Downtown Syracuse YMCA Autumn Donor Newsletter

YOUR IMPACT A Newsletter for Downtown Syracuse YMCA Donors

DOWNTOWN SYRACUSE YMCA 340 Montgomery Street Syracuse, NY 13202 ycny.org

Autumn 2015

DOWNTOWN BOARD MEMBERS Douglas Cronin

Principal, Crown Risk Management, LLC

Raymond Dague

Owner, Raymond J. Dague, PLLC

Elizabeth DeJoseph

Assistant Director Bureau of Research, City of Syracuse

Lori Dietz

Vice President of Operations, CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity

Anthony Farella

Principle, Rockbridge Investment Management, LLC

Linda Henley

Financial Advisor, Northwestern Mutual Financial

Bethany Holbrook

Economic Development and Marketing Specialist, Downtown Committee

Leila Karkia

Corporate Social Responsibility & Events Coordinator, O’Brien & Gere

Zachary Karmen

Attorney, Department of Social Services, Onondaga County

Scott Lickstein

Attorney, Newman & Lickstein

Tom Manzo

Mechanical Engineer, IPD Engineer

Robert Markowski

Vice-President, NBT Bank

John Warren

Executive Director, Central New York Services, Inc.

Ashley Wilson Courtney Wilson

Dear Y Supporter, What’s new at the Downtown YMCA? We just wrapped up another successful summer of our Urban Swim Initiative and because of your support 161 kids right here in the innercity learned how to stay safe and have fun around the water. And more than 700 children and their families received swimsuits through out swimsuit distribution program. Thank you to all of our supporters who contributed to the program and the swimsuit drive – you helped make summer great for these kids and their families.

This fall we look forward to the launch of our Togetherhood Program which will provide additional opportunities for people to get involved and help support the Y. And stay tuned... We are working on rebranding our Green Lakes Triathlon and Race Weekend so that more of our event participants and spectators know they are competing for our cause and helping to support people diagnosed with cancer.

The Y program we are featuring in this issue of the newsletter is our Downtown Men’s Residence. We are proud to provide this important housing service in our community and we are grateful to our donors who support our mission and make this possible.

Principal, CBD Companies

Thank you for choosing to give to the Y. Your gift changes lives. We see it every day. You help people grow stronger, and you help our community grow stronger too.

Aaron Wood

Best wishes,

Senior Vice President, UBS Financial Services

Monique Wright Williams Executive Director of Parent & Family Engagement

Robin Zimpel-Fontaine

Attorney, Cherundolo Law Firm PLLC

Cheryl Pusztai, Executive Director

YOUR IMPACT | A Newsletter for Downtown Syracuse YMCA Donors

INSPIRED TO GIVE Our community comes together to provide support in many forms.

Sometimes it’s people’s time and talent. Other times it’s financial gifts. And sometimes it is in-kind contributions like those provided by Adena Rochelson to the Downtown Y that offers crucial support.

Adena is an amazing young woman who started Operation Soap Dish in 2009. She spent three years collecting her allowance, birthday money, and hosting collection drives so she could provide toiletries and household cleaning supplies to people in need. Operation Soap Dish became an official nonprofit in 2012 and Adena continues to do great work helping to strengthen our local community.

Recently through Operation Soap Dish Adena donated body wash, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes and laundry soap to the Trading Post in support of the Downtown Men’s Residence. The Trading Post is open once a month and provides toiletries, clothing, shoes and other items that are greatly needed by the men in our program, but which they cannot personally afford to buy.

Donations such as Adena’s through Operation Soap Dish are special gifts that make a big impact. We greatly appreciate Adena’s generosity! If you are interested in making a gift to the Trading Post, please call Angela Alvarez at 315-474-6851, x313.

Meet Marilyn!

Marilyn Brown-Shakir has been a residential advisor for the Downtown Men’s Residence and our senior housing apartments since 1997 and she plays a vital role in supporting the housing we provide at the Downtown Y. Marilyn is a Licensed Master Social Worker and is a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor.

Marilyn has lived in Syracuse most of her life and she obtained her graduate and undergraduate degrees from Syracuse University. Marilyn knows this area well and has seen that the residential programs at the Y provide critically needed and affordable housing in the downtown area, and in support of our community. The ongoing waiting list for the Downtown Men’s Residence averages between 25-30 men seeking a place to live, and many of these individuals are currently homeless.

Marilyn helps to provide critically-needed services in support of the people living at the Downtown Y. She provides one-on-one counseling and checks on people when they are ill. When residents do not have family or friends to be with them through medical procedures or surgeries, Marilyn is there and goes with them to provide assistance and support. And when people are in need of additional services, Marilyn connects them with organizations and programs she works with so that they can get the extra help they need.

Richard Turk, Marilyn’s supervisor and the Residence Director for the Y’s housing programs, shares “Marilyn’s contribution during her time at the YMCA has turned the men’s single room occupancy facility from not only a residence, but to a supportive housing program, and the YMCA Senior Apartments from independent housing to supportive independent housing for seniors and disabled men and women.”

