2011 Annual Report - Johnson Park Center

JCTOD Outrech, Inc d/b/a
Annual Report 2011
Community Development
Special Needs Housing
Nutrition
Recreation
Mentoring & Advocacy
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A letter from our founder
Dear Honored Member of the JPC Family;
We at Johnson Park Center would like to
thank you for your commitment to seeing positive
change in our community. We are continually
humbled by just how much hard work and generosity
comes from the members of our family and our
community, and our appreciation is difficult to put in
sufficient words.
In 2011, we continued to make positive
change and turn people and a neighborhood that
were once community liabilities into community
assets.
Along the way, we encountered several challenges, especially those posed by an
economic recession. However, we also continued to experience the things that inspire us
to move on with our mission.
The following is an annual report describing some of the very positive changes that
have come to Johnson Park. While these memories are certain to outlast these
challenging times, so too will our commitment to make more memories and change more
lives.
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Community
Development
JPC continued to change not
just lives, but the look and
outlook of the community.
JPA V
Leading the way in 2011 was
beginning the erection of the
Johnson Park Apartments V
buildings, the area’s first LEED
Certified residential buildings.
The project was completed in
March 2012.
The JPA V buildings include
solar panels, geothermal heating
and the type of 21st Century
innovation the Cornhill community had yet to see prior to this project.
A New Home
Longtime JPC supporter, Mr. Robert L. Esche, a local Mohawk Valley Resident who is an
International Professional Ice Hockey Goaltender enlisted the help of businesses and the community in
order to build a new home for JPC Founder Rev. Dr. Maria A. Scates, D.D. and Chief Operations
Officer Rev. Ursula Meier. Rev. Dr. Scates and Rev. Meier both have taken vows of poverty and had
lived in the 3rfd Floor of JPC’s Headquarters Building at 26 Johnson for 16 years before the home was
built and unveiled on July 28.
Overview
To To date, JPC has received over $9 million
for capital projects to create a total of 33 safe
& supportive low-income permanent housing
programs for homeless/ chronic homeless
mothers, children and single women without
children who are chronically homeless. JPC
provides emergency housing services for
traditional and non-traditional families and
women. Its strategy for community
development includes recreation, socialization,
for children and families and single females, a
food pantry, a community garden & a
nutritious meal feeding program as well as
mentoring/advocacy and life coaching.
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Nutrition
JPC iscommitted to nurturing
our residents and the community
at-large with healthy food
choices and an effort
to fight hunger.
Food Pantry
Johnson Park Center’s “Food Pantry” served
2364 families in 2011. The Food Pantry is a
place where JPC residents and residents of our
homeless shelter can go to get canned goods
and other items when they do not have the
resources or money to eat otherwise.
Youth Center Dinners
Volunteers from JPC served meals to the children of the community each night its Youth Center was
open. The center averages 96 youth-per-night. Utica Schools continue to tell JPC that one of the major
challenges to educating its youth is simply getting the children well fed so they have the energy and
brainpower to be successful in schools. By serving a nutritious dinner, JPC is supplementing the
district’s breakfast and lunch programs to give them three timely and healthy meals each school day.
Community Garden
The Johnson Park Center Community gardened is maintained and utilized by JPC youth, residents and
community volunteers. Besides providing free and healthy
vegetables it also helps stock the Food Pantry and provides
residents and community members with the skill to produce lowcost food on their own.
Special Events
JPC hosted several special events that served in its mission to
provide nutrition to the community. JPC’s “Say ‘No’ to Drugs
Party”, “ and its “Back to School Party” were outdoor community
events at which food was provided to all who attended. In
addition, JPC hosted Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years
parties that brought the families of its residents together for
bountiful dinner spreads. At the Christmas Celebration, residents
were each given bags full of food donated by Hamilton College to
bring home with them.
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Recreation
Youth Voice at Six Flags
Over the summer, Johnson Park Center was
able to send children that participate in its
Youth Voice Initiative to Six Flags at
Darien Lake. The Youth Voice initiative is
an award-winning program that purpose is
train, equip and prepare youth between ages
9 to 14 years of age to speak up, be leaders
and a positive role model. The Youth Voice
encourages peers & all community
residents to live a drug-free, crime-free and
violence free lifestyle. The youth promotes love, peace & unity in Cornhill & the City of Utica.
