INN celebrating five years of supporting the community
Improve Norwich Now held a symposium in November to share what the organization has accomplished in the past five years, and how they continue to support the Chenango County community through the Fostering Futures program; One Community, One Book events; their partnership with the Paperback Exchange; and Aunt Mary's House. (Submitted photo)
NORWICH — Improve Norwich Now (INN) is celebrating five years of supporting the Chenango County community through literacy initiatives, community partnerships, and addressing local needs.
INN's mission and vision is "to remove barriers and provide supports, so all community members can reach their full potential." For the past five years, the organization has worked to achieve this mission with their Fostering Futures New York Chenango County (FFNYCC) program; the One Community, One Book and All INN for Reading initiatives; their partnership with the Paperback Exchange (PBX); and the newest addition to the INN umbrella, Aunt Mary's House (AMH).
Aunt Mary's House will provide emergency and transitional housing for pregnant and parenting mothers over the age of 18 that are in a crisis situation. The organization, which became its own 501(c)3 nonprofit this year, strives to provide a safe haven for pregnant and parenting mothers to learn life skills, parenting skills, financial fluency, and reach educational and career goals to help them reach independent living and self-sufficiency.
"We’ve committed that we want to offer this quality program to our community, so we can’t compromise the quality just to be able to say, 'yup, we’re open.' So that’s why we’ve really taken the time to be very deliberate and very methodical about what we’re doing," said INN Co-Founder Jen Westervelt. "We have created everything from our policies and procedure manual, to our house rules, to chore lists, mentor-mentee guideline documents. So there’s a lot of back-end work that people aren’t necessarily going to see that has to happen."
In 2022, INN secured a location for Aunt Mary's House and completed renovations to make it ready to welcome local moms in need. Now, Westervelt said they're in need of some help with the finishing touches before they open their doors, which is anticipated for January of 2025.
AMH will be hosting a work day on Saturday, December 14 to assemble and set up furniture, put up decor, wash dishes, put away items and supplies, and more, and are asking for community volunteers to help.
"It’s one of these things where we can’t open a home for women and babies in crisis and not have the beds set up for mom to sleep in, or not have dishes in the kitchen for her to use, or the list goes on," Westervelt explained. "We are a small team of dedicated people, but there are going to be times where we really need community engagement, all hands on deck, let’s pull this together and really make our vision realized."
Once finished, Aunt Mary's House will be able to provide housing to up to four moms at time, from pregnancy until their child is 18 months old.
Those who would like to volunteer at the work day can contact Aunt Mary's House by calling or texting 607-238-3392, emailing Westervelt at jen@improvenorwichnow.org, or messaging the Aunt Mary's House Facebook page.
AMH is also looking for volunteers to help out with various aspects of running the home, from providing childcare relief to checking smoke detector batteries and fire extinguishers, cooking and enjoying a meal with residents, fundraising, updating social media, and more. Volunteer forms are available at AuntMarysHouse.net/volunteer.
Individuals who can't make it on December 14 but would like to support Aunt Mary's House can provide monetary donations or purchase supplies through their Amazon Wish List at AuntMarysHouse.net.
Another way INN supports the community is in partnership with Chenango County Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide the Fostering Futures program. FFNYCC is a nonprofit organization whose aim is to "support foster and kinship families in building better futures and community connections for children and youth," according to Coordinator Cathy Albrecht.
In the past five years, Fostering Futures has supported 75 children and 15 families in Chenango County. The organization utilizes volunteer teams who help these families with tasks like grocery shopping, cooking dinner, doing laundry, and completing small projects around the home, as well as social interactions such as family game nights and annual events.
To celebrate the holiday season, FFNYCC will be hosting a Christmas party for Fostering Futures families and volunteers at the Norwich Family YMCA.
"Some of our Fostering Futures families have as many as eight children. That can be really overwhelming for people and, let’s face it, a vast majority of the time they’re coming out of really difficult circumstances," said Westervelt.
"So by having things like this Christmas party, where the volunteers can attend, we can attend with our families, we’re familiar with the children, it’s seamless and it’s fun. It gives them an opportunity to feel special in an atmosphere where the foster parents also know there’s no judgment, there’s no stress. We’re just all there together, and we regularly volunteer with the children anyway so we already have that kind of rapport established."
Individuals interested in volunteering with Fostering Futures can contact Coordinator Cathy Albrecht at 607-238-3392 or cathy@improvenorwichnow.org.
More information on Fostering Futures New York Chenango County can be found at ImproveNorwichNow.org/fostering-futures.
To promote literacy in Chenango County, INN has continued with their One Community, One Book events, held annually in the spring and fall. They've partnered with the Norwich City School District to do an extended event that features a chapter book in the spring, while in the fall they host a live reading of a children's book along with a scavenger hunt throughout downtown Norwich.
In the past, One Community, One Book has featured books written by local author Suzanne Bloom, but Westervelt said they recently established a partnership with Bloom to have her be their featured author every fall.
"Every fall, One Community, One Book will focus on a book that Suzanne Bloom has written, and we’re so glad to have her in that role because she is such a staple for our community. Such an embedded local positive influence who really cares so much about our community and about literacy," said Westervelt. "It was a real win-win, because we’re honored to have her want to have that role, and she’s honored that we would like her in that role. So we’re just happy all around."
Looking toward the future, Westervelt said the main focus of INN is sustaining the level of quality they've achieved in all of their programs, as well as continuing to build their team.
"We have just grown so much so quickly, that our focus right now is sustaining the quality and success of what we have developed," she said. "We’re always looking for team members to join our efforts. We’re so diversified, there really is something for everyone. So we’re just looking to focus on building the good that’s already happened to make sure that we can sustain that level of quality."
