Question on StreamWriters/Readers in vb.net.

My intent is this. I'm going to need to write multiple values during a long routine to one file.
I have a constant and a variable streamwriter that writes to the const file. I want to make sure this file remains open until the very end of the routine. I'm assuming I can use WriteLine and Flush and then use Close at the end.
However, I first need to make sure a folder path exists but can't get through my list of variables listed before my Global variables, Main Sub because when I hit the second line of code below, it throws this error: The type initializer for 'PVT_Maintenance.Module1' threw an exception.
My thought process was that where if I declare my variable globally, it would continue to work for my remaining code. This error is happening because the Folder structure doesn't exist. How can I declare global variables but check that the folder structure where the file will be stored, exists?
Thank you Expert(s),
WallaceStart Free Trial

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Const SQL_Status As String = "C:\Temp\PVT Maintenance\SQL Statuses\1 - SQL Status.log"
Dim swSQLStatus As StreamWriter = My.Computer.FileSystem.OpenTextFileWriter(SQL_Status, True)
--- CAN'T RUN THIS ROUTINE OUTSIDE OF METHOD BODY PRIOR TO CONSTANT VARIABLE---
Sub FldrExist()
        If Directory.Exists("C:\Temp\PVT Maintenance\SQL Statuses") = False Then
            Directory.CreateDirectory("C:\Temp\PVT Maintenance\SQL Statuses")
        End If
    End Sub