A press release from the Seneca County House of Concern announces a $250,000 campaign to help move to a more fitting location:
We’re moving! On June 15, 2021, we will launch our “A New Home for the House” campaign at the semi-monthly mobile food-giveaway event at the Waterloo Fire Department (39 E Water St) at 12:30pm.
The Seneca County House of Concern (SCHOC) is the principal food pantry for the county and also offers a clothes closet and a thrift store that includes used furniture and household items. The SCHOC was actually founded in 1968 in Waterloo by a group of women who saw that children were not clothed well. The organization opened in an empty storefront for two years before moving to their present location at 35 State St. in Seneca Falls.
The current property initially housed several human services organizations but within a few years, the SCHOC occupied the entirety of their two buildings: a previous church and a house next door.
During the pandemic, the need for food and assistance doubled. Doubled! Food giveaways such as the one on June 15, have featured long lines of people needing that extra boost of food for the month. No questions are asked; people are fed and currently over 900 families receive assistance monthly from this 52+ year-old organization.
The years of service have taken their toll on their present buildings and major repairs are needed. In the meantime, the Village of Waterloo has encouraged us to purchase the old Save-a-Lot grocery store on Locust St just one block from main street behind the village hall. This 1980’s building will effectively give the SCHOC 42% more useable space, greater visibility, as well as ample parking and handicap-accessibility.
The SCHOC will be returning to Waterloo which has the second-highest rate of poverty in the county (the southern end of the county is slightly worse). We will be at the center of the population we need to reach most.
The cost of the new building is $250,000 and that is the goal for the campaign. We are hopeful to reach this goal through the generosity of many individuals, businesses and organizations. It is critical that the SCHOC embrace the future free of this debt. After some renovations to the building, we hope to move in this fall.
Donations for the campaign may be made on a one-time basis, but we are also offering the opportunity to pledge to the campaign and take up to three years to pay. We need our community to fully fund this campaign and we’ll do all we can to help individuals find ways to be generous. Donations may be made using pledge publications or going online to the SCHOC web site (www.houseofconcern.org) or mailing to: Seneca County House of Concern, New Home Campaign, 35 State St., Seneca Falls NY 13148.
For more information about this campaign or questions concerning donations, please contact: J. Brad Benson, 607-329-9802 or [email protected]
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