Resources

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy, and service. With more than two million volunteers nationwide, the American Cancer Society is one of the oldest and largest voluntary health agencies in the United States. More than two million volunteers carry out the Society`s mission of eliminating cancer and improving quality of life for those individuals facing the disease. These dedicated volunteers donate their time and talents to further cancer research; educate the public about early detection and prevention; advocate for responsible cancer legislation in the local, state, and federal governments; and serve cancer patients and their families as they manage their cancer experience. American Cancer Society, 2 Lyon Place, White Plains, NY 10601; To locate an American Cancer Society office in your area or for cancer information call 1.800.ACS.2345 or visit www.cancer.org

The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: “Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.” The association`s impact goal is to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. Progress toward the goal will be measured according to these indicators:  Reduce the death rate from coronary heart disease and stroke by 25 percent, Reduce the prevalence of smoking, high blood cholesterol and physical inactivity by 25 percent, Eliminate the growth of obesity and diabetes.  American Heart Association, Northeast Affiliate, 3020 Westchester Avenue, Purchase, NY 10577. 914-640-3275, www.heart.org.

The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and people, guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. 106 North Broadway, White Plains, NY 10603. Call (914) 946-6500 x450 or email grimaldia@usa.redcross.org for more information. Web Site Address: westchestercounty.redcross.org/

Andrus Children’s Center is a private non-profit community agency offering prevention, assessment, educational, treatment and research programs that help children and families achieve healthy, stable lives. Andrus provides annually a broad network of supports to over 2,500 vulnerable children and families of all backgrounds and means. Andrus serves more than 140 seriously emotionally disturbed children, grades K-9, in three treatment programs and a Blue Ribbon school on its lovely, 110-acre campus. Our mental health programs help to provide counseling to young children with mental health needs in locations throughout Westchester County. www.andruschildren.org.

Arc of Westchester empowers children, teenagers and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities to achieve their potential based on choices, abilities and interests.  Programs include:  Early evaluation for infants,  toddlers and their families, A preschool program, Transition planning for young adults, Vocational training and job placement, Respite care for families, Recreation and the arts, Guardianship services for older adults.  For more information, please contact Anne Sweazey, Executive Director, Arc of Westchester Foundation, 265 Saw Mill River Road, Hawthorne, NY 10552, (914) 495-4625 or visit www.westchesterarc.org.

The Children`s Hope Chest has just completed its second year of providing hope to children in need, children who face despair and suffering on a daily basis in the tri-state area. We create programs that encourage the participation of children in an effort to create social change. We offer hope to those in need by linking with established organizations that help families. Our organization is comprised of concerned individuals who wish to promote volunteerism and goodwill in order to lift despair. The Children`s Hope Chest partners with the following agencies to reach out to children who are suffering. Andrus Children`s Center: Provides assessment, treatment, education and preventative services for children who have or are at risk for developing behavioral health problems. Carver Center: mission is to provide educational programs and services to help at risk children maximize their potential for growth and self-sufficiency. Friends of Karen: Giving financial, emotional and advocacy support to families of children with life-threatening illnesses. My Sisters` Place: Offering shelter, education, and advocacy for battered women and their children. Neighbor to Neighbor: Providing essentials (i.e. food and clothing) to over 250 Fairfield County families each week. YMCA of Greater NY: Building strong kids, strong families and strong communities through the values of respect, honesty, responsibility and caring.  For more information on how to get involved please visit our website www.childrenshopechest.com or contact us at (914)696-1176.

Established in 1992, the not-for-profit Community Center of Northern Westchester provides supplemental food, clothing, and other resources to those in need in Northern Westchester County. The Center is sponsored by 28 churches, synagogues, schools and civic groups and operates with substantial volunteer support from the northern Westchester community. The Center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm and its services are available to all.  The Community Center of Northern Westchester, 84 Bedford Road, Katonah, NY 10536.  Visit www.communitycenternw.org for more information.

