Recycling – one of the main green mantras – could be Syracuse’s answer for what to do with its many dilapidated homes.
Starting this month, some projects in the Near West Side will be renovated using as much of the existing neighborhood that can be, said Mark Naef, president of Greening USA, a Syracuse-based coalition of related industry professionals that promote and educate communities about green design.
Greening USA plans to renovate a two-story house ridden with water asbestos with the use of deconstruction, which is an increasingly popular way to tear down houses in an eco-friendly manner, Naef said. By building on what is leftover, deconstruction wastes less than traditional renovations, according to Re-Use Consulting’s Web site. Re-Use Consulting is a company that re-sells materials from demolitions.
The city of Buffalo, which started using deconstruction for revitalization purposes in 2006, is exemplary of what Syracuse should be doing with its vacancies, Naef said.
From deconstructing 10 houses, the city accumulated more than 10 tons of lumber and opened a retail store to sell reused building materials, according to the Buffalo ReUse Web site.
Syracuse’s Near West Side has been a focus for revitalization through the Near West Side Initiative, a community neighborhood restoration project, which Greening USA is involved in.
The Syracuse Center of Excellence, another NWSI participant seeking to create environmental and energy efficient urban communities, is also launching a green deconstruction project in the Near West Side area this month.
The group plans to renovate the four-story Lincoln Redevelopment Building to have “green infrastructure,” focusing on wastewater developments, according to the Syracuse COE’s Web site.
An informational meeting and site visit will be held Friday for engineering firms interested in bidding on the renovation’s design.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Slow summer for cab drivers - enterprise story for class
Don Corey is the last driver left in his taxi fleet.
Corey, a 29-year-old former truck driver, went into the taxi business about a year ago, but his taxi service is not making enough money to pay his bills and fill up his tank.
With climbing gas prices, Corey is changing careers again. He opened Corey’s Slotshot, a new and used electronics shop, on Belmont Avenue two months ago because he thinks a second-hand store may be a lucrative answer to his financial woes.
“The gas prices have cut way into the profit margin,” Corey said.
Corey hopes people will start looking for cheaper prices with the economy, and plans to shut down his cab service once his new business becomes profitable.
Increased gas prices and fewer customers are taking a toll on cab companies. In January, gas prices hit $3.40 per gallon and in July fuel peaked around $4.80 a gallon on the East Coast, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Corey makes a 15 percent profit after taxes, he said. Before gas prices increased, he was earning a 20 to 25 percent profit.
The 150 licensed taxi drivers in Syracuse have boosted their fares to match the jumping gas prices, said Lt. Joe Cecile, supervisor of the Community Policing Division and the Ordinance Enforcement Files. In April, fares went up $1.20 a mile, Cecile said. Cab meter’s starting rate went up 40 cents from $2.80 to $3.20, taxi companies said.
Every two years cab companies can petition the city’s Common Council to raise a taxi’s meter charge per mile. In certain circumstances – like the skyrocketing gas prices –taxi services can petition to raise cab fares citywide to help their business before the two years is up, Cecile said.
“The cost hurts. That’s the bottom line,” said Bill Patton, supervisor of Lanpher Taxi. “With the rate increase, we have been close to breaking even.”
While the higher fares help taxi drivers survive gas costs, they steer customers away.
“When I mention the price of a cab ride, people say they are going to shop around,” said John Young, a dispatcher for Blue Star Taxi. “They try to negotiate.”
People have called Blue Star back for a ride when they find that rates are the same across the city, Young said.
Since more money is spent on fares, tips have become less generous.
“I used to make between $200 to $400 a night on Friday and Saturday nights,” Corey said. “Now I am lucky if I make $70 for the two nights.”
Tips during the day are even worse because people are not going out to spend money, Corey said.
“I think you are going to find business usage declines a little bit and private usage probably declines significantly,” said Bill McClellan, manager of Century Transportation, the primary cab service for Syracuse Hancock International Airport.
Sonny Singh, owner of Blue Star Taxi, thinks locals have to be careful with their money because they cannot afford the extras they used to be able to spend on.
“Business has slowed down,” Singh said. “It’s the economy itself, not just the gas prices. People are not spending as much money.”
Singh, who does not pay for his driver’s fuel to ensure company gas is not used for personal errands, fears his drivers will quit because they are not getting the tips they need for extra spending.
