by Thomas Williams
The American dream is to own your own home. For most people owning a home is within their means. But, for those who may have a low-paying job, just starting out, or for a one-income family, the dream can seem like an impossibility. That was until several years ago with the entrance of North Country Affordable Housing, Inc. and Barbara Willis, its chief executive officer.
With the expansion of Fort Drum, there was a definite need for more affordable housing and North Country Affordable Housing, Inc. stepped in. NCAH was formed by the Development Authority of the North Country and the Jefferson County Economic Development Committee, and Willis was chosen at CEO to oversee the entire operation. There are 64 working housing units (rentals) in two developments: one in Watertown and the other in the village of Philadelphia.
From the outset, the NCAH had “fabulous” support from the State of New York to put the two developments on line in 1989 and 1990, respectively. Administrative support is provided in part by the Rural Preservation Company and the Watertown Neighborhood Preservation Company. They service the Ft Drum impact area which includes all of Jefferson, and parts of St Lawrence, and Lewis Counties. Presently the NCAH is funded by Capital Grants, money from the two rental developments in Watertown and Philadelphia, and an occasional donation.
The first house was built by NCAH in 1995. This year, NCAH will build its 150th home. Willis says that one thing that has kept her excited about her job is the self esteem she sees in the people who have moved out of a trailer or dilapidated dwellings into a new home. It is virtually a new beginning for them.
Where does the money come from to help the people build affordable housing? At least 50 percent of it must be provided by the family. The rest is provided byNCAH as a grant.
How does one qualify? First the person/ family must submit an application, which can be completed over the phone or the Internet at www.northcountryaffordablehousing.com Applicants must meet certain financial criteria to qualify. The application is reviewed, checked for completeness and income eligibility. A very important part of the process is that the applicant must own the land and that the home will be built on that land.
Once it is determined that applicants have met the requirements, they are normally put on a waiting list. (At the present time there is no waiting list.) NCAH tries to keep ahead of grants and they presently have funding until 2010.
The new structure can be either a stickbuilt or a modular home. Once the home is completed, any previous structure is destroyed. Although the home owner is the contractor, NCAH acts as a go-between between the home owner and the builder. Willis said that they “provide helping hands and settle any disputes that may erupt”.
The loan to the family from NCAH is considered a soft loan and there is no interest. If the family lives in the home for ten years, the loan is forgiven. NCAH does not get involved in restoration of older homes, but recently completed a grant called ‘Access to Home.’ The grant was designed specifically to ensure accessibility for disabled persons. It provided funding to install such things as ramps, bathroom hand-rails, and stair-lifts.
NCAH is here to stay. “There is still a great need to improve housing in the North Country” Willis said. Although economic times are tough, the State of New York realizes the housing need in thearea. Although some of the funding has been reduced, it has not been eliminated. Willis said that she, her staff, and the supporting agencies definitely will be here for people in need.
To contact the North Country Affordable housing an applicant may call the number or checkout the internet as noted above. The office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00AM to 5:00PM and is located in the HSBC main building on Washington Street on the bottom floor.
By J.D. Rossi
The Beginning
History is an amazing thing. We may not even think about it as we wander from one room to another in an otherwise modern- looking building, moving feverishly about in an effort to get the day’s work done in a timely manner. But it’s always there. The walls whisper stories of the past, despite the fresh paint and carpeted floors that hide layers of the past. Beneath it all, there is a story. And, in the case of the Childrens’ Home of Jefferson County, it’s quite an amazing one.
In 1859, two children were left homeless in Jefferson County after their mother passed away. Within hours of her death, the siblings were placed in a rented home with a matron to care for them. It was this act that spurred what would later be known as the Watertown Home for Destitute and Friendless Orphans and Children.
In their History of Jefferson County, N.Y., S.W. Durant and H.B. Pierce wrote, The Watertown Asylum for orphan and destitute children was opened March 1, 1859, and without a day’s preparation, that a home might be made for the reception of two orphans, whose mother had been accidentally killed the night previous.
Miss Frazier, from the highlands of Scotland, a woman of devoted piety, manifested in gathering the little waifs of our community into a Sunday-school, and most persistently caring for them, had been asked if an exigency like to this should occur, would she at once take charge of a ‘Home’ as matron? Without hesitation she assented. A small tenement-house in the suburbs of the town was rented; needful furniture from several homes sent in, wood supplied, a fire kindled…and the ‘Watertown Home’ was fairly begun.” Miss Frazier embarked on creating what would, decades later, be dubbed a legacy. Five years after its founding, the orphanage was moved to Franklin Street where a new facility was constructed and 50 Jefferson County children eagerlyawaited residence. It was renamed the Jefferson County Orphan Asylum. But change for the institution didn’t stop there.