We serve overwhelmed, stressed parents throughout Westchester County helping stop a generational cycle of child abuse and neglect. Using a home visiting model we have an 85% success rate. We provide support; teaching new discipline skills and anger and stress management. We offer volunteers an intensive 12-hour training program and on-going individual supervision. Contact Linda Paver, MSW, CSW our Volunteer Coordinator at (914) 997-2642 for more information and a volunteer packet.

Friends of Karen (F.O.K.) was founded in 1978 by Sheila Petersen, a family friend of Karen MacInness, a 16 year old diagnosed with Lafora`s Disease. Sheila, respecting Karen`s parents wishes to keep Karen at home for her final months, appealed to the community and raised the necessary funds to allow her parents to care for Karen in their own home.  Currently, Friends of Karen helps families in the New York metropolitan area care for their children (aged 21 years and under) who suffer from terminal or life threatening illnesses. F.O.K. works to ensure the financial and emotional well-being of families coping with the extraordinary demands of their child`s illness. Social workers work with the families to assess the family`s needs and help families to obtain assistance from insurance plans, government programs and community agencies, while maintaining contact with the family through home and hospital visits.  Friends of Karen also provides direct financial assistance and help with needs related to the child`s illness, including: household expenses, transportation to medical treatment, in-hospital expenses such as telephone, TV, parking, and meals for the parents, childcare for siblings while the parents are with the hospitalized child, living expenses for parents who must travel to get needed treatments, funeral arrangements, bereavement support, and private counseling referrals.  Friends of Karen relies on individuals, corporations, foundations, schools, community and employee groups to contribute the needed dollars and in-kind gifts and volunteer time to give our families what they need to care for their children though their difficult illnesses.  For more information about Friends of Karen, visit www.friendsofkaren.org or call 914.277.4547.

Furniture Sharehouse collects your gently-used furniture and makes sure it gets directly to needy Westchester families who are moving out of homeless shelters, escaping domestic violence, reuniting after foster care or recovering from personal or natural disasters. Since 2007, they have distributed over 21,000 items free of charge to over 4,200 individuals, half of them children, helping them fill their empty apartments and stabilize their lives.  The need is great, and the waiting list for an appointment is six-weeks long, so please consider donating your furniture and/or making a monetary donation to help us “make a house a home” for these Westchester families.  Visit www.furnituresharehouse.org

The mission of Gilda`s Club Westchester is to provide a place where men, women, and children with cancer and their families and friends join with others to build social and emotional support as a supplement to medical care. Free of charge and non-profit, Gilda`s Club Westchester offers support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and social events in a nonresidential, home-like setting. Funding is solicited from private individuals, corporations, and foundations. Gilda’s Club Westchester is a community of people whose lives have been touched by cancer…all types of cancer. It’s a community of people who have found strength, comfort and inspiration by sharing their experiences. It’s women, men and children. It’s friends and family. It’s volunteers and donors. It’s a place where we can all come together –FREE OF CHARGE—to renew our spirits and our souls. You won’t find medical care here. Here is where you and your family will find emotional support as a supplement to medical care. Here is where social support, information, fellowship, laughter, hope and inspiration meet. Inside the cozy rooms of our White Plains Clubhouse you’ll find lectures, workshops, support & networking groups, social events and more. All for FREE! Join Us.  Gilda`s Club Westchester, 80 Maple Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601, 914·64478844, www.gildasclubwestchester.com

The Guild Home for Aged Blind is a residential health care facility for elderly people with a broad range of vision loss. It offers comprehensive medical, nursing and rehabilitative services for long-term residents as well as persons requiring short-term rehabilitation. Professional staff members, including medical doctors, registered nurses, certified social workers, nutritionists, rehabilitation specialists and staff psychiatrists provide assessment, consultations and counseling services. The primary focus of the Guild Home is to help individuals maximize their potential while enabling them to live as independently as possible.  The Guild Home also includes two additional facilities, each a unique center for specialized care: The Newman Center for Alzheimer Care and the Felkay Center for AIDS Care. The Newman Center for Alzheimer Care is a 26-bed skilled nursing center providing a therapeutic environment with an emphasis on dignified living for people with Alzheimer`s Disease or a related dementia.  For more information, please call 914-220-8611 or e-mail alzheimerinfo@jgb.org.  The Felkay Center for AIDS Care is a 20-bed skilled nursing facility for persons with HIV illness. For more information, please call 914-220-8532 or e-mail info_home@jgb.org.

