Connections

The Official Employee Newsletter at the Evergreen Association of Western New York, Inc. - September 2011

a legend re Cause for Celebration is coming back. That won’t mean much if you’ve been with the agency five years or less, but for nearly twenty years prior Cause was our most popular fundraiser, and it’s coming back. You’ll be hearing a lot about this event over the next few weeks, so here’s a quick overview of the basics.

Cause for Celebration is really a two-part fundraising event. On November 19, supporters from all over Western New York will throw parties for family, friends and co-workers. It might be a gourmet sit-down dinner, simple hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, or even pizza and wings for the gang. Guests at these parties will be asked to make a donation to ACS as “payment” for attending. At 8:00 p.m. party attendees and hosts will converge at the Connecticut Street Armory, where we provide music, dancing, live entertainment, a cash

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umptuous desserts, an art auction, cagaming and maybe a few surprises! In years Cause events were built around a e: Carnivale, Hollywood, Roaring Twenisco. The theme for our “welcome back” is the glitz and glamour of old Las Veou might see showgirls, the Rat Pack, or he King himself, Elvis, pull up in a shiny ac convertible (yes, even in November). thy and Christina in Resource Develnt are working hard to get everything for November 19, eagerly assisted by ittees made up of staff and volunteers. s a lot of energy and excitement suring the return of this popular event, ause 2011 promises to be a wonderful ng for attendees old and new. Watch fussues of Connections for more informas it becomes available. - John Carocci

Above: Marcus and Kate with Emperor 20 Fanny Rivera at the Imperial Court of Buffalo’s Disbursement of Funds from Reign 20. Marcus and Kate accepted checks in excess of $7,000 to support the Life Changes program and the agency’s Food Bank. The Southern Tier Office and the Pride Center also received support.

In total, over $10,000 went to support the programs of the Evergreen Association. Below: special thanks to Empress Jade Jette, pictured here with Matthew John.

Gary’s Garden Makeover When I first moved to my apartment, there were ten foot high hedges around the porch and in front of the windows, which I trimmed down to a decent length so as to be seen from the porch. I also mowed the lawn regularly.

Shortly thereafter, the landlord, at many tenants’ request, cut down the hedges for safety reasons and took over “yard maintenance”. The landlord had the idea of creating a garden in the center of the lawn, so he brought in a load of dirt and just randomly dumped some of it, putting the rest where the hedges had been. He lined the perimeter of both new spaces with awful-looking, multi-colored pavers. The space against the house was covered with weeds that the landlord had allowed to get three feet tall. The lawn wasn’t in any better shape — he only mowed it once a month then left the long cut grass strewn across the lawn (continued on next page)

(Gary’s Garden continued from previous page) like a fresh cut hay field. In the center “garden” he planted a holly bush that soon became overrun with weeds and choked out.

For approximately twelve years, I’ve maintained a garden on my third floor apartment porch, where I’ve grown corn, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, onions and various flowers in containers. Last year, Buffalo in Bloom “Bloomed” my porch garden, whereby the impetus for creating a garden in the front yard began.

Elatedly talking to coworkers about my recent “bloom”, they eagerly offered their help in creating the apartment garden. The transformation began after an initial clean-up of the yard and removing more than eight large trash bags of leaves, brush, weeds and debris. Next, the hedge roots were removed and I tilled the soil to make it ready for planting. I removed approximately 14 wheelbarrows full of dirt, and designed retaining walls, creating a few different levels within the new garden. Chris Voltz, Kate Gallivan, and Kim Harding were instrumental in making this new garden happen by providing me with plants they divided from their own gardens, chicken manure, and their time and energy in layout and planting.

The new garden, nicknamed “The Late Bloomers” garden by one of the tenants, has spurred everyone to take pride and ownership in the space around us. Other tenants weeded the side garden, and trimmed and hauled brush from the back and side yards. One of the tenants, returning at 11:00 p.m. from a week on vacation, saw the garden in the dark for the first time, got online, and ordered a patio set for the front porch.

He drove 45 minutes the next night to pick it up.

The new garden and transformed yard has had a great affect on our neighbors—they now talk to us, because we are no longer the ugly step-child yard on the block!