“The gas doesn’t stress me out,” Singh said. “The drivers do. They are complaining about gas. The drivers are going home with $60 or $80, instead of $100.”
He had one driver quit about four weeks ago and return to his old job because he was not making enough money. Singh currently has six drivers, but will need 12 to 15 in August when Syracuse University students come back for school.
Summer is an off-season for the taxi business since the students are gone.
“It’s a seasonal business,” Singh said. “The students make most of the business.”
August to May make up for the slow summer months, Singh said. This summer is far slower than the past two or three summers though, McClellan said.
“In a service industry it’s kind of hard to service people when there is no one to service,” Corey said. “I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
Medicaid transportation to doctor’s office and regular customers who do not have cars or cannot drive are what get cab companies through the summer.
“Medical transportation is what keeps me going,” Corey said. “I personally would be out of business.”
Patton’s regulars keep him in business, so he helps them out.
James Robertson, one of Patton’s regulars, uses taxi services 10 times a week to go to and from work. Patton gives Robertson a break by charging him a flat $10 for a cab ride since he is a six-year customer, Robertson said.
“A cab fare used to run $12.50 before gas prices went up, now it runs $14 to $16 one way,” Robertson said.
Robertson does not own a car because he never liked driving, but he tore his ACL nine months ago and cannot walk the three or so miles to his pizza job at Nick’s Tomato Pie in Armory Square. He said the nearest bus stop was too far to walk from home.
“I can’t really afford it,” Robertson said. “Everything is going up. Some times it just kills a blue collar worker.”
Many cab drivers do not fear that gas increases will hurt their livelihood in the long run.
“I compare a cab to food,” said Doug Parish, a Blue Star Taxi driver. “Sooner or later you are gonna need it, whether you like it or not.”
Corey, a 29-year-old former truck driver, went into the taxi business about a year ago, but his taxi service is not making enough money to pay his bills and fill up his tank.
With climbing gas prices, Corey is changing careers again. He opened Corey’s Slotshot, a new and used electronics shop, on Belmont Avenue two months ago because he thinks a second-hand store may be a lucrative answer to his financial woes.
“The gas prices have cut way into the profit margin,” Corey said.
Corey hopes people will start looking for cheaper prices with the economy, and plans to shut down his cab service once his new business becomes profitable.
Increased gas prices and fewer customers are taking a toll on cab companies. In January, gas prices hit $3.40 per gallon and in July fuel peaked around $4.80 a gallon on the East Coast, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Corey makes a 15 percent profit after taxes, he said. Before gas prices increased, he was earning a 20 to 25 percent profit.
The 150 licensed taxi drivers in Syracuse have boosted their fares to match the jumping gas prices, said Lt. Joe Cecile, supervisor of the Community Policing Division and the Ordinance Enforcement Files. In April, fares went up $1.20 a mile, Cecile said. Cab meter’s starting rate went up 40 cents from $2.80 to $3.20, taxi companies said.
Every two years cab companies can petition the city’s Common Council to raise a taxi’s meter charge per mile. In certain circumstances – like the skyrocketing gas prices –taxi services can petition to raise cab fares citywide to help their business before the two years is up, Cecile said.
“The cost hurts. That’s the bottom line,” said Bill Patton, supervisor of Lanpher Taxi. “With the rate increase, we have been close to breaking even.”
While the higher fares help taxi drivers survive gas costs, they steer customers away.
“When I mention the price of a cab ride, people say they are going to shop around,” said John Young, a dispatcher for Blue Star Taxi. “They try to negotiate.”
People have called Blue Star back for a ride when they find that rates are the same across the city, Young said.
Since more money is spent on fares, tips have become less generous.
“I used to make between $200 to $400 a night on Friday and Saturday nights,” Corey said. “Now I am lucky if I make $70 for the two nights.”
Tips during the day are even worse because people are not going out to spend money, Corey said.
“I think you are going to find business usage declines a little bit and private usage probably declines significantly,” said Bill McClellan, manager of Century Transportation, the primary cab service for Syracuse Hancock International Airport.
Sonny Singh, owner of Blue Star Taxi, thinks locals have to be careful with their money because they cannot afford the extras they used to be able to spend on.
“Business has slowed down,” Singh said. “It’s the economy itself, not just the gas prices. People are not spending as much money.”
Singh, who does not pay for his driver’s fuel to ensure company gas is not used for personal errands, fears his drivers will quit because they are not getting the tips they need for extra spending.