For more information on Improve Norwich Now, visit ImproveNorwichNow.org or the Improve Norwich Now Facebook page.
INN's mission and vision is "to remove barriers and provide supports, so all community members can reach their full potential." For the past five years, the organization has worked to achieve this mission with their Fostering Futures New York Chenango County (FFNYCC) program; the One Community, One Book and All INN for Reading initiatives; their partnership with the Paperback Exchange (PBX); and the newest addition to the INN umbrella, Aunt Mary's House (AMH).
Aunt Mary's House will provide emergency and transitional housing for pregnant and parenting mothers over the age of 18 that are in a crisis situation. The organization, which became its own 501(c)3 nonprofit this year, strives to provide a safe haven for pregnant and parenting mothers to learn life skills, parenting skills, financial fluency, and reach educational and career goals to help them reach independent living and self-sufficiency.
"We’ve committed that we want to offer this quality program to our community, so we can’t compromise the quality just to be able to say, 'yup, we’re open.' So that’s why we’ve really taken the time to be very deliberate and very methodical about what we’re doing," said INN Co-Founder Jen Westervelt. "We have created everything from our policies and procedure manual, to our house rules, to chore lists, mentor-mentee guideline documents. So there’s a lot of back-end work that people aren’t necessarily going to see that has to happen."
In 2022, INN secured a location for Aunt Mary's House and completed renovations to make it ready to welcome local moms in need. Now, Westervelt said they're in need of some help with the finishing touches before they open their doors, which is anticipated for January of 2025.
AMH will be hosting a work day on Saturday, December 14 to assemble and set up furniture, put up decor, wash dishes, put away items and supplies, and more, and are asking for community volunteers to help.
"It’s one of these things where we can’t open a home for women and babies in crisis and not have the beds set up for mom to sleep in, or not have dishes in the kitchen for her to use, or the list goes on," Westervelt explained. "We are a small team of dedicated people, but there are going to be times where we really need community engagement, all hands on deck, let’s pull this together and really make our vision realized."
Once finished, Aunt Mary's House will be able to provide housing to up to four moms at time, from pregnancy until their child is 18 months old.
Those who would like to volunteer at the work day can contact Aunt Mary's House by calling or texting 607-238-3392, emailing Westervelt at jen@improvenorwichnow.org, or messaging the Aunt Mary's House Facebook page.
AMH is also looking for volunteers to help out with various aspects of running the home, from providing childcare relief to checking smoke detector batteries and fire extinguishers, cooking and enjoying a meal with residents, fundraising, updating social media, and more. Volunteer forms are available at AuntMarysHouse.net/volunteer.
Individuals who can't make it on December 14 but would like to support Aunt Mary's House can provide monetary donations or purchase supplies through their Amazon Wish List at AuntMarysHouse.net.
Another way INN supports the community is in partnership with Chenango County Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide the Fostering Futures program. FFNYCC is a nonprofit organization whose aim is to "support foster and kinship families in building better futures and community connections for children and youth," according to Coordinator Cathy Albrecht.
In the past five years, Fostering Futures has supported 75 children and 15 families in Chenango County. The organization utilizes volunteer teams who help these families with tasks like grocery shopping, cooking dinner, doing laundry, and completing small projects around the home, as well as social interactions such as family game nights and annual events.
To celebrate the holiday season, FFNYCC will be hosting a Christmas party for Fostering Futures families and volunteers at the Norwich Family YMCA.
"Some of our Fostering Futures families have as many as eight children. That can be really overwhelming for people and, let’s face it, a vast majority of the time they’re coming out of really difficult circumstances," said Westervelt.
"So by having things like this Christmas party, where the volunteers can attend, we can attend with our families, we’re familiar with the children, it’s seamless and it’s fun. It gives them an opportunity to feel special in an atmosphere where the foster parents also know there’s no judgment, there’s no stress. We’re just all there together, and we regularly volunteer with the children anyway so we already have that kind of rapport established."
Individuals interested in volunteering with Fostering Futures can contact Coordinator Cathy Albrecht at 607-238-3392 or cathy@improvenorwichnow.org.
More information on Fostering Futures New York Chenango County can be found at ImproveNorwichNow.org/fostering-futures.
To promote literacy in Chenango County, INN has continued with their One Community, One Book events, held annually in the spring and fall. They've partnered with the Norwich City School District to do an extended event that features a chapter book in the spring, while in the fall they host a live reading of a children's book along with a scavenger hunt throughout downtown Norwich.
In the past, One Community, One Book has featured books written by local author Suzanne Bloom, but Westervelt said they recently established a partnership with Bloom to have her be their featured author every fall.
"Every fall, One Community, One Book will focus on a book that Suzanne Bloom has written, and we’re so glad to have her in that role because she is such a staple for our community. Such an embedded local positive influence who really cares so much about our community and about literacy," said Westervelt. "It was a real win-win, because we’re honored to have her want to have that role, and she’s honored that we would like her in that role. So we’re just happy all around."
Looking toward the future, Westervelt said the main focus of INN is sustaining the level of quality they've achieved in all of their programs, as well as continuing to build their team.
"We have just grown so much so quickly, that our focus right now is sustaining the quality and success of what we have developed," she said. "We’re always looking for team members to join our efforts. We’re so diversified, there really is something for everyone. So we’re just looking to focus on building the good that’s already happened to make sure that we can sustain that level of quality."
For more information on Improve Norwich Now, visit ImproveNorwichNow.org or the Improve Norwich Now Facebook page.
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