Family of Woodstock, Inc. Paper

Family of Woodstock, Inc. Paper

Introduction

Family of Woodstock, Inc. was incorporated in 1971 after the 1969 rock festival in the Town of Woodstock, NY. It was founded after the town was inundated by people seeking Bob Dylan who was not present at his home because he has gone to see to his ailing son. Since the 1969 show was held in the backyard of Bob's house, people were expecting him to be there but this did not happen. In such cases, people are usually arrested; therefore, in order to bring in an alternative to police action, a group of residents came together and formed a group while another resident, Gail Varsi provided her phone number on which people could call in case of any problem. Thus, Family came into existence and still exists till today as one of the oldest hotlines in the country. The line is open 24-hours a day and used to be first answered by Varsi herself and when she was away, her friend used to answer the calls; since then, volunteers were used as replacement and currently, paid staff are used (Family of Woodstock).

Discussion

The main aim of the agency was to help people and not burden them by judging their actions. It was a type of police service that would not harm anyone and just provide guidance and support. Instead of making decisions, the staff would listen to the issues of people and help them make the right decision. Most of the time, the staff would refer to existing services and whenever there was no service available, they used to do whatever they could to help people.

The efforts made in the beginning led it to become one of the main agencies in Ulster and the surrounding areas. The main mission of the agency is ...