“The gas doesn’t stress me out,” Singh said. “The drivers do. They are complaining about gas. The drivers are going home with $60 or $80, instead of $100.”
He had one driver quit about four weeks ago and return to his old job because he was not making enough money. Singh currently has six drivers, but will need 12 to 15 in August when Syracuse University students come back for school.
Summer is an off-season for the taxi business since the students are gone.
“It’s a seasonal business,” Singh said. “The students make most of the business.”
August to May make up for the slow summer months, Singh said. This summer is far slower than the past two or three summers though, McClellan said.
“In a service industry it’s kind of hard to service people when there is no one to service,” Corey said. “I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
Medicaid transportation to doctor’s office and regular customers who do not have cars or cannot drive are what get cab companies through the summer.
“Medical transportation is what keeps me going,” Corey said. “I personally would be out of business.”
Patton’s regulars keep him in business, so he helps them out.
James Robertson, one of Patton’s regulars, uses taxi services 10 times a week to go to and from work. Patton gives Robertson a break by charging him a flat $10 for a cab ride since he is a six-year customer, Robertson said.
“A cab fare used to run $12.50 before gas prices went up, now it runs $14 to $16 one way,” Robertson said.
Robertson does not own a car because he never liked driving, but he tore his ACL nine months ago and cannot walk the three or so miles to his pizza job at Nick’s Tomato Pie in Armory Square. He said the nearest bus stop was too far to walk from home.
“I can’t really afford it,” Robertson said. “Everything is going up. Some times it just kills a blue collar worker.”
Many cab drivers do not fear that gas increases will hurt their livelihood in the long run.
“I compare a cab to food,” said Doug Parish, a Blue Star Taxi driver. “Sooner or later you are gonna need it, whether you like it or not.”
Syracuse's hidden jewel
Strings of stones and buckets of beads line the walls in the suppliers’ shops where Noelle VanHee purchases the basics for making her one of a kind jewelry pieces.
VanHee, a 36-year-old independent jewelry designer, runs her fingers over smooth stones and glazes her eyes over sparkly gems. Black Onyx, Freshwater Pearl, Crazy Lace Agate - which stone should she pick up today?
VanHee waits for something to catch her eye.
“I go for things that look different,” she said. “Sometimes I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with it, but I’m gonna buy it. As long as it’s a good quality stone, I’m open to it.”
She occasionally sketches, but she uses her eyes to guide her to inspiration.
“My eyes are open to everything artistic and fashion related,” VanHee said. “I’m always thinking about what to do for next season.”
VanHee designs statement pieces to accessorize anything from a black tie affair, a wedding dress or jeans and a t-shirt. She creates only high quality jewelry made of the finest materials and semiprecious stones.
She got her start by making her own jewelry when she could never find the perfect piece to compliment her outfit. She took her first class at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she finally achieved her second degree in fashion.
After high school VanHee - native to Syracuse and only 17 at the time - wanted to go to FIT, but was told by her parents that she was too young to venture into the big apple. VanHee went to ___ for her bachelor’s degree in communications. After undergraduate schooling, she landed a job in educational systems programming, but it just was not her.
She stuck with the job until her husband Dana finished law school in Massachusetts and then the two moved to NYC so she could pursue something creative.
“Jewelry design was actually an accident,” VanHee said. “I knew I wanted to do something creative, but I didn’t know what it was.”
VanHee originally thought she would do something on the business side of fashion. She has been stylish ever since she was a little girl.
“She looked like the perfect little child you would see in a magazine,” Sandi Schneider, her aunt and big customer of hers. “She was not trendy, just classic.”
And she still insists on things that last a lifetime.
“I make jewelry that is fashionable and current, but at the same time won’t look dated and be able to be worn for years to come,” VanHee said.
Not only does it last, but VanHee also designs jewelry that is versatile. She believes a piece should be worn many different ways if it costs a lot.
“That’s how I design. It’s how I dress,” she said. “You know it’s my style.”
Despite her own taste, VanHee creates designs to appeal to a variety of customers.
A majority of her work is through custom work, where she adapts her style to tailor her buyer’s needs. She gets to know everything about them, everything from who they are to their neck size.
“She always wants people to feel comfortable,” said Jaime Venditti, a customer and long-time friend.
Venditti never thought jewelry was comfortable until she started wearing VanHee’s pieces.