As the orphanage grew, so did the need for space. In 1918, the facility acquired 14 acres of land at its current site on State Street. It was decided that a ‘cottage system’ would be incorporated in an effort to provide a more family-like atmosphere. About nine years later, ground was broken for a new facility, and, in 1930, it received its current name—The Children’s Home of Jefferson County.
The Children’s Home website offers a brief explanation of its changing mission. “While it was billed as an orphanage, many of the children in residence were not ‘full orphans.’ Often at least one and sometimes both parents were living. Children were placed here by the city, towns and county when their parents were unable to adequately care for them due to poverty or other circumstances. In addition to these ‘public charges,’ there were private placements by parents unable to provide a fam-ily home because of finances or loss of a spouse. As the county and state became increasingly involved in placements, the orphanage became more of a foster care institution. But throughout the 1960s, the trend was away from institutionalized foster care in favor of home placements. In 1972 the Children’s Home amended its charter to accept youth who are wards of the court system, marking our transition into a residential treatment facility.”
Today’s Operation
Long-time Executive Director Karen Y. Richmond recalled, “When I started here 27 years ago, we used to take children for a year and then send them home. They didn’t visit their parents and their parents didn’t come here. That’s a far cry from the early days when children here didn’t even have parents.
” Today, at any given time, the campus houses 40 children between the ages of ten and seventeen and operates a three-tiered program, centered around a ResidentialTreatment Program, a Non-Secure Detention Program and Foster Care. “No matter which road the children have to travel,” Richmond said, “they leave with values and compassion they didn’t have before they came.” “They come here with a goal,” says Richmond. “Either they’ve had a discipline problem or they’ve had a school problem or they have mental health issues. We understand that not every child will have the same outcome.
They each have their own program and we work on it within the given time frame.” The Residential Treatment Program provides a structured environment for atrisk youth and the children may spend 30, 60 or 90 days in this section. Placed in the Children’s Home by the New York State Family Court system, the children are monitored around the clock. They attend public schools by day and for the most part, are back on campus in the evenings. And they stay in touch with their families on a weekly basis.
“Our program is different because our kids do attend public schools,” Richmond said. “Children at many other facilities in the state attend school right on campus, but we have staff in the local schools to support the children and get them through any adjustment. Some children here have not attended school in a year, perhaps because they fell through the cracks. But we get them back on track.”
The Non-Secure Detention Program is a temporary program that provides short-term care for children awaiting Family Court action.
“Children coming into non-secured detention are provided with services to try and keep them out of placement while working to strengthen the family needs so that child ultimately gets back home,” Richmond explained.
The last shelf of the three-tier system is Foster Care. Trained foster parents take care of the children until they can either return home with their own families, are adopted, or meet the requirements of living independently. It’s a program that has seen new life over the past few years. “We operate this program so that children can step out of the residential program and not stay any longer than necessary,” said Richmond. “As great as we believe this place is, it is not regular family life.”
150 Years Later
Today the Children’s Home of Jefferson County stands as the North Country’s oldest non-profit agency. With 140 employees, it is a successful $9.5 million operation with no debt.
Mark G. Waterbury, president of the Board of Directors of the facility, is proud of what happens at the Children’s Home. “Many of these children come here from tragic circumstances and find a place thatoffers them something very different. It sounds pretty heavy, but that’s how it is! In addition to school, they ski, they learn to kayak, they go hiking. They do things they probably never dreamed of doing.” Clearly, their lives improve.
“The reason we’ve been able to survive is because we’ve been so flexible,” Waterbury added. “The transitions over the years have been necessary because of differences in the needs of children. Our programs have grown and changed and the staff has, too. It’s not just a job for them. They really care and they go those extra miles. It’s fantastic when you can do something like this for the community.”
“Creating opportunities to enhance lives one relationship at a time”—that’s the Children’s Home motto. It seems to work. Miss Frazier would be proud.
The future of the North Country is directly linked to the quality of its leadership. Dedicated, trained and inspired community leaders will shape and determine the future of our region for years to come. This belief was the motivation behind the creation of the Jefferson Leadership Institute (JLI), a program of the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. Established in 1991, an average class size of 20 each year has led to over 330 graduates who are now part of the leadership core of Jefferson County. Read more
Pride in community service motivated numerous employees of Actus Lend Lease, LLC, (Actus), designer-builder for Ft. Drum Mountain Community Homes to assist Thousand Islands Area Habitat for Humanity in the construction of two homes built in the Watertown area. The homes, valued at more than $200,000 each, were designed by GYMO Architecture, Engineering and Land Surveying P.C., Watertown, and constructed solely by Actus employees involved in the massive residential communities currently being build on Ft. Drum. Read more
Ask the owner or manager of any manufacturing business what goals they’d most like to achieve and chances are the top two answers will be to cut costs and increase profits. The challenge lies in how to accomplish these goals and keep a company afloat, or better yet to grow it.
