Parks & Trails New York is offering a new round of Capacity Building Grants for park and trail groups in New York State. The grants, of up to $3,000, can be used to assist with activities associated with organizational start-up and development, training, communications, and volunteer recruitment and management. The deadline for submitting applications is November 22, 2010.
From the OD: Officials are hoping a merger will help two area nonprofit agencies do more with the same resources.
The agencies – Family Services of the Mohawk Valley and Mohawk Valley Council on Alcoholism/Addictions – are waiting for permission from the state secretary of state’s office to merge into a combined agency called the Center for Family Life & Recovery. The target date for the merger is Jan. 1.
“We’re not two agencies that have been forced to do this because we’re in trouble (financially),” council Executive Director Cassandra Sheets said. “We chose to do it because we really saw an opportunity to make something work and to marry two services.”
The combined agency would continue to work out of existing offices for both agencies until its housing needs are determined, officials said.
Sheets is expected to remain as executive director of the merged agencies. Family Services Executive Director Herb Freeman has been working part-time since his originally planned retirement date of June 30, and will retire officially Dec. 31.
No layoffs are planned as a result of the merger and services should continue without disruption, Sheets said.
Sheets said she hopes the new center will be able to offer more professional development training for area human-services workers and more support services for people who have completed some kind of recovery program, such as for addiction, alcoholism or mental health.
Alcohol and drugs often play a role in the problems addressed by Family Services and other human-service agencies, Sheets noted. Alcohol-and-drug education should be infused throughout the human-services system, she said.
The two agencies already do a lot of similar work, Freeman noted. Both serve what he called “mandated clients.” The council provides a program for convicted drunk drivers who want to get their licenses back, Freeman said. And Family Services provides court-ordered programs for men convicted of battering women or of sexually abusing children, and for parents who have lost or face losing custody of their children due to neglect or abuse, he said.
“In the area of mandated clients, that seemed like a very good fit,” Freeman said. “And we also know historically that alcohol and drug abuse is a major issue for families where there’s a neglect issue for children.”
Family Services counselors also have the necessary skill to help with the employee-assistance program offered to area employers by the council, he said.
Freeman also said that Family Services’ strategic plan has always called for more work in prevention, an area in which the council is already active.
During the week of November 12-18, 2010, The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties will join more than 700 community foundations across America for Community Foundation Week activities. Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy in the United States and hold nearly $50 billion in assets. Every state in the U.S. is home to at least one community foundation—large and small, urban, and rural—that is fostering local collaboration and innovation to address persistent civic and economic challenges.
“In a down economy, with limited resources, and a growing need for services to help families in need, we are more determined than ever to bring our community partners together to find innovative and effective solutions to some of our most challenging social problems,” said Foundation President/CEO Peggy O’Shea. “Our community is stepping up and getting more creative in how we provide support that people need during tough times.”
The Community Foundation recently collaborated with Mohawk Valley EDGE and United Way of the Valley and greater Utica Area on a Community Indicators project, to identify our area’s greatest needs. The Community Foundation also funded literacy studies for the greater Utica area and Herkimer County, which paved the way for two New York State Department of Higher Education Literacy Zones and leveraged $1.5M in funding for the programs.
Further, the Foundation established a Corporate Partners Program with area businesses to galvanize charitable resources and maximize their impact for public good, recognizing that “we can do more together than alone,” in the words of President/CEO O’Shea. To date in 2010, nearly 300 grants and $1.8 million have been distributed to charities serving the community to meet essential needs.
Launched in 1989 through a proclamation by former President George H.W. Bush, the first Community Foundation Week included a congressional briefing about the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.
Phish. Uitca. 2010 Tour. They’re back. This time not in Syracuse or Albany – they rocked Utica. Hard. The over-capacity crowd was set ablaze on Oct. 20th as Phish got real dirty, real quick, and showed us once again that they are back and better than ever.
One local “phan” anticipated that the smaller, more intimate arena show at the Memorial Auditorium was going to be a “clinic.” He was right.
It is widely known that Phish is playing at a level unmatched by any previous incarnations of the musical phenomenon. This is why phans young an old assembled from all corners of the continent to witness what was anticipated and billed as potentially the best night of the 2010 tour thus far – the band did not disappoint...
With the exception of the unfortunate police arrests of out-of-towners, the show, which sold out in 18 minutes was a joy for all to behold.The energy and the way in which Phish wove in and out of their jams signaled their appreciation for a small venue. Followers have begun to compare the quality of the Utica dispatch with the 2009 Albany and Syracuse shows. For those that attended each of the respective shows the verdict has consistently been that the energy and excitement at the Utica Auditorium was packed to the point that the vigor of other shows pale in comparison to reception Utica received.
The real story concerns Utica, Phish and hope. CEO of For The Good, Inc., Cassandra Harris-Lockwood entered her organization for consideration by The WaterWheel Foundation. The Waterwheel Foundation was created by Phish in 1997 to oversee the band’s various charitable activities. The Touring Division of Waterwheel has worked with the band to benefit a select non-profit (picked by the band) in every market that Phish visits on tour. The net proceeds raised at each show- fan donations plus the sale of WaterWheel logo merchandise and items autographed by the band- are donated to the selected organization after deducting overhead costs.
The WaterWheel Foundation chooses non-profits from a large sphere of needs including social services, primarily those benefiting women and children; environmental, with a focus on clean water and land conservation; as well as food banks, urban gardening and more. To date, WaterWheel has donated over $750,000 to more then 325 groups. Accordingly, For The Good, Inc. was picked by the band to be the beneficiary of the donations and sales from merchandise at the Utica show. The band was gifted a generous basket of delicious selections from For The Good, Inc.’s Community Gardens that initially interested the group in the work done by the organization here in Utica.
The affirmation of the work done by For The Good, Inc. here in Utica, by one of the world’s best known musical acts is not the first time international artisans have commended the efforts of the city’s lone change agent. In 2008 Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody donated $50,000 to For The Good for the Study Buddy Club and its Arts Program.
“Phish provided For The Good with an amazing opportunity to showcase their Community Gardens, the Study Buddy Club, the Mohawk Valley Contractor’s Guild and our independent publication, the Utica Phoenix,” Harris-Lockwood remarked. “We are very grateful to Phish for recognizing our hard work and dedication to our community. We are also thankful for this funding opportunity and the support to continue the work that we do.”
With the influx of patrons to the area in observance of the show, the local economy felt the holistic benefits of the unique brand of industry that Phish brings to town. Hotels were sold out, bars and clubs were packed before and after the show and food/wares vendors (local and visiting) benefited from the event. Friends reunited under a common banner of the positive enjoyment of music and in the process enriched the greater community.
Someone who has been a seminal phan experiencing Phish 3.0, one is very much elated seeing the quartet not at all mitigated by the past, in fact, in its most brilliant manifestation to date. The live Phish experience is a celebration, an ongoing conversation and a rowdy exploration of that unmistakable brand of music.
Phish elected Utica as worthy location amidst their history-making 2010 tour, while additionally making a presentation as unique and special as any performance to date. If Phish recognizes the positive energy, cultural appreciation for the arts, and the vibrant history that is alive here in Utica, while personally anointing the progress and good work that is being done, we have much to be thankful for. With one of the worst economic situations in the state, Utica needed the uplifting energy, grassroots commerce and communal encouragement to remind us that we are very much on the map. Phish, along with Utica are here to stay, and this is only the beginning.
From Utica Phoenix.net
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