“The Tiger Eye and green stone feel wonderful,” Venditti said. “I know that sounds weird, but it is smooth and soft to touch.”
She is almost obsessive when it comes to checking in with her customers throughout the design process to ensure that the piece is coming exactly how they wanted, VanHee said.
“She is very detail oriented,” Venditti said. “She makes sure it is the right piece for someone. I have never seen her sell anything that isn’t beautiful for them.”
Only once did she have an unsatisfied customer - “a total bridezilla,” VanHee said.
“At the end she said this isn’t what I thought it would be,” VanHee said. “I have never had any other problems, but it was a learning process. I make sure to cross all my ‘t’s and dot all my ‘i’s to make sure I’m really careful because I don’t want that to happen again.”
Another major part of her work is through private and public jewelry shows. During this period, VanHee works intensely slaving away hours and hours in her home’s studio to prepare her collections by herself and by hand.
“Shows are crunch time,” VanHee said. “Weeks before the show my mom will have the kids everyday. I honestly couldn’t do it without my family.”
Most of her family is only a five minute drive away, and as an Italian family they are together a lot. Her family are her number one fans, and understand what it takes to own a business.
VanHee comes from a long line of relatives who own their own companies.
“I think it is inherited in the genes, it’s in the DNA,” said her mother Jacki Abbot. “Her father, his father, my brother, always worked for themselves.”
Abbot also started her own travel company for seniors, so she could work for home. She hated the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday, and loves the freedom of owning her business.
That is why VanHee prefers being her own boss as well.
The reason she started her business in Syracuse was so she could raise kids in a better environment than the city and have flexible hours.Her two girls Alyce, 4, and newborn Blair, 6 months, are her priority.
Last September she had to cancel her entire fall and winter season - which are busiest times - because she was bed rested during her pregnancy.
“It was hard because it’s me. It’s my business, my reputation on the line,” VanHee said.
“I had some people place orders in September, and I wasn’t able to finish until after the baby was born.”
Blair is still getting over health problems, so VanHee is just easing back into work from maternity leave.
The 5-foot-8-inch toned vegetarian believes there is nothing more important than health and she strives to teach her girls how to lead a balanced life.
Her four year old is probably one of the only kids that eats tofu, she said.
“My most favorite thing besides my children and my husband and most important is my yoga,” VanHee said. “I’m so passionate about it, I just swear by it. I love it.”
After intense design periods, her fingers hurt and yoga helps relieve the aching and stress, she said. She got her husband and kids into the practice as well.
Although her husband started practicing yoga, he has not started wearing any of her pieces.
“I’m not a big jewelry guy,” Dana VanHee said. “I pretty much wear just a watch and wedding ring.”
VanHee, a 36-year-old independent jewelry designer, runs her fingers over smooth stones and glazes her eyes over sparkly gems. Black Onyx, Freshwater Pearl, Crazy Lace Agate - which stone should she pick up today?
VanHee waits for something to catch her eye.
“I go for things that look different,” she said. “Sometimes I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with it, but I’m gonna buy it. As long as it’s a good quality stone, I’m open to it.”
She occasionally sketches, but she uses her eyes to guide her to inspiration.
“My eyes are open to everything artistic and fashion related,” VanHee said. “I’m always thinking about what to do for next season.”
VanHee designs statement pieces to accessorize anything from a black tie affair, a wedding dress or jeans and a t-shirt. She creates only high quality jewelry made of the finest materials and semiprecious stones.
She got her start by making her own jewelry when she could never find the perfect piece to compliment her outfit. She took her first class at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she finally achieved her second degree in fashion.
After high school VanHee - native to Syracuse and only 17 at the time - wanted to go to FIT, but was told by her parents that she was too young to venture into the big apple. VanHee went to ___ for her bachelor’s degree in communications. After undergraduate schooling, she landed a job in educational systems programming, but it just was not her.
She stuck with the job until her husband Dana finished law school in Massachusetts and then the two moved to NYC so she could pursue something creative.
“Jewelry design was actually an accident,” VanHee said. “I knew I wanted to do something creative, but I didn’t know what it was.”
VanHee originally thought she would do something on the business side of fashion. She has been stylish ever since she was a little girl.
“She looked like the perfect little child you would see in a magazine,” Sandi Schneider, her aunt and big customer of hers. “She was not trendy, just classic.”
And she still insists on things that last a lifetime.