Hospice Care in Westchester and Putnam is the area`s largest non-profit provider of home care to patients facing life threatening or advanced illness. The goal of Hospice Care is to enhance comfort, support, and dignity while preserving the quality of life of the patients they serve. Hospice is for families too, supporting them in managing stresses and coping with a loved one`s illness. We enable our patients to remain at home with quality of life and physical comforts. Hospice coordinates all services for our patients, including hospital care, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Hospice is also using a special type of therapy, available free-of-charge, called The Healing Arts, which uses Therapeutic Touch, Shiatsu Massage, Acupressure, music and art therapy to help promote pain management, relaxation and reduce anxiety.  An affiliate of the VNA of Hudson Valley, their services are offered to all residents in both Westchester and Putnam County. For more information please call (914) 666-4228 ext 211 or check out our website at www.vnahv.org.

The Katonah Museum is a non-collecting institution dedicated to encouraging the enjoyment, appreciation and study of the visual arts by visitors of all ages. 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Museum, which each year presents a series of changing exhibitions that span a wide range of cultures, media, historical periods and social issues. The Museum offers lectures and symposia by noted artists and scholars; tours of private collections, special exhibitions, and regional museums; children and family workshops and community festivals; free summer jazz concerts; and volunteer opportunities.  The Katonah Museum of Art is located on Route 22 at Jay Street, Katonah, New York 10536. For more information, call (914) 232-9555 or visit www.katonahmuseum.org.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. We fund programs of research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies. Today, the March of Dimes is one of the largest voluntary health agencies in the country. We have a 60-year track record of breakthroughs that save babies, including neonatal intensive care units, surfactant therapy, fetal surgery and folic acid education. Seventy-five percent of funds spent go to research and programs. The March of Dimes has launched a major new campaign to develop a coordinated national response to the tragic and growing problem of premature birth. March of Dimes, 1275 Mamaroneck Ave, White Plains, NY 10605, Telephone: 914-997-4465, www.modimes.org.

The Miracle League of Westchester is a nonprofit organization created to give Westchester children and adults with disabilities the opportunity to play baseball as a team member in an organized league. The league was founded in 2005 by J. Stephen Madey. What makes the Miracle League unique is our Miracle Field, specially designed with rubberized, cushioned turf, at Ridge Road Park in Hartsdale. The Miracle Field was funded with a legacy grant from  Westchester County and opened in the fall of 2006. As a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, the League survives on the generosity of donors who believe as we do that every child deserves the chance to play baseball. If you’d like to make a donation, volunteer, or get involved, please visit our website, www.mlwny.org.

Mount Kisco Child Care Center is a licensed 501c(3) non profit child care center in Mount Kisco, New York, providing child care to children from 3 months to 10 years old. Children come from a wide range of family backgrounds. Fifty percent of families enrolled are fee for service families and fifty percent receive scholarship or county subsidies to attend. This allows for a wonderfully diverse environment, both ethnically and economically.  As well as the diversity of children at the Center, MKCCC works in partnership with an adult day program, allowing for intergenerational programming for students and older adults, and a “Feed Me Fresh” nutrition education program which includes the growing and harvesting of their own organic food for students’ consumption during the school day.  The Child Care Center also has a strong commitment to supporting the literacy of the students and presents monthly “Literacy Adventures” in the community.  To find out more about how you can help, contact Dottie Jordan, Executive Director, at 914-241-2135 or e-mail djordan@mkccc.org  Volunteer opportunities for everyone are possible – teens, stay at home moms, retired grandmas, working parents – there’s a little something for everyone! For more information please visit our website at www.mkccc.org.

