Grace Community Center
Grand Opening of New Facility

Ribbon-cutting opens new Grace Church Community Center facility

White Plains, NY – October 16, 2008

Grace Church Community Center’s Grand Opening of its new facility at 35 Orchard Street in White Plains took place on October 16. On hand for the ribbon cutting were County Executive Andrew J. Spano and wife, Brenda Resnick-Spano, Hon. Amy Paulin, NY State Assemblywoman, Hon. William J. Ryan and Senator Suzi Oppenheimer. More than 100 guests from local businesses and nonprofit agencies attended, along with other city and county officials, including Hon. Glen Hockley and Commissioner Susan Habel, representing Mayor Delfino’s office. . 

After 30 years of serving Westchester County’s neediest men, women and children, Grace Church Community Center (GCCC), a prominent local social services agency, purchased the building in 2008. A capital campaign is underway to raise $750,000. Two major donors to the capital campaign to date are The Erna Hildebrandt Trust and The Lanza Family Foundation.

The building with its 6,100 sq. ft interior has been extensively renovated to accommodate GCCC’s Administrative, Fiscal and Housing Service Departments. Approximately 1,000 square feet of office space is currently available for rent by another nonprofit agency.

The purchase will increase the agency’s visibility and name recognition in the community by creating a “flagship” building in a strategic location to assist the thousands of residents, now and in the future, who are underserved by existing resources - men, women, children, the elderly and disabled of Westchester.

“Many county residents are unaware of the breadth of the nine vital services operated by our agency at various locations throughout White Plains,” said Paul Anderson-Winchell, Executive Director. “We hope that the building purchase will make the agency and its services better known to the community as well as demonstrating that, in spite of the current difficult economic climate, GCCC expects to be here for the long haul,” added Winchell-Anderson.

Grace Church Community Center operates its programs at other locations throughout Westchester. These include the Open Arms Men’s Shelter, Samaritan House Women’s Shelter, a Soup Kitchen, Project Trust, a day services outreach program for chronically homeless men and women, Rainbow Outreach to serve developmentally disabled individuals with safe environment and therapeutic activities, a Summer Camp and After-School Mentoring Program for homeless and disadvantaged children, a Licensed Home Care Agency and provides eviction prevention assistance and helps individuals with mental illness or HIV/AIDS locate affordable housing.

GCCC anticipates the need for services provided by the agency will definitely increase due to the worsening economic climate. This growth will be most evident at the Soup Kitchen operated from Grace Episcopal Church Parish Hall at 33 Church Street in the center of White Plains.

The Soup Kitchen provides a nutritious mid-day meal to approximately 75-100 clients every Monday to Friday and is one of the few locations in White Plains to do so on a regular basis. Lately, all the tables have been full - - with homeless men and women as well as an increasing number of senior citizens who can’t make ends meet, day laborers and more surprisingly, neatly dressed individuals with jobs at nearby retail outlets. The numbers are expected to increase as the weather grows colder.

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