Published in the Bradford Era on Friday, Oct. 21, 2016
By AMBER TURBA, Era Reporter
For several years, the YWCA Bradford Housing and Employment Services program has offered safe and secure emergency housing to women and women with children who have nowhere else to stay. The shelter is designed to be a temporary sanctuary.
Now, the YWCA is offering gift baskets to assist women once they leave that sanctuary.
“The program we’re starting involves what we call ‘transition packs’,” said Housing and Employment Services Shelter Manager Amber Frontino on Thursday afternoon. “Each pack will be designated to women and women with children once they leave the shelter, as a means of assisting in the transition process of getting back up on their feet and living on their own.”
The packs include a variety of basic-needs items such as garbage bags, dishes, pot holders, oven mitts, dish cloths, tissues, paper towels, toilet paper, shower curtains, shower curtain rings, disinfectants and cleaners, bleach, soap, sponges, mops, buckets and
brooms.
“It’s a lot of basic items that homeowners often take for granted,” said YWCA Executive Director Vanessa Castano. “When starting out, primary concerns for these women include paying rent and utilities and purchasing food for their families, and a lot of times there just isn’t enough money left over for basic need items — especially when the woman is living paycheck to paycheck.”
“The goal is to alleviate some of that stress,” Frontino added.
The transition packs were made possible through a grant program from the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation. The YWCA met the Foundation’s grant requirements of being a non-profit organization that possess a 501(c)(3) classification and being located in one of the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus and McKean.
On Thursday afternoon, the YWCA, located on West Corydon Street, welcomed Renodin Foundation President Laura Whitford to see the results of the program supported by the grant.
“The focus of the Renodin Foundation is toward using its energy and resources to improve the quality of life of our poor and marginalized neighborhoods,” Whitford told The Era. “We provide grants for programs and projects whose public charitable purposes are carried out in a manner consistent with that focus — and these transition packs here at the YWCA are a perfect example.”
Through the grant, Frontino was able to see her idea for basic-needs baskets realized, with the resources available to create up to 35 potential transition packs.
“We requested the resources necessary to create 25 of the basic-needs baskets at $100 per basket,” Frontino explained. “However, I was able to find cost-effective items for $75, and the other $25 will go toward additional custom purchases for the packs that are specifically suited to meet the recipient’s needs. So we were ultimately able to provide even more packs than was originally expected — which is awesome.”
The transition packs themselves, Frontino added, are also put together based on specific needs.
“Some women have dishes and need more towels, or have excess amount of toilet paper and no paper towels, so we try to tailor the transition pack based on the recipient’s specific needs in order to best serve them once they leave the shelter,” she said. “We’re going to use the funds from the grant to purchase all of the items and then divide them up as they are needed. The additional custom purchases are an extra way to really make sure these women and their children
have what they’re going to need to begin starting over or, for some, starting off.”
A one-year program, the grant should be able to cover the basic-needs items to create transition packs for every woman in the shelter, according to Frontino.
“I think the women who are going to receive these gifts are really going to be so appreciative, because the need is definitely there,”
she said. “I hear their worries, their concerns, and I know that it’s going to make all of the difference when they can walk out of here with something to help keep them going.”
Castano, as well as Whitford, shared the sentiment.
“Often we have people leaving here with only the clothes on their backs,” Castano said. “So to be able to provide some of the necessary
items toward having a home and maintaining a life is what’s really important about this program that Amber (Frontino) came up with and, essentially, made happen. And we’re also very thankful to Laura
(Whitford) and the Renodin Foundation for supporting us and, ultimately, the people we aim to protect in our community.”
“We’re all in this together,” Whitford said. “And while the Foundation was more than happy to approve the funds for the Bradford YWCA’s program, having the opportunity to provide the resources for a person’s self-sufficiency is priceless, and that’s what these transition
packs are going to do. So ‘kudos’ to Amber and the Bradford YWCA
staff for all that they do, and have done, to make this happen.”
Photo above: A trio of ladies works to put together some gift baskets at the YWCA Bradford on West Corydon Street on Thursday afternoon. From left is Laura Whitford, the Renodin Foundation president, Amber Frontino, Housing and Employment Services shelter manager, and Vanessa Castano, executive director of the YWCA. For several years, the YWCA’s Housing and Employment Services program has offered safe and secure emergency housing to women and women with children who have nowhere else to stay. The shelter is designed to be a temporary sanctuary. Now, the YWCA is offering gift baskets to assist women once they leave that sanctuary.