Marilyn and Richard both go to tremendous lengths to assist the people living at the Downtown Y. Sometimes it is a hot meal, or sometimes it is simply a kind word. Marilyn shares that there are many rewarding moments in her job. Not only does she assist people in crisis, she has helped fathers reunite with their children, and has helped people reconnect with their families. Marilyn helps fulfill a need in our community for compassionate care for both seniors and men in need of affordable housing, and a place to call home.

YOUR IMPACT | A Newsletter for Downtown Syracuse YMCA Donors

A Y CHAMPION In Memory of John Gamage John Gamage loved the Downtown YMCA and was a regular member who came here frequently. Like many of our Downtown members, the Y was convenient for John because he worked Downtown as the Commissioner of Assessment for the City of Syracuse for more than 25 years, and for five different mayors.

John was committed to the Y as a member and as a volunteer serving on our board for eight years. And John’s giving and volunteering expanded beyond the Y. In his retirement he helped maintain hiking trails locally and in the Adirondacks, and he also helped people preparing to take their U.S. citizenship exam.

Because he was so devoted to the Y, a friend of John’s recently came forward and said he wanted to do something in John’s honor in support of the Y, a cause that John loved and believed in. He decided to make an anonymous gift for the Downtown Men’s Residence holiday dinners – dinners where John had volunteered his time and shared a meal with men here at the Y. In response to this special gift in John’s memory, and because so many people in our community knew John, we would like to invite you to join us, and John’s family, in supporting the Thanksgiving dinner in John’s honor. Your gift can be sent in the enclosed envelope and will make this event a truly special one for John’s family and friends, as well as for the people who call the Downtown Men’s Residence home.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS Downtown Men’s Residence

Since its founding in 1858, the YMCA of Greater Syracuse has helped men in transition find the support they need. Why? Because men who regain their strength – in spirit, mind and body – help strengthen their families, their friends, and their community.

The Downtown YMCA Men’s Residence is a place of hope for men in transition in Central New York. It is home to as many as 99 men in single-room occupancy units. During the holiday season our residents, Y staff members, and Y volunteers come together for dinner and provide warm food and company for men in need and to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The holidays can bring with it additional stress and pressure for everyone, but for men at the Downtown Men’s Residence there can be the extra stress of not being with their families during the holidays, or having the financial resources to purchase gifts, even small ones, for their children. The holiday dinners help provide a welcome relief for these men during what can be a very difficult time of year.

If you would like to help support the holiday dinners, please use the enclosed envelope today to make your gift to the Y. Our Downtown residents will thank you, and we will thank you too for helping to support these special dinners for people in need.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

DOWNTOWN SYRACUSE YMCA 340 Montgomery Street Syracuse, NY 13202 315.474.6851

TOGETHERHOOD The Togetherhood Program, a new initiative being piloted by the Downtown Y, brings Y supporters and the community together. The program provides opportunities for both members and non-members to volunteer in support of projects in and outside of the Y. We have several ways you can join the program and help: • Be a campaigner for the YMCA Annual Campaign • Organize a care package drive for the Downtown Men’s Residence • Donate laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, and utensils • Adopt a senior from our Senior Housing Program for the holidays • Make holiday cards for our Men’s Residence and Senior Housing participants • Knit socks/scarves/blankets • Donate board games for senior tenants • Provide a worship service • Organize a move-in welcome package • Organize an Angel Tree during the holidays For more information about contributing to service projects at the Downtown YMCA, please contact Scott Sears at ssears@syracuseymca.org or 315-474-6851 x341.

PAID

SYRACUSE, NY PERMIT NO. 1924

Thank you so much to the following donors who have helped in 2015 with lead gifts of $500 or more to the Downtown YMCA! Advantage Sport & Fitness, Inc The Allyn Foundation American Food & Vending Corp.

Edward Barno Jim and Julie Boeheim Foundation John Corcoran

Sam and Deborah Haines

Alan Chris and Sue Read

Thomas Hamel

RockBridge Investments

John Hartnett

The Saint Agatha Foundation

Harris Beach PLLC Hematology-Oncology Associates Linda Henley Leila Karkia

Douglas Cronin

Ted Kiteveles

Crown Risk Management LLC

Frederick Kucinski Bill Lakehomer

Jessica DesRosiers

Mary and Tom Lane

Lori Dietz

Richard Lowenberg

Maureen and Paul Drescher

MetLife Foundation

Anthony and Anne Farella

Mountain Goat Run Foundation, Inc.

John and Mary Jane Fennessey

Stefanie Noble

Fleet Feet Syracuse, Inc.

O’Brien & Gere Engineers, Inc.

Michael and Heidi Gerry

Cheryl Pusztai

Scott Sears Shell Oil Company Foundation Frank Smith The John Ben Snow Foundation Joseph Snyder George Soufleris Syracuse Fitness Store Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists, PC The Walmart Foundation Wegmans Food Markets Inc.