- Gary Williams

where w 10 Years Ago...

10 Years Ago...

Justin Peglowski — I was in my freshman year at Canisius College majoring in Biology/Pre-Med.

believe what I was watching, minutes later another plane crashed against the second tower. My first thought was to get on the E train to Wall Street area and do my photography assignment based on a historic event, but I was too disturbed from the scenes on TV and the actual view from my roof top. When the towers started to collapse, I received numerous phone calls from school, work, friends and family from Ecuador and Europe. It was hard to convince some relatives who never been to NY, that I was out of the borough of Manhattan, which according to the world media, was under attack.

Tara Grier — I was living on campus at Alfred University as Resident Assistant and studying Performing Arts and acting as a bad angel in “Dr. Faust”.

Felicia Cruz — I served in the United States Marine Corps (stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina) and I just had my first and only daughter on August 7, 2001. I came home to Buffalo in September with her. When 9/11 took place in New York City I had to stay in Buffalo longer with my newborn. I went back in October, 2001 and 1½ years later I served in Iraq in the Iraqi Freedom War. Johnny Mora — Ten years ago I was living in and experiencing all the excitement that the big apple offers. I was living in Jackson Heights Queens, second largest LGBT neighborhood outside Greenwich Village; working full time at Takashimaya, a Japanese department store on 5th Avenue; also I had just started a photography class at Hunter College, where I obtained my bachelors degree in fine arts.

Despite my very busy schedule, I managed to make Tuesdays my days off from work and school. One of those days while resting at home, I came back from the kitchen, to continue watching the morning news and noticed a peculiar sci-fi horror movie on TV. At that moment I didn’t remember changing the channel, and had started toying with remote control and all of TV stations showed one of the twin towers from the world trade center under fire. I couldn’t

Yeaben Gompah — I was working as the Office Manager for a family owned business (Safari Group, Inc.) in the North Buffalo area.

Ava Encarnacion — I was living in Nashville, enjoying life, and taking exotic vacations every six months… I could do that, gas was only $1.19.

Flights were cheap!!!

Julie Vaughan — I was living with roommates in Buffalo’s West Side on the other side of “Little” Summer Street, a gorgeous garden haven. I was an Accounting Clerk at M&T Bank and worked in the same building as the Gold Dome.

Kevin Bidtah — I was getting married to the woman of my dreams. I had worked at ACS for 1 year (was an Assistant Case Manager in COBRA). Just purchased a small 3 BR house in Cheektowaga in July, 2001. Still had my earrings in.

were you...

10 Years Ago...

20 Years Ago...

20 Years Ago...

Maisha Drayton — 10 years ago I was here in Buffalo… living on the west side… just getting back from my honeymoon.

Sheila Stephens — Well, 20 years ago I was living in Fort Bragg, North Carolina with my husband and two small children ages 3 and 1. My husband was a Green Beret paratrooper and I was attending Rutledge College and working as a Title Clerk for an automobile dealer.

spring and had hired five new staff for that program, including our first Case Manager based in Jamestown.

We were also planning our move in September from the old Jackson Building (now the Hampton Inn) to 121 West Tupper Street. It was a very exciting time for us!

Mark Schnitzer — I was laid off from my job as a Visual Merchandiser at Kleinhans Men’s Store after 15 years. At 32 years old, I enrolled at Buffalo State College and attended my first semester in fall of 1991.

And I was pretty much a stay at home dad for about two years; my youngest daughter was just 4 months old when I was laid off.

Andrew Kiener — I was living in Florida and remember laying on the beach listening to Whitney Houston and Boyz II Men on my brand new portable Sony Walkman cassette player and wondering just what this whole Internet thing was about!

Tom Needham — I had just finished working for the summer in a factory making BB guns on an assembly line and was about to begin my sophomore year at UB with an undecided major, driving a Subaru with bad brakes and wearing some wide leg jeans.

Brendan Orrange — I was in a galaxy far, far away.

I was fighting the Empire over my home planet of Tatooine with Old Ben and my droids.

