Family Services of Westchester Launches Capital Campaign to Develop The Center for All Ages in White Plains

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The Campaign Kickoff for The Center for All Ages took place this week at 42, the rooftop lounge at The Ritz Carlton, with lots of excitement and much gratitude to Patricia Lanza and the Lanza Family Foundation. Lanza has generously provided a $1,000,000 Challenge Grant to Family Services of Westchester to develop The Center for All Ages in White Plains, a ground-breaking intergenerational model based on an extended family concept. The Center will also replicate and expand the highly successful Intergenerational Community of Mount Kisco that FSW runs in conjunction with Mount Kisco Child Care Center.

The Center for All Ages will include an adult day program with caregiver support, Head Start/Early Head Start programs, a summer camp for special needs youth, Big Brothers Big Sisters activities, as well as after school and summer programs for youth and teens. Housed in a specially designed building, the Center will provide appropriate facilities and programs for each population – children, teens and seniors. The goal is to encourage children, teens and older adults to share in a variety of activities like gardening, cooking, technology, dance and exercise.

Since 1998, FSW has run the intergenerational adult day program called My Second Home, which has won national and regional awards for its Best Practices approach with its partner, Mount Kisco Child Care Center. Three times a day, children from the child care center interact with older adults from My Second Home, through music, art, yoga, gardening, reading and other activities. The program enables seniors, many of who have Alzheimer’s and other aging challenges, to remain at home in their own communities. Jennifer Rabley of the Patton Family Foundation told the crowd gathered at 42 that she, her mother and sister were sold on the intergenerational concept at My Second Home when they saw three-year-olds in a yoga class with older adults. “These high-energy preschoolers modeled the behavior of the seniors, which was just wonderful to see.”

The 25,000 square foot site will include an Early Childhood Wing, a Youth Center and Older Adult Wing as well as an industrial kitchen, computer room, indoor garden, library and music area. The outdoor space will include sitting areas for older adults along with age-appropriate playgrounds and sports facilities for the children and teens. Numerous naming opportunities are available for donors at a variety of levels.

Founded in 1954, Family Services of Westchester provides more than 50 social service and mental heath programs in seven locations throughout the county. The programs serve 30,000 people a year and run the gamut from Big Brothers Big Sisters to group residences for adolescent boys and girls, from AmeriCorps to a new Veterans Outreach initiative. The agency has 450 employees, 350 volunteers and an annual budget of $19 million. To learn more about the organization’s mission and programs, check out www.fsw.org.

To find out how to support the Campaign for The Center for All Ages, e-mail Lynn Green, Vice President of Development at LGreen@fsw.org or call (914) 305-6875.