The Observer-Dispatch covered the Youth Empowerment Project Inc.'s 10th anniversary celebration on Thursday, which included the dedication of a building that will quadruple the amount of space available to the organization. The new building, located at 404-408 Court St., has 25 rooms and is about triple the size of the program's old building at 417 Court Street. Renovations took about a year.
“This has really been a community effort,” Barbara Gaston, executive director and founder, said of the renovations, which were accomplished with donations from local businesses and labor by inmates from the New York State Correctional Facility.
The organization provides services for children, people with disabilities, families in need and those who are homeless, among others.
Nearly 100 people gathered for the dedication ceremony, including Mayor David Roefaro and a representative for U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica.
About 80 people will have administrative offices in the new space, leaving the old building primarily for services provided by the organization. Those services include a food pantry, work with behaviorally challenged children, and those with traumatic brain injuries and assistance for families.
Utica resident Hope Vinal said that the organization has helped her family in many ways, and had provided everything she needed for Christmas last year. Vinal has a 7-week-old premature baby, a one-year-old and a two-year-old.“Barbara is just awesome,” Vinal said. “She helped get my apartment furnished. She helped me get food, diapers and formula.”Gaston said The Youth Empowerment Project plans to develop more programs and to help more people.
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