United Way Supports Education and Financial Stability in Northern Westchester

September 2016 – United Way of Northern Westchester is pleased to announce the 2016 Local Presence Program grants awarded to organizations across the Northern Westchester region following the recommendations of Local Presence Committee members Marcel Hegglin and Robert W. Mazurak.

These modest grants awarded by United Way’s Local Presence program help fund local community-based health and human service organizations that do not currently receive United Way funding and have a commitment to help local residents become self-sufficient and thrive in a stronger community.

2016 Local Presence Grants were awarded to: Cardinal McCloskey Community Services; Friends of Karen; Westchester Exceptional Children’s School; Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester; Apex Network Center, Inc.; and Caring for the Homeless of Peekskill.

Founded in 1946 as a home and school for abused and displaced children, Cardinal McCloskey Community Services’ Hayden House Emergency Residence provides around-the-clock emergency intervention for abused or neglected children and youth ages 6 through 18. These children arrive at the facility both day and night, often with only the clothes on their backs, and suffering from trauma and separation from their families. This year’s grant helped to support a summer weekend vacation trip to Lake George for these children who have never had a traditional family vacation experience.

Friends of Karen provides emotional, financial and advocacy support to children facing a life-threatening illness, and to their families, to keep them stable, functioning, and able to cope. This local presence grant provides financial help to struggling families for living expenses such as mortgage/rent/utilities/food, and illness related expenses like hospital travel, medical services not covered by insurance (e.g. hospital/lab and physician/nursing fees, medicines and supplies), and child care costs for well siblings. This essential support enables parents to focus on their ill child while also helping well siblings stay in school and receive support they need.

A special education day facility for students with severe disabilities, ages 5-21, Westchester Exceptional Children’s School serves individuals with autism and multiple handicaps as well as children who are medically fragile. The Life Skills Program teaches students vital life skills necessary for living an independence life in real world settings like apartments or group homes, such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, bed making, etc. The year’s grant will be used to purchase everyday household and kitchen supplies (brooms, mops, sponges, dust busters, etc.) necessary to teach and experience these important daily domestic tasks.

For more than 75 years, the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester has served children and youth from over 60 communities within Northern Westchester. The local 2016 presence grant will support the club’s Educational Enrichment Program which provides opportunities for academic achievement, personal development, and career and life success through tutoring, homework assistance, mentoring and high-yield learning activities. The club’s signature program serves approximately 190 undeserved minority youth, ages 5-18, many of who reside in low-income households with non-English speaking parents, and therefore lack the academic support needed for school success.

Hunger and food insecurity continue to be a daily challenge for children, seniors and the working poor in Westchester. To help address this need, a local presence grant was awarded to Apex Network Center Inc. which provides nutrition outreach assistance and pantry services to impoverished adults, children, and seniors on a monthly basis. In conjunction with Family Resource Center’s Harvest Time Food Pantry Program, over 600 people in need receive assistance and outreach support.

Established in 1988, Caring for the Homeless of Peekskill (CHOP) is dedicated to alleviating homelessness and hunger in Peekskill and its neighboring communities and to promoting self- sufficiency by providing temporary and permanent housing, food and access to clinical and vocational services to those in need. This year’s grant will support CHOP’s Fred’s Pantry, open every Saturday throughout the year and serving the unemployed and underemployed. Operating solely on donations and grants, the pantry serves on average 150 families every week and, since opening in 2010, its client base has almost tripled in size and need.