Common Ground, a community center located at 28 West Main St. in Owego, N.Y. accepted a check from the Community Foundation for South Central New York on Nov. 20, 2014.
Common Ground, a community center located at 28 West Main St. in Owego, N.Y. accepted a check from the Community Foundation for South Central New York on Nov. 20, 2014. The donation of $8,890 will be used to purchase replacement furnace and heating equipment for Common Ground’s historic building which was ravaged during the 2011 flood.
The new, high efficiency furnace will be installed on the first floor rather than the former basement location to enhance the building’s flood resilience, according to Common Ground’s Director, Robert Henrich.
Henrich acquired the historic church late in 2013 and worked through the winter to ready it for its first use as a community center: hosting the first daily Summer Food Service Program in Owego to be open to any child who walked through the door.
The Summer Food Service Program, facilitated in conjunction with Owego-Apalachin Central Schools, was a big success, according to Henrich. With his concept having been proven, Henrich sought funding to expand programs at Common Ground.
“Serving the community is the foundation of what Common Ground is all about,” Henrich said, “we want to be a place where charitable organizations can come together and share resources to better serve the community.”
In a competitive year for grants, Chair of the Community Foundation for South Central New York’s Board of Directors Keith Chadwick had to make tough choices as he and Community Foundation’s staff determined which organizations they could help. With requests over $400,000 and only $100,000 to hand out, the money had to go where it could do the most good.
The collaborative emphasis of Common Ground, along with its proven ability to assist in the effort to reduce food insecurity, highlighted Henrich’s grant application according to Community Foundation’s Executive Director Diane Brown.
“Food distribution programs are very critical these days,” Brown said, “with their collaborative efforts and need for heat, they rose to the top in a very competitive year for grants.”
Brown said that Community Foundation fills a niche by funding capital projects many other foundations don’t cover. That need was significant after the 2011 flood, Brown said, when Community Foundation helped many Tioga County organizations as they recovered from the flood.
Among the Tioga County organizations that have received help from Community Foundation are the Open Door Mission, Tioga County Rural Ministry, Catholic Charities, Tioga County Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, and the Ti-Ahwaga Players.
The Community Foundation of South Central New York serves as a focal point for philanthropy in the region they serve, covering Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, and Tioga counties. Since it’s inception in 1997, Community Foundation has awarded over $8 million in grants.
