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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Maternity House to open in Walden
By LAURA FITZGERALD
[email protected]
Faith House, a maternity house
opening soon in Walden, will provide
expectant mothers a safe haven from
poverty, unstable living situations or
homelessness.
Faith House purchased a 5,000-square-
foot home in Walden on a secluded,
wooded one-acre lot. The house has four
bedrooms for four mothers and babies
and a bedroom and living area for live-in
house parents.
The maternity house is open to all
women aged 18 and older. Women will
come from a variety of situations, whether
they be homeless or in an unstable
or unsafe situation. Women can come
preferably early in their pregnancies and
stay for a year after their baby is born.
“Our initial vision is that people who
are pregnant will have a safe place to
give birth, that babies would not be born
into homelessness or unsafe situations,”
founder and executive director Linda
Arzu said.
Arzu said volunteers and staff need
to renovate and clean the house before
opening, which they hope to complete by
spring. The house will not open until the
organization has saved nine months in
operating costs. Currently, Faith House
has raised $25,000 of its $125,000 goal.
Arzu said residents will receive
supportive services, such as prenatal
care and transportation to doctor’s
appointments, through a case manager.
There will also be classes on pregnancy,
delivery, and infant care.
Residents will also receive life skills
classes such as nutrition, cooking,
housekeeping and financial literacy. Job
training will be available, with classes on
job searching skills, interview skills and
professional skills. Women who haven’t
received their high school diploma will
have the opportunity to obtain their
equivalent diploma and those interested
in college will research their options.
“Our hope is that they’ll take
advantage of [the classes] and by the
end they’ll have some solid skills to live
independently and take care of the child,
at a minimum have a job, have daycare
set up and have a safe place to live,” Arzu
said.
The maternity house will support
women who would like to put their baby
up for adoption by providing emotional
support and by connecting them with an
adoption agency.
While Arzu said the details are still
being worked out, the residents will be
allowed visitors in a separate location
depending on their situation.
The four-resident limit in a residential
setting will foster a supportive family
environment, Arzu said. This is different
from a homeless shelter, which is meant
to be a short-term solution, and doesn’t
provide as many of the same supportive
services or house parents.
“We can get to know the women
in-depth and really understand what
their needs are, what their skills are, what
growth they want to have for themselves
and really be able to support them in a
deeper, more long-term way,” Arzu said.
Faith House will be the only maternity
house in the mid-Hudson region. Arzu said
approximately 50 women have reached
out or been referred to Faith House in
the four years since it incorporated as a
501c3 organization. The closest houses to
Orange, Ulster or Dutchess counties are
at least two hours away, and many women
don’t want to go that far.
Leslie Toback, center director of
MyChoice Pregnancy Care Center, said
she sees a need in the community for a
program such as Faith House and she
is excited to see it open. While there
are several government and community
programs in the area that can assist
expectant young women, Faith House
offers a sense of community and support
lacking in many other programs due to
the nature of its family-style living.
“The girls would know I’m not in
this alone; there is somebody here who
cares about me,” Toback said. “There is
somebody who knows I’m here and I’m
not just returning to my own apartment.”
There will be house rules and women
will be required to be drug and alcohol
free, so the program isn’t for everyone.
“There’s different segments of our
society that will fit into different needs
and Faith House definitely would help the
young woman who doesn’t have a good
family structure,” Toback said.
Maternity houses offer a longer-term
solution for expectant mothers facing
homelessness and poverty. Studies show
homelessness is a risk factor in low birth
weight. Residents of maternity homes
have fewer repeat pregnancies, better high
school/GED completion rates, stronger
life skills, increased self-sufficiency,
and healthier babies, according to the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
Arzu said her goals for the future
are to purchase a second house for girls
younger than 18. She would also like to
build a support program for the fathers
of the babies so they can learn how to be
a supportive father to the mother and the
child.
Another future project is to create
an independent apartment for mothers
exiting the program to help them with
the transition. Staff could still drop in
on the mothers while they learn to live
independently.
And lastly, Arzu would like to partner
with a business to offer a job skills
program for the young mothers.
“This would be an opportunity where
they could say yes, I do have some skills,
I have something to offer, something that
will boost their confidence,” Arzu said.
Volunteers are needed to renovate and
clean the house, as well as donations to
open it. To donate, visit faithhouseny.org.
Ostrander School selected for Project Fit America voting contest
By LAURA FITZGERALD
[email protected]
Ostrander Elementary School is one of 46 schools
nationwide to participate in a voting competition for a
$25,000 Project Fit America grant that would provide
fitness equipment for students and the community.
Four schools with the most votes will be awarded
$18,000 for state-of-the-art outdoor and indoor fitness
equipment, curriculum, lesson plans, supplies and
training for teachers and a $7,000 cash stipend for
installation support.
The outdoor fitness circuit includes a step-up station,
parallel bars, horizontal ladder, sit up/push up, pull-up,
vault bar and pole climb. The indoor fitness includes
fitness cups, weighted hoops, medicine balls and weighted
jump ropes.
The curriculum designed for the program focuses on
the building blocks of physical fitness, such as upper
and lower body strength, coordination, flexibility,
cardiovascular strength and endurance and nutrition.
Project Fit America is a national non-profit
organization that creates and implements fitness and
education programs in elementary and middle schools.
Physical education teacher Tracy Kowal said the
Project Fit program would show students the fun in
fitness and the importance of being healthy. It will also
show alternative fitness methods for students who do not
enjoy traditional fitness regimes like sports.
“It will show [students] how they can be active and
have fun doing it,” Kowal wrote in the Project Fit grant
application. “They will understand the importance of
being healthy and that Physical education and being
active is not just playing sports.”
The Project Fit equipment would bring students and
the community together. Kowal said the school could
black-top the upper area behind the gym, giving students
an outdoor teaching station and play area that is dry and
free of ticks and animal feces. The school could set up the
Project Fit equipment in the new play area and add to the
biking program.
The outdoor fitness equipment will be open to the public
after school hours, bringing families together. Only three
blocks from the center of town, the equipment would be
in a convenient location for the whole community.
“Our playgrounds now are set for fun and for
children,” Kowal said. “Your program is for fun, fitness
and everyone. I would love to see our community use it
and become fit together.”
Having one large playground instead of three separate
ones will also bring students together for peer teaching.
Principal Natalie Harjes said the fitness equipment
and curriculum will teach students healthy habits.
“I see this grant as an opportunity to build a setting for
our students and the community,” Harjes wrote in the
grant application. “It will shine a spotlight on what we
believe to be important, overall fitness and well-being.
Physical activity, healthy lifestyle and personal wellness
should be at the forefront of our minds. There are many
health benefits of regular exercise and research has
shown it can help children do better in school.”
Kowal sees this program as being a pilot program for
the entire district, which includes two other elementary
schools, a middle school and a high school.
Voters may vote one time per email address each
day during the voting period. Visit danimals.com/
schoolgrantswithapurpose to vote or sign up for a daily
reminder which includes the link to vote. Voting starts
Feb. 2 and ends Feb. 28.