For more than 35 years, My Sisters’ Place (MSP) has worked to end violence in intimate relationships and combat the effects of domestic violence on women and children throughout Westchester County.
MSP has evolved from a grassroots task force and drop-in center into a cutting edge leader and resource in the field of domestic violence advocacy, shelter and legal services and education and prevention. Based on the tenet of taking a holistic approach and addressing the root causes of family violence, MSP is continually expanding in order to effectively respond to the increasing and changing needs of individuals in crisis. MSP’s mission is to engage each member of society in our work to end domestic violence, so that all relationships can embrace the principles of respect, equality, and peacefulness.
MY SISTERS’ PLACE, One Water Street, White Plains, NY 10601.
Phone:  914.683.1333, 24/7 hotline: 1.800.298.SAFE (7233), or visit www.mspny.org.

Neighbors Link is a community-based organization dedicated to helping impoverished Hispanic families in our area. Our mission is to strengthen our community by actively enhancing the healthy integration of Latino immigrants. Working to Educate, Empower and Employ, we offer programs in education, job assistance and more. We teach English every day of the week, targeting the special needs of women, day laborers, and families. We also house and help sustain the Headstart early childhood education program, preparing 33 non-English speaking children for kindergarten annually. Our job assistance efforts include the operation of a hiring site for day laborers, a job bank for referrals and job training programs such as our sewing workshop and computer classes. We offer legal clinics, health screenings, and workshops with mental health professionals. A Spanish-language alcoholics anonymous group meets twice weekly at Neighbors Link. We also operate an in-house, self-sustaining café offering a non-alcoholic setting to socialize for 400 clients weekly. The café is managed by former day workers and serves food and non-alcoholic beverages at below market rates. Our hope is that by reaching out to these newest and often most vulnerable members of our community, we can help them find a place in our society and enrich all our lives. To find out how you can become involved, please contact Carola Bracco, executive director, at 914-666-3410, ext. 12, or visit www.neighborslink.org. We`re always looking for volunteers.

The Neuberger Museum of Art is a major visual arts center and vital cultural resource. The Museum engages and inspires diverse audiences by actively fostering the study, appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of modern art, African art, and the art of our time. The permanent collection features major works by American and European modern artists, an extensive collection of African Art including masks and sculpture, and presents more than a dozen changing exhibitions each year dedicated to new forms of artistic expression.  Each year, the Neuberger Museum offers five special events for children and families and on the first Saturday of each month, they offer free admission to the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, live music by Purchase College Conservatory of Music students, and hands-on activities in the Children`s Art Activity Center.  The Neuberger Museum is located at Purchase College, State University of New York, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY 10577-1400. Phone: 914-251-6100 Fax: 914-251-6101. Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Saturday & Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Closed Mondays and Major Holidays. Visit www.neuberger.org for more information.

The New York State Parent Education and Awareness Program of the New York State Office of Court Administration is an initiative of Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, and is Chaired by the Hon. Evelyn Frazee, a Supreme Court Justice in Rochester. Parent education is offered by certified providers to help separating or divorcing parents better understand the effects of their breakup on their children and to give them information and ideas about how to make the new family situation easier and more livable for themselves and their children. We currently have 49 certified providers with a presence in all 62 Counties in New York State. Please check the website at www.nycourts.gov/parented for a list of certified providers. The Programs are certified through our Office, and can then accept orders or referrals from the Family Courts or the Supreme Court matrimonial parts. Parents can self refer and agencies can refer them too. Please tell everyone you know about this valuable resource.  Mailing address: New York State Parent Education and Awareness Program, 140 Grand Street, Suite 701, White Plains, NY 10601, Email Address: nyparent-ed@nycourts.gov, phone: (888) 809-2798.

Open Door Family Medical Centers has been serving Westchester County for over 36 years fulfilling its mission of providing high quality health care and human services at affordable prices to the community, particularly the economically disadvantaged. With four sizable centers and four school-based centers in Westchester, Open Door’s work in family medicine, diabetes, asthma, HIV/AIDS, pre-natal and pediatric care, dental services and women’s health, has been acknowledged nationally for its excellence. Over 36,000 people receive care annually at Open Door. www.opendoormedical.org