Saw Min — I was in Burma and worked as a principal of a middle school in an insurgent area and a malaria region of Karen State. Karen State was one of the worst states in Burma where most of the Burmese refugees came to the United States.

Rashone Scott-Williams — I was planning a vacation to NYC for my first wedding anniversary with my husband. I could have been there when the towers fell.

Stephanie Vroman — Ten years ago, I was starting my senior year at Sweet Home High School. I was balancing trying to figure out where to go to college, playing tennis and lacrosse and working at Ponderosa. But probably the most interesting thing to happen to me that year, was experiencing my first airplane flight ever… on which there was a bomb threat and an emergency landing!

Kimberly Lombard — I had graduated Buff State and was volunteering at Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian camp and high desert farm. I washed dishes, cleaned bathrooms, pulled cacti thorns out of children’s hands and feet and chased away wandering wild horses. I went to Mexico and had some fun.

Raymond Ganoe — I was finishing my undergrad (BSW) and working as an Addictions Medicine Specialist at BryLin Hospitals. All of the other counselors were “afraid” to take the HIV+ patients so I took them all and trained to be an HIV test counselor. That is how I got started in this field.

Kate Gallivan — Twenty years ago at this time, in 1991, I was working as the Director of Operations here at AIDS Community Services. We had just started our COBRA case management program in the

CONNECTIONS CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHER/LAYOUT JOHN CAROCCI EDITOR KIMBERLY HARDING CONTRIBUTORS PRACTICALLY HALF THE AGENCY ON THIS PAGE ALONE. I’M NOT TYPING THEM ALL OUT. JUST GO LOOK AT THE PHONE LIST. (P.S. - THAT’S A GOOD THING)

Kate Gallivan, Johnny Mora, Cathy Alvarez and I attended the 2011 National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. This year’s conference theme was “The Urgency Now: Reduce Incidence.

Improve Access. Promote Equality”. The four day event provided an opportunity to look back at the successes and challenges of the first 30 years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the lessons learned and how

we can apply these lessons today to have an even greater impact on the HIV epidemic. Sessions included the National HIV Strategy; Social Networks as a Tool of Engagement in HIV/AIDS Prevention; Tools for Integrating Mental Health, Substance Abuse and HIV Prevention; and Developing an HIV Testing Campaign for Black MSM just to name a few.

Participants also had the chance to meet venders and

service providers from other agencies and groups all over the United States, there to provide educational material on programs and services that were offered.

The conference ended with an emotional closing that left us motivated to continue our fight against the epidemic and determined to continue educating people about the importance of condom usage and safe sex practices to minimize the risk.

- Jamila Banks

Birthdays Fatai Gbadamosi - September 16 Alain Rodriguez - September 29 James Mohr - September 25 Sheila Stephens - September 25 Kimberly Lombard - September 15 Rashone Scott-Williams - September 8 Bridget McClain - September 10 Jorien Brock - September 26 Jennifer DeMarsh - September 22 Julie Vaughan - September 17 Jason Rein - September 20 Shannon Bryant - September 20 Lucy Brown - September 14 Corinne Henderson - September 11 Yakira Moreno - September 30

Anniversaries Fatai Gbadamosi - 6 years Susan Fiedler - 7 years Gary Williams - 13 years Shari DeMarco - 3 years Kimberly Lombard - 19 years Jennifer DeMarsh - 1 year Felicia Cruz - 5 years Keisha Leavy - 6 years Thomas Needham - 5 years Lindsay Zasada - 1 year Your Continued Dedication and Hard Work Are Noticed and Appreciated!

– The Management Team

The summer is coming to an end, and Wine on Wednesdays returns with a dinner and wine tasting on September 14 at Lockport Canalside. The cost is $55 per person or $45 per person for groups of four or more. Get a few friends or family members together and join us for a night of dining and wine tasting.

Other dinner dates and venues through the end of the year: October 12 – Buffalo Yacht Club November 9 – Cecelia’s Restaurant December 7 – Botanical Gardens If you have any questions, or are interested in attending one of our Wine on Wednesdays dinners, please visit our website www.wineonwednesdays.com or call me directly to make your reservation.

- Kimberly Harding

Thank You Liya, Ray and Matthew John for our grilled lunch!