Oswego County Agencies Will Receive $2 Million to Develop Anti-Poverty Programs

OSWEGO COUNTY – Oswego County Legislature Chairman Shane Broadwell announced that several local organizations will receive millions of dollars in assistance to help overcome poverty over the next five years through Upstate Revitalization Initiative grants.

“For several years now, we have been working diligently with our school districts, CiTi, Cayuga Community College and many non-profit service providers to devise programs and system changes that will make a difference for those in poverty over the long term,” said Legislature Chairman Broadwell (District 17, Scriba).

The projects range from micro-business startup loans to increasing literacy skills among young children, to job training and college opportunities. Many of the projects address goals set by the Oswego County Anti-Poverty Task Force.
The recipients were selected by the Alliance for Economic Inclusion, a 24-member regional panel that evaluated 92 organizations’ requests for funding.
The funds are part of a $500 million state economic development grant awarded to the Central New York region in 2015.

“These grants signal the start of a new chapter in our local efforts to alleviate poverty in Oswego County,” said County Legislator Roy Reehil (District 5, Constantia), chairman of the Oswego County Anti-Poverty Task Force. “This influx of $2.12 million targeted in Oswego County, and an additional $4.2 million to support multi-county efforts, is the beginning of a targeted approach designed to fill gaps in our existing services and begin reversing negative trends. It will also provide us with much needed administrative funding which will help us manage what has been, up until now, an all-volunteer effort. These awards will help move people to self-sufficiency and will help us to prepare for the next round of AEI grants which will total another $16 million over the next four years.”

Oswego County projects include:

– Literacy Coalition of OswegoCounty, $250,000 to establish the “Imagination Library” program to develop literacy skills in economically disadvantaged young children. The project will start as a pilot in one community and then expand.

– On Point for College, $2,608,995 to increase college outreach services and opportunitiesin Oswego, Cortland, Cayuga, and Onondaga counties.

– Oswego County Opportunities, Inc., $760,000 for the SCORE Oswego County project, a workforce development program to help participants achieve educational and career goals. The project is a partnership between Oswego County Opportunities, Inc. and the Center for Career and Community Education. The project includes a mobile unit to deliver services to people in rural and isolated areas.

– Oswego County Opportunities, Inc., $100,000 for administrative assistance to the Oswego Regional Poverty Reduction Collaborative in Pulaski, Oswego and Oswego County.

– Home Headquarters, $1 million for a lease-purchase program to purchase 30 vacant properties in Fulton, Oswego, Auburn and Syracuse, rehab them, and make them available for lease with option to buy for low-income residents.

– Cooperative Federal Credit Union, $600,000 for micro-business startup loans in Oswego, Fulton, Lyncourt, Mattydale and Syracuse.

– Syracuse Brickhouse, $267,011 to train up to 300 people in Oswego and Onondaga counties to become alcoholism and substance abuse counselors and recovery peer advocates through the Syracuse Brickhouse Inc. Training Institute.

“These AEI awards will have both immediate and long-term impacts in Oswego County, and are a credit to the many people who have worked so hard for so long to move the needle on poverty in our five-county region,” Broadwell said.

Stacy Alvord, commissioner of the Oswego County Department of Social Services, said that DSS is excited to collaborate on the new initiatives made possible through AEI funds.

“The opportunity to link our constituents to services that promote economic inclusion is a duty of our work,” said Alvord. “We are inspired by the difference this will make for so many families, children and youth in Oswego County.”

Thanks to a program administered by the Literacy Coalition of Oswego County, children ages birth through five who register for the Imagination Library will receive a new age-appropriate book every month at their home.

“This program will give all children a similar family literacy access and experience with quality literature,” said Michael Egan, president of the Literacy Coalition of Oswego County. “The program brings cultural and self-esteem benefits to children and families. Research indicates that the longer a child participates in pre-school literature programs such as Imagination Library, the more that child develops an appreciation of literature, improves reading skills and Kindergarten readiness skills in both language arts and mathematics. In the long term, Imagination Library would help each child strive to achieve the Oswego County Anti-Poverty Taskforce’s goals of all children meeting the state proficiency levels by grade 3 and improving high school graduation rates.”

Samuel Rowser, executive director of On Point for College, said his agency has provided bestpractice college access and success services to young people in the Syracuse area since 1999.

“Our founder, Ginny Donohue, is a resident of Hannibal, and began her work with young people in Oswego County before officially establishing On Point,” said Rowser. “We are delighted that the Alliance for Economic Inclusion will allow us to expand our outreach to Oswego County, bringing our work full circle. We look forward to helping young people make their college dreams come true by helping them overcome obstacles, from application to graduation and beyond.”

“As a recipient of the AEI funding, OCO is very excited and thankful we were selected,” said Diane Cooper-Currier, executive director of Oswego County Opportunities, Inc. “The projects align with our mission and commitment to developing projects that address poverty in Oswego County through workforce development and literacy initiatives.”

Broadwell noted that Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney led the ambitious regional AEI collaboration with Oswego, Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, and Onondaga counties.

“I’d like to thank Onondaga County for facilitating this process, and also thank the AEI members for their dedication to finding ways to alleviate poverty in our five-county region,” he said. “In Oswego County, 18.3 percent of our residents are considered to be living in poverty – the highest rate of all our five AEI partner counties — so we are acutely aware of the problems we face.”

For additional information on the Oswego County Anti-Poverty Task Force, visit http://oc2030.org/

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