“I make jewelry that is fashionable and current, but at the same time won’t look dated and be able to be worn for years to come,” VanHee said.
Not only does it last, but VanHee also designs jewelry that is versatile. She believes a piece should be worn many different ways if it costs a lot.
“That’s how I design. It’s how I dress,” she said. “You know it’s my style.”
Despite her own taste, VanHee creates designs to appeal to a variety of customers.
A majority of her work is through custom work, where she adapts her style to tailor her buyer’s needs. She gets to know everything about them, everything from who they are to their neck size.
“She always wants people to feel comfortable,” said Jaime Venditti, a customer and long-time friend.
Venditti never thought jewelry was comfortable until she started wearing VanHee’s pieces.
“The Tiger Eye and green stone feel wonderful,” Venditti said. “I know that sounds weird, but it is smooth and soft to touch.”
She is almost obsessive when it comes to checking in with her customers throughout the design process to ensure that the piece is coming exactly how they wanted, VanHee said.
“She is very detail oriented,” Venditti said. “She makes sure it is the right piece for someone. I have never seen her sell anything that isn’t beautiful for them.”
Only once did she have an unsatisfied customer - “a total bridezilla,” VanHee said.
“At the end she said this isn’t what I thought it would be,” VanHee said. “I have never had any other problems, but it was a learning process. I make sure to cross all my ‘t’s and dot all my ‘i’s to make sure I’m really careful because I don’t want that to happen again.”
Another major part of her work is through private and public jewelry shows. During this period, VanHee works intensely slaving away hours and hours in her home’s studio to prepare her collections by herself and by hand.
“Shows are crunch time,” VanHee said. “Weeks before the show my mom will have the kids everyday. I honestly couldn’t do it without my family.”
Most of her family is only a five minute drive away, and as an Italian family they are together a lot. Her family are her number one fans, and understand what it takes to own a business.
VanHee comes from a long line of relatives who own their own companies.
“I think it is inherited in the genes, it’s in the DNA,” said her mother Jacki Abbot. “Her father, his father, my brother, always worked for themselves.”
Abbot also started her own travel company for seniors, so she could work for home. She hated the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday, and loves the freedom of owning her business.
That is why VanHee prefers being her own boss as well.
The reason she started her business in Syracuse was so she could raise kids in a better environment than the city and have flexible hours.Her two girls Alyce, 4, and newborn Blair, 6 months, are her priority.
Last September she had to cancel her entire fall and winter season - which are busiest times - because she was bed rested during her pregnancy.
“It was hard because it’s me. It’s my business, my reputation on the line,” VanHee said.
“I had some people place orders in September, and I wasn’t able to finish until after the baby was born.”
Blair is still getting over health problems, so VanHee is just easing back into work from maternity leave.
The 5-foot-8-inch toned vegetarian believes there is nothing more important than health and she strives to teach her girls how to lead a balanced life.
Her four year old is probably one of the only kids that eats tofu, she said.
“My most favorite thing besides my children and my husband and most important is my yoga,” VanHee said. “I’m so passionate about it, I just swear by it. I love it.”
After intense design periods, her fingers hurt and yoga helps relieve the aching and stress, she said. She got her husband and kids into the practice as well.
Although her husband started practicing yoga, he has not started wearing any of her pieces.
“I’m not a big jewelry guy,” Dana VanHee said. “I pretty much wear just a watch and wedding ring.”
Extreme Home Makeover: Jewish Edition - story for news class
There is plenty of work to do, but before Nettie Goeler rolls up her sleeves to dig in she grabs a quick pick me up.
She plops a glazed donut-hole into her mouth and grabs a bottle of water to wash it down.
“I need to eat something because I didn’t eat enough for breakfast,” she said. “It’s been a long morning after Sunday school.”
It is Sunday, but it will not be a day of rest.
“Time to get to work,” she said.
Her husband grunts, “Good, because it’s almost time to go home,” as he works through his second hour of planting groundcover in the front yard, and it is not even his own home.
Goeler picks out the cleanest pair of gardening gloves from a bucket and joins the Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas’ kickoff of Extreme Home Makeover: Jewish Edition. The project: to enhance the curb appeal of a 2,560 square-foot vacated residence located at1408 Madison St. in Syracuse’s East Side.
About 15 synagogue members volunteered to begin the renovation process of the vacated home on Sept. 14. The group volunteered through Home HeadQuarters, a non-profit organization that rebuilds and resells local vacancies at market value.
