GORMAN FOUNDATION MOVING for webGorman Foundation Community Center manager Nancy Verro, left, and Gorman Foundation president Amanda Larson prepare to move the Mary Rose Clinic into the new multi-agency Community Center facility on Nov. 8, 2013. The free Mary Rose Clinic had their last office hours at their present location on Nov. 13, opening across the parking lot at the Northside Shopping Center in Oneida on Nov. 20. (Photo by Mike Jaquays)

(Oneida, NY – Nov. 19, 2013) When the Mary Rose Clinic re-opened for business Nov. 20, their patients found more accommodating offices and examination rooms in the brand-new Gorman Foundation Community Center.

Located on the opposite end of the same Northside Shopping Center where the free Clinic has served area uninsured and underinsured adults on Wednesdays since 2010, the Gorman Foundation Community Center will give the Clinic a modern and attractive look with more spacious rooms and a greater availability of confidentiality than ever before.

“We want people to feel warm and welcome here, regardless of their economic status,” said Gorman Foundation president Amanda Larson. “We are trying hard to make sure this doesn’t feel like an institution building.”

“The space there is just incredible,” added Clinic manager Nancy Verro, who will also serve as manager for the Community Center when it opens. “Now, everything is shared space so I’m very excited to be able to have our own place.”

The Clinic’s move to the new facility is only the beginning. The Gorman Foundation’s recently-purchased, 11,900 square foot facility at the site of the old Rite Aid store will bring together a variety of non-profit, community service organizations under one roof plus a commercial kitchen and community room.

The Community Action Partnership of Madison County will be the second agency to set up at the Community Center. CAP executive director Julie Dale said the staff of their Canastota location, as well as their mentoring program and family assessment case worker, is planning to be at the Community Center by the end of the month.

Other agencies expected to join them in the near future include the BOCES Consortium of Continuing Education, Madison County Reads Ahead, and the Madison County Literacy Coalition. The same plaza is also home to offices of Head Start, Cedar House, Consumer Services, and Oneida Healthcare’s Maternal Health Center.

“We are excited by the opportunity to be housed with so many other non-profits, in addition to the others who are also in the shopping center,” Dale said. “It’s going to be an amazing thing for the families we serve to have all of these agencies under one roof.”

The Mary Rose Clinic launched a $300,000 capitol campaign to outfit their new location this summer, and is now entering the public phase of that fundraiser. Area residents are encouraged to watch their mail for donation information. Larson said major donors so far for the fundraiser include the Central New York Community Foundation, Oneida Savings Bank, Oneida Medical Associates, Harden Furniture, Dr. Marcia Newsom, and Clinic co-founder Dr. Rathika Martyn, plus another substantial donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

Donation checks can be made out to the Community Action Partnership, with “Mary Rose Clinic” on the memo line, and mailed to CAP at PO Box 249, Morrisville, NY 13408.

 

 

 

 

 

By martha

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