Youth Olympics
JPC’s Youth Olympics drew hundreds of young people and their families into Johnson Park to take part
in sporting events hosted by Johnson Park in the name of supporting a healthy lifestyle. The events were
supplemented by healthy meals, life-skills education and information concerning services classes
especially in the area of substance abuse, mental, physical, dental health & medical services, job
opportunities/training & guest speakers. JPC staff, program participants & volunteers – serves all in an
effort to teach our children & community residents we can have fun while learning, exercise and living a
healthy lifestyle.
SUNYIT 5k Run/Walk
For the second straight year, SUNYIT hosted a 5k Run/Walk around its campus to benefit JPC. This
year drew nearly 40 participants as well as several JPC residents, youth and volunteers. SUNYIT’s
Sociology and Psychology Club hosted the event and was able to draw a large amount of volunteer
support and donations from local
businesses, including Friendly’s which
hosted a Family and Fun Night to benefit
JPC.
General Recreation
Johnson Park Center hosted several other
general recreational activities and events for
its residents including: a speech by Newark
Mayor Corey Booker, attendance of local
sporting events, access of children to the
Youth Center and more.
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Mentoring / Advocacy
Johnson Park Center believes that selfempowerment is learning to do things for
yourself. Therefore, JPC residents not
only benefit from a staff that advocates
for them, but they participate in the
process of advocating for the causes and
concerns that affect their lives. In
addition, JPC provides a diverse array of
role models for youth and residents who
mentor them in achieving their goals.
Albany Lobby Day
JPC participated in “Albany Lobby Day”, in which JPC residents went with staff in order to meet with
state officials, tell stories and advocate for issues that are important to JPC and themselves. The daylong trip featured stops at local state representatives’ offices as well as state-wide offices that have a
large impact on JPC, such as the NYS Homeless Housing and Assistance Program.
Local Meetings / Events
JPC staff and residents also attended local meetings and participated on several local community panels
and boards to weigh-in on issues that impact not only JPC, but the community and the center. Some of
the meetings included a City of Utica meeting regarding the allocation of Community Block
Development Grant funds. JPC staff also attends neighborhood watch meetings, sit on a community
education committee hosted by the school district and participate in homeless housing statistic reporting.
In 2011, U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi toured the
facility, mayor-elect Robert Palmieri met with
JPC’s founder and staff and several elected
officials attended a wide variety of events at JPC.
Positive Role Models
JPC is also determined to provide mentoring and
positive role models for its youth and residents.
JPC has an active relationship with local colleges
and SUNYIT and Hamilton College students are
frequent guests as volunteers and homework
tutors at JPC’s Youth Center. In addition, JPC
invited several guest speakers, sponsored a trip to
see Newark Mayor Cory Booker and is constantly
working to have a well-trained staff that is
available at all hours.
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Special Needs Housing
JOHNSON PARK APARTMENTS (JPA)
Every morning, most JPA residents/clients
wake up to a rapping noise on their door. It’s
the sound of JPC staffer and she’s letting them
know it’s time to wake up and move toward
positive change.
JPA has a total of 33 safe living units for
women that were once homeless or chronically
homeless. The homes are divided into single
women program and mothers with children
program and they offer a luxury that many of
these women hadn’t had just a short time ago: a
safe place to live.
“There’s one thing that can’t be seen, but can
be felt as soon as you talk to our women:
pride,” JPC Public Relations Coordinator
Marques Phillips. “They’re just proud of
themselves for having come far enough to be in a stable home. It’s routine for most people, but some of
these women never thought they’d be in a ‘normal’ living situation ever again.”
JPC has secured more than $9 million over the years to rebuild a once rotting city core, and in doing so,
they’ve also rebuilt the hopes of a community and of women that often found no good reason to hope in
the past.
The women living in JPA live in mostly new or newly refurbished apartments and have available to
them a number of resources aimed at helping them overcome the barriers that made them homeless in to
begin with. JPA is for women 18 years older with or without children. At JPA, a woman can focus on
successfully completing her
treatment program in a
supportive, structured &
safe environment. JPA is
designed for women to
establish & achieve life
goals, build hope and
develop confidence to get
GED, go to college or
participate in job
training/career development
to become self- sufficient.
Mothers will focus on
unification with children
and to be a better parent.