“The idea is that before we renovate our own home, we renovate someone else’s,” said Erica Bern, director of youth and family programs who planned the event.
Volunteering to fix the vacant home is the beginning of a religious study program that will renovate the participating synagogue member’s spiritual selves.
“It’s a spiritual renovation,” said Marc Beckman, one of the volunteers and a synagogue member. “Physical labor helps the spiritual soul.”
And the vacated house will require a lot of physical labor to fix it up.
From the street view, the home stands dilapidated. Boards cover broken windows, overgrown grass needs a mowing and only paled remnants of the exterior’s yellow paint remain.
“It’s been vacated for quite a while, but it may not be as long as you think,” said Karen Schroeder, the marketing and resource development manager for Home HeadQuarters who coordinated the volunteer opportunity with Bern.
The city took this residence because the owner owed back taxes, Schroeder said. Common reasons for vacancies are foreclosures, employment losses, health issues or divorces, she added.
The owner could not afford to pay them after going through a divorce, said Shanah Williams, a neighbor who lives around the corner at 107 Bassett St.
“I’ve always wanted this home,” Williams said. “I’ve never been in it before, but I could see the potential.”
Home HeadQuarters, which owns over 200 properties in the city, saw potential in 1408 Madison St. as well and purchased the home for $1, Schroeder said. The city developed a program that allows non-profits to buy vacant homes for $1 last year, according to an article in The Post-Standard. There are around 1,000 vacant properties in the city, according to The Post-Standard.
“This neighborhood is on the upswing. It’s getting better,” said Brent Bleier, a volunteer and local for 30 years. “This neighborhood has gone through a few cycles.”
With Maple Heights, a townhouse project located on the other side of Madison, Bleier hopes the East Side gets good tenants to move in.
“One’s neighbors have an impact on the quality of your life,” he said.
When the non-profit completes a renovation, it looks for homeowners who can build up equity, Schroeder said.
“We don’t want someone who doesn’t do anything for 15 years,” she said.
Home HeadQuarters enrolls new owners in a 10-week homebuyer education course to make sure they know what it takes to keep up a home.
The non-profit receives renovation funds from local, state and federal government agencies and looks for donations from anywhere that might give, Schroeder said.
At the beginning of renovation processes, Home HeadQuarters occasionally offers volunteer opportunities to do simple chores like yard work, so it appears like the houses are occupied.
“It gives the façade of some one living here. Nothing good happens when there are break-ins,” said Alison Jackson, the marketing and resource development administrator for Home HeadQuarters.
The continuous break-ins at the vacant Madison property make Williams uncomfortable as a nearby resident.
When a street has a vacant home on it, the neighborhood’s value and morale go down with it, Schroeder said.
Often there are instances when vacancies go untended for too long and cannot be salvaged.
“Some are just too far gone and we demo them,” Schroeder said.
A demolition could cost anywhere from $12,000 to $36,000 depending on what condition the home is in, she said.
“It’s a waste for [a home] to be torn down for back taxes,” Williams said.
The Madison Street house, although salvageable, is going to be completely gutted. A roof leak caused the interior’s walls to rot, floor planks to lift out of place and the second floor’s ceiling to sink in. It will cost $130,000 to fix, Schroeder said.
“You wonder whether it’s better just to burn it down,” Beckman said.
Interior problems such as mold and asbestos sometimes prevent volunteers from being able to help with renovations. Home HeadQuarters ensures the site is safe enough for untrained people to work on it, which sometimes costs more than contractors just doing the whole job, Schroeder said.
“It is usually time-effective for volunteers to do the yard work,” she said.
The Extreme Home Makeover volunteers put in a new layer of groundcover, removed rotting trees and planted daffodil bulbs.
Young girls from the synagogue begged their mom to plant the daffodils.
“Volunteering is one way to let people be included in the beautification aesthetics before the contractors dive in and do the renovation,” Jackson said.
The volunteers picking up trash did one of the day’s dirtiest jobs. Soda cans, broken cassette tapes, soggy cereal boxes and fallen tree branches littered the back yard before the volunteers arrived.
“It looks like a dumping ground,” Bleier said. “You know what the say: out of sight, out of mind.”
Bleier organized the trash piles properly for city pick-up and sorted recyclables from the yard’s debree.
Around late afternoon disposals piled high on the property’s front curb and Goeler was hungry again.
