PRESS ROOM
Since 1990, communities across the country have gathered together on the first day of winter to bring attention to the inhumanity of homelessness.
Please join us as we remember our neighbors who lost their lives while experiencing homelessness in the Mohawk Valley.
The event will include speakers, eulogies, and a reading of the names of our neighbors who died without a home in 2024.
Our second annual Homeless Persons Memorial Event is open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.
Utica, Oneida & Madison Counties Housing Summit
The inaugural Housing Summit was held on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at the Utica Parkway Recreation Center. This event was sponsored by the Mohawk Valley Continuum of Care - NY518 (CoC), with co sponsors: Cornhill Neighborhood Association, Utica-Oneida County NAACP, Rebuilding the Village, Inc., United Way MV, Oneida County DFCS, and Oneida County. Special Acknowledgements went to Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, CoC Program Participants, The Levitt Center for Public Affairs at Hamilton College, and Oneida County, New York.
There were 2 panel discussions, and several local housing resource providers at tables with information to share about their work.
The 1st panel topic was: An Overview of the Housing Crisis in America, the City of Utica, Oneida & Madison Counties, with panelists Dr. Gwendolyn Dordick, Christina Reilly, Esq., Alex Lawson, and Freddie Hamilton. The 2nd panel covered Homelessness Prevention- Fair Housing Regulations; Tenants Rights; How to File a Housing Complaint; What to Expecting in Housing Court; Tips for Best Outcomes, and more, with panelists Lynette Sullivan, John Viscosi, Clara O’Brien, Esq., and Lewellyne Blanchard. Both discussions were well attended, and very informative.
The organizations that provided tables were: Madison County Community Action, Citizen Action of New York, Helio Health, ICAN, Salvation Army, Johnson Park Center, Cornerstone’s Morrow Center, Empowered Pathways, Oneida County Department of Family and Community Services (DSS), Legal Services of Central New York, and United Way of the Mohawk Valley. The Children’s Museum’s Mobile Museum was also there, and refreshements were donated by the Environmental Studies Department at Hamilton College.
Please enjoy some photos of the Housing Summit, below.
Invisible Youth Event: Thursday November 2, 2023
The OHM Runaway and Homeless Youth Task force presents the Invisible Youth Art Show on Thursday, November 2, from 3:00 t0 6:00 PM at the Jervis Public Library in Rome, NY. Youth speakers will be featured at 5:00 PM. There will be artwork displayed with the theme of "home" from 25 different schools across 15 districts.
Recommended donations of toiletry items for the Jervis Public Library’s Comfort Cabinet.
Update:
The Invisible Youth Art Show at the Jervis Public Library was beautifully installed and well attended. Several of the students who created the artwork were there with their families. The speakers all gave inspirational talks, and there were refreshments generously donated by the Madison-Oneida BOCES Culinary Arts Program. Kelly Conroy- Scott, Senior Planner for the CoC gave opening remarks. Then Samantha Jones, Co-Chair for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Committee introduced the guest speakers: Jacqueline M. Izzo, Mayor of Rome; Sergeant Scott Hoag, of the Rome Police Department; and a former homeless youth, who spoke of his successful rise from homelessness with a lot of self-determination and the aid of local programs.
Please enjoy some photos from the event in the slide show below.
Freddie Hamilton, CoC Racial Equity Chair
People of all ages admired the works!
Attendees chatting before the talks...
Listening to the speakers...
Kelly Conroy-Scott, Senior Planner for the CoC
Samantha Jones, Co-Chair for the Runaway & Homeless Youth Committee.
Jacqueline M. Izzo, Mayor of Rome
Sergeant Scott Hoag of the Rome Police Department
Art Work by local students, depicting their vision of "home."
Local students' artwork
The food- donated by MOBOCES
A student with his 3-D project
Developers Turn Vacant School Into Housing, Senior Center
(Affordable Housing Finance, July 2021)
By Donna Kimura
The Project, which provides 50 affordable homes to seniors in Verona NY, has been selected by Affordable Housing Finance magazine as a finalist for the Reader’s Choice 2021 Best Seniors Development.
Read more here.
Corona Virus, County Seeks Answers to Protect Homeless
(Utica Observer Dispatch, April 20, 2020)
By H. Rose Schneider
While the majority of the county’s population has a residence in which to isolate themselves while waiting out the coronavirus pandemic, the area’s homeless population face this new risk amid often crowded shelters and concerns that they may disregard social distancing guidelines.
Read more here.
Local students who have no place to call home
(Utica Observer Dispatch Sunday Feature Story, Nov. 9, 2014)
By Alissa Scott
At age 16, Sade Cardin was spending time in and out of homeless shelters. She dropped out of school, was in an abusive relationship and didn’t always know where she would sleep.
Read more here.