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Syracuse Community Centers Receive Funds for Kitchen Renovations Community Centers Receive Funds for Kitchen Renovations

By Sarah Al-Shaikh

Richard Mayer: Sometimes this is our only meal we eat.

Reporter: Richard Mayer started eating at the Westcott Community Center four months ago. He says he needs these meals because he can’t cook like he used to.

Richard Mayer: I’m getting forgetful, and uh forgetting what goes in, what ingredients to use and whatever.

Reporter: Senior citizens say they’re getting healthy meals they can’t afford to buy. Milagros Espin has been eating at the Westcott Center every day for the past four years. She says she leaves with more than a full stomach.

Milagros Espin: It’s definitely more than a meal. A meal is a plus but the socializing and becoming friends with someone I think is the most important part.

Reporter: Syracuse Common Council approved over 260 thousand dollars in renovations for three community centers. For the Westcott Community Center, the renovations mean more than just new appliances.

Joan Royle: It’ll be a better place for people to be able to rent. And any rent for us, or any rental income for us is something that can help us.

Reporter: Joan Royle is the Executive Director at the Westcott Community Center. She says money from renting their kitchen would help because more people are coming to the center.

Joan Royle: Just even five years ago, the number of people that we served was at least 40 percent less than what we’re serving now. So we’re seeing a greater need.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – The Syracuse Common Council approved close to $350,000 in kitchen renovations for three community centers.

For one of those centers, these renovations are long overdue. The Westcott Community Center waited four years for funding. Westcott is receiving less than the others with $20,000 in kitchen renovations.

The kitchen provides two meals a day to senior citizens. Senior citizens said Westcott gives them more than a meal. They leave full and with friends.

“Made a lot of friends. We talk to each other. One of them has just brought me into yoga. She’s into that so she passed her books and her information to me so now I’m trying it,” said Milagros Espin, one senior citizen whose been going for the past four years.

The Westcott kitchen renovations include a new fridge, new cabinets, a paint job and new flooring.

Executive director of the center, Joan Royle, said even those minor renovations make a world of difference. She said a new kitchen opens the door for the center to make money.

“It’ll be a better place for people to be able to rent. And any rent for us, or any rental income for us is something that can help us,” Royle said.

Royle said more money could lead to more resources for the people they serve. In the last five years, they’ve served 40% more people. Royle said the kitchen must grow with the growing community.

“We’re seeing a greater need and we need our building to keep up with us so we can continue to meet the needs of the community, ” Royle said.

Royle said she doesn’t have an exact date for when renovations will start. She was told sometime in December.

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