Grace Community Center
"Junior League Outfits
Samaritan House Women’s Shelter"

White Plains, NY, December 18, 2006

Each spring and fall, new members of the Junior League of Central Westchester (JLCW), known as “provisionals”, tackle a community project designed to help them bond as well as train them to be effective volunteers.

This fall’s provisional project consisted of decorating the 19-bed Samaritan House women’s shelter operated by Grace Church Community Center (GCCC) in downtown White Plains.

The shelter, closed since May 2006 to accommodate renovations to the Parish Hall of Grace Church, 33 Church Street where it is housed, re-opened its doors on December 18th to welcome thirteen homeless women who have spent the last few months being shuttled from emergency accommodations in one shelter to another.  The new residents gratefully christened their cheery new living quarters, beautifully re-decorated with new bedding, curtains and linens provided by the Junior League.  Members of the organization had been on hand earlier in the day to make up the bedrooms.

The Junior League provisional group also donated a computer, computer table, dining room table and chairs, microwave oven, coffee percolator, dishes and other kitchen supplies as well as books and games for the residents.

The Junior League, a non profit women’s organization has more than 250 active and sustainer members who live in Eastchester, Greenburgh, Scarsdale and White Plains and who share a commitment to volunteering.    The group’s mission is to improve the lives of women and children in central Westchester.  They do so by collaborating with local agencies and groups to identify community needs and to develop effective programs to address those needs.

Past provisional projects have included creating a rec room in the basement of a group foster home for teenage boys and installation and stocking of a closet for donated clothes for children and adults at a Head Start program.

Renovations to the Grace Church Parish Hall were done by Louis Cappelli who is developing the neighboring Renaissance Square with its 40 story Ritz-Carlton, Westchester Hotel and Residences which will tower over the small stone church on the corner.  Cappelli’s $2 million contribution included construction crews and management of the renovations.  Other donations for the project were provided by the Weinberg Foundation and the Empire State Development Corporation.
 
The renovated Grace Church Parish Hall houses four other GCCC programs- - a Soup Kitchen which provides over 30,000 free meals to the hungry each year, a Day Care, Rainbow, a drop-in program for developmentally disabled adults, and overflow sleeping quarters for Open Arm’s, the agency’s nearby men’s shelter.

GCCC is a non-sectarian, nonprofit social services agency that has been assisting Westchester County’s neediest and most at-risk residents for over 27 years.  To learn more about the agency and its programs visit www.gracecommunitycenter.org.

Chris Schwartz
Grace Church Community Center
52 North Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603
Tel: 914-949-3098 ext 135
Fax: 914-761-2105
E-Mail: cschwartz@optonline.net

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