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As we are all aware, it
is the heart of a person that keeps
them alive. It is the heart that makes
you what you are. As long as the heart
keeps pumping and distributing blood
to the other parts of your body, you
will be alive, your being will be aware
of caring, loving, pain, happiness,
and sadness. Your heart and how it
feels, how well it is, has the ability
to be kind to someone who is in distress
and to love someone and be loved.
A community center has the
same effect on a community. When your
community has a well run center with
services that reach out to the residents,
regardless of age, gender, financial
status, religion, nationality or race,
you can be assured that help is close
at hand. Should you or your family
ever need assistance, support and services,
you have a place you can call or come
to and your needs will be addressed.
Such a place is Yours, Ours,
Mine Community Center, Inc. of Levittown.
I have been personally acquainted with
this amazing center for more than 28
years. Back in a time when I became
a single parent with five children,
and things were not easy to say the
least, the center was there for my
children and myself. I first heard
of the center when the then executive
director came to speak about its services
at another organization where I was
a member. I needed counseling for my
son, who took the breakup of the family
very hard. I also needed a place where
he, as the youngest could be taken
care of when he was out of school.
YOM answered both of those needs.
A very able and caring counselor
helped my son work through his problems,
as well as some of my own, and the
Summer Child Care program (then the “Summer
Day Camp”) gave me the opportunity
to work and earn a living, without
the worry of what would happen to my
child, as I could not leave him home
with my other children, who were just
young teens.
At that time, the agency
was very young and was just a “Youth
Center” with its main focus on
children and teens who needed a place
to come for socialization and some
recreation. The counseling component
was fairly new, and the recreation
was used for two purposes, one of which
was to bring the youth into the center,
where outreach workers and youth workers
were available to speak to the youth,
befriend them and recommend them to
counseling if needed. This was referred
to as “therapeutic recreation.”
At that time, the agency
had just moved from a small store front,
which is now “Fred’s Deli” into
the present larger facility, which
was a supermarket. The executive director,
with the help of some of the teen boys,
cleaned out the supermarket, getting
rid of old furnishings, such as refrigerators,
freezers, shelving, etc., and quickly
turned the main floor into a recreation
hall. Some pool tables, games, and
other recreation equipment were donated,
and a few things bought with the meager
finances.
Jim Edmondson, the executive
director, wrote and submitted applications
for grants, to help finance the programs.
Soon thereafter the agency received
funding from Nassau County Youth Board.
He started a nursery school program
for preschool children; they would
come on a daily basis, or part time.
This program was self-sustained through
tuition fees, and then a Bingo game
was started to help subsidize the nursery
school and start ‘building fund’.
The facility was rented, and all of
the repairs had to be paid for by the
agency.
As the agency grew, more
and more programs and services were
added, there was the alcohol program
for teens and their families, then
the substance abuse program, soon it
was found that seniors citizens needed
place to come for socialization and
meals; therefore, a senior program
was established. Needing more funding,
the agency started a second Bingo run
strictly by volunteers, mostly board
members. The funds from the second
Bingo were slated for the senior programs,
and the alcohol and substance abuse
programs. More staff was needed, as
well as more space.
In 1979 a holding corporation
was formed which bought the building,
and held the mortgage. YOM and all
the funding sources pay rent for the
space they use for the various programs
and services. In 1984, as space became
critical, the officers of the holding
company borrowed $1 million to remodel
and reconstruct the building by adding
a second story to the building, as
well as a nursery school wing.
A newer larger program was
established and a new “Senior
Day Care” program that provides
services for frail elderly with various
stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s
disease. These seniors are transported
daily to and from their homes to the
center by vans and buses owned by the
center. They partake in socialization
and recreational activities, they receive
a hot meal each day and are supervised
by qualified geriatric personnel. These
are our mothers, fathers and grandparents,
many of whom live alone and are lonely.
They enjoy the companionship of their
peers and frequently, the hot meal
we serve them is the only meal they
will get on any given day.
The nursery school children
come early in the morning and stay
until their parents pick them up. Many
of the children are from single parent
households and others from homes where
both parents must work to sustain their
family. older, school-age children
come early as well, and then transported
to school. After school they are picked
up and brought back to the center.
There they may participate in recreational-educational
activities, receive needed tutoring
or learn to use computers. They stay
until parents come for them, often
not before 6 p.m.
The seniors and children
are a family’s most treasured
members, and to know that they get
good care and the friendship of their
peers, permit a caregiver, parent or
wage earner to realize some peace of
mind while working. This cannot be
measured in money, this is something
only the heart can treasure.
In addition to the programs
mentioned above, there are several
counseling services. These help to
allow persons to recover from the numerous
addictions which we humans may fall
slave to. Programs are also available
that mend a family unit, help children
deal with the breakup of their parents,
and help them deal with peer pressure,
anger, depression, and myriad other
emotional or mental problems. Self-help
programs are offered, as well as parenting
assistance and job development issues.
The community center is
there for you, regardless of what your
heart needs, and if it cannot provide
a service for you directly, they can
always refer you to the proper agency,
person or place where your needs will
be fulfilled.
This, however, may all come
to an end, or at least realizes severe
limitations, due to the drastic funding
cuts, which the county found necessary
to levy against YOM and many other
agencies dealing with human services.
The agency’s board of directors
with the ability and foresight of its
CEO, is desperately trying to keep
this heart of the community door open
and functioning. We want to keep all
our services running at a level that
will offer the community a safety net,
a place where a youngster can come,
such as the new evening recreation
program, which presently serves almost
200 youth.
Should our doors close,
where will these 200 spend the long
evenings ahead, will they hang out
in your neighborhood? Will they be
destructive and angry? Will the seniors
sit home alone again, and not receive
a hot meal, or enjoy the activities
that keep them lively and active? Will
the parents who need the childcare
programs have to stop working, or will
they have to find other places for
their children where care costs much
more and is often limited? What will
happen to a recovering person beleaguered
with an addictive ailment? What will
the loss of the many other programs
and services mean to our community?
The agency employs 85 persons, many
of whom are community residents. What
will happen to them and their families?
Throughout the years, many
lives have been saved due to the assistance
received at YOM. Hundreds have achieved
great things, frequently, now adult “Yommies” come
back and thank the CEO for what the
center has done for them. Many have
grown into persons they themselves
never thought they could be. The agency
is proud to call priests, ministers,
doctors, law enforcement personnel,
professors, attorneys, sport professionals,
teachers, company executives, etc.
among its alumni. It serves many second
and third generations of former youth
participants. We wonder where these
hundreds of successes would be if it
hadn’t been for the heart of this
community?
I, as a 28-year board member,
and former user of YOM’s services,
ask on behalf of all those who participate
and need our services and programs
now, and in the future, for your help
and support. We cannot let this heart
die of failure on our part to lend
a helping hand. The devastating 2/3
cut in funding, may be more than we
are able to handle on our own. I ask
you to look into your hearts, and keep
this community center’s heart
beating for future generations and
those who need us now.
Donations may be forwarded
to: Yours, Ours, Mine Community Center,
152 Center Lane, Levittown, New York
11756, Telephone: 796-6633.
If you are interested in
offering donations or grants, please
contact the agency. Also if you are
aware of any philanthropic agency or
foundation we could contact, please
inform us of same. Thank you for caring.
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