Two Finger Lakes–area nonprofits form alliance

WATERLOO/ITHACA, N.Y. — Two regional nonprofit agencies, Mozaic of Waterloo and Challenge Workforce Solutions of Ithaca, announced they have formed an alliance, effective April 7.

With more than a century of combined service to thousands of individuals across the Finger Lakes region, Mozaic and Challenge said in a release that they have long shared a “common commitment: building one strong community where people with varying abilities and barriers gain independence and become an integral part of society.”

Mozaic, created upon the merger of the Arc of Seneca Cayuga and the Arc of Yates in 2020, provides a range of clinical, residential, educational, vocational, and day service programs for children and adults with developmental disabilities. It has locations in Waterloo, Penn Yan, and Auburn. Mozaic also runs Finger Lakes Textiles, an enterprise that has been manufacturing winter hats and other apparel for U.S. armed forces and the public for more than 25 years. 

Challenge Workforce Solutions, established as an independent nonprofit organization in 1968, has a specialized focus on community-based prevocational and supported employment services for people with disabilities, mental-health diagnoses, and socioeconomic or legal obstacles. The nonprofit says it also has a suite of flexible contract-staffing solutions that augment essential operations at Cornell University, Ithaca College, Cayuga Medical Center, and other top area employers.

The organizations contend this alliance, which was under development for several months, will position both agencies to “offer a more robust array of person-centered, community-integrated services to an expanded geographical area while promoting fiscal sustainability and opening up new avenues for innovation.”

Effective April 7, current Mozaic CEO Allen Connely also became president and CEO of Challenge Workforce Solutions, according to a note on the Challenge website, written by Kelley Cooper, chair of the Challenge Workforce Solutions board. 

Challenge will be retaining its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, its staff, its administrative offices, a production center at the South Hill Business Campus, and its numerous community partnerships and connections, according to Cooper.