So if you see her please say hi!

Welcome Katy! We are so thrilled that you are here and we can't wait to help you achieve your learning goals this year. Your enthusiasm to further our mission is electrifying and we're eager to see the impact you'll have in Kingston and on our work this year.