UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County has awarded $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to Thea Bowman House for construction of an elevator at its DeSales Center. The elevator will improve accessibility for childcare services and expand growth opportunities. “The Thea Bowman House has been delivering crucial services to at-risk families in Utica for over […]
UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County has awarded $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to Thea Bowman House for construction of an elevator at its DeSales Center.
The elevator will improve accessibility for childcare services and expand growth opportunities.
“The Thea Bowman House has been delivering crucial services to at-risk families in Utica for over 30 years, providing quality care to some of our community’s most vulnerable children and youth,” Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. said in a recent news release. “Its DeSales Center is in desperate need of improvement, and Oneida County is happy to assist by funding the construction of an elevator that will finally provide access to all four floors of the facility.”
Located at 309 Genesee St. in Utica, the 92-year-old facility currently has a chair lift that provides only limited access to a small section of the first floor.
The addition of an exterior elevator will provide access to all levels of the building, assist in transporting food from the ground-floor kitchen, and improve the chances of filling the vacant third and fourth floors with more nonprofit organizations. Many organizations have expressed interest but haven’t committed due to the lack of accessibility.
“This generous grant will provide opportunities for growth at the DeSales Center,” Jane Domingue, executive director of Thea Bowman House, said in the release. “It will significantly fund an exterior elevator that will be constructed for our four-story building. The elevator will make it possible for persons with handicapping conditions to fully utilize our serves, as well as to allow affordable rental space for not-for-profits with compatible missions to occupy the top floor of the building.”
The DeSales Center serves more than 400 children, ages 20 months to 12 years, every day through its childcare center for low-income and culturally diverse children, its universal pre-kindergarten program through the Utica City School District, and Academics First, a separate childcare agency that accommodates families with non-traditional working hours.
The building is also home to a program for teenagers and the DOVE program dedicated to helping children with social-emotional needs. Various community groups use the facility’s auditorium for special meetings and events and the Levitt AMP Concert Series uses the space and parking lot for summer concerts.