This time though the whole crew took a break together and huddled around Bern’s Volkswagen bug, which doubled as a picnic table. A spread of peanut butter and jelly, bagels, cream cheese and hummus lined her trunk.
After all the work done, trying to wash up before eating proved to be the day’s biggest project.
“I forgot the Purell,” Bern said.
She plops a glazed donut-hole into her mouth and grabs a bottle of water to wash it down.
“I need to eat something because I didn’t eat enough for breakfast,” she said. “It’s been a long morning after Sunday school.”
It is Sunday, but it will not be a day of rest.
“Time to get to work,” she said.
Her husband grunts, “Good, because it’s almost time to go home,” as he works through his second hour of planting groundcover in the front yard, and it is not even his own home.
Goeler picks out the cleanest pair of gardening gloves from a bucket and joins the Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas’ kickoff of Extreme Home Makeover: Jewish Edition. The project: to enhance the curb appeal of a 2,560 square-foot vacated residence located at1408 Madison St. in Syracuse’s East Side.
About 15 synagogue members volunteered to begin the renovation process of the vacated home on Sept. 14. The group volunteered through Home HeadQuarters, a non-profit organization that rebuilds and resells local vacancies at market value.
“The idea is that before we renovate our own home, we renovate someone else’s,” said Erica Bern, director of youth and family programs who planned the event.
Volunteering to fix the vacant home is the beginning of a religious study program that will renovate the participating synagogue member’s spiritual selves.
“It’s a spiritual renovation,” said Marc Beckman, one of the volunteers and a synagogue member. “Physical labor helps the spiritual soul.”
And the vacated house will require a lot of physical labor to fix it up.
From the street view, the home stands dilapidated. Boards cover broken windows, overgrown grass needs a mowing and only paled remnants of the exterior’s yellow paint remain.
“It’s been vacated for quite a while, but it may not be as long as you think,” said Karen Schroeder, the marketing and resource development manager for Home HeadQuarters who coordinated the volunteer opportunity with Bern.
The city took this residence because the owner owed back taxes, Schroeder said. Common reasons for vacancies are foreclosures, employment losses, health issues or divorces, she added.
The owner could not afford to pay them after going through a divorce, said Shanah Williams, a neighbor who lives around the corner at 107 Bassett St.
“I’ve always wanted this home,” Williams said. “I’ve never been in it before, but I could see the potential.”
Home HeadQuarters, which owns over 200 properties in the city, saw potential in 1408 Madison St. as well and purchased the home for $1, Schroeder said. The city developed a program that allows non-profits to buy vacant homes for $1 last year, according to an article in The Post-Standard. There are around 1,000 vacant properties in the city, according to The Post-Standard.
“This neighborhood is on the upswing. It’s getting better,” said Brent Bleier, a volunteer and local for 30 years. “This neighborhood has gone through a few cycles.”
With Maple Heights, a townhouse project located on the other side of Madison, Bleier hopes the East Side gets good tenants to move in.
“One’s neighbors have an impact on the quality of your life,” he said.
When the non-profit completes a renovation, it looks for homeowners who can build up equity, Schroeder said.
“We don’t want someone who doesn’t do anything for 15 years,” she said.
Home HeadQuarters enrolls new owners in a 10-week homebuyer education course to make sure they know what it takes to keep up a home.
The non-profit receives renovation funds from local, state and federal government agencies and looks for donations from anywhere that might give, Schroeder said.
At the beginning of renovation processes, Home HeadQuarters occasionally offers volunteer opportunities to do simple chores like yard work, so it appears like the houses are occupied.
“It gives the façade of some one living here. Nothing good happens when there are break-ins,” said Alison Jackson, the marketing and resource development administrator for Home HeadQuarters.
The continuous break-ins at the vacant Madison property make Williams uncomfortable as a nearby resident.
When a street has a vacant home on it, the neighborhood’s value and morale go down with it, Schroeder said.
Often there are instances when vacancies go untended for too long and cannot be salvaged.
“Some are just too far gone and we demo them,” Schroeder said.
A demolition could cost anywhere from $12,000 to $36,000 depending on what condition the home is in, she said.
“It’s a waste for [a home] to be torn down for back taxes,” Williams said.
The Madison Street house, although salvageable, is going to be completely gutted. A roof leak caused the interior’s walls to rot, floor planks to lift out of place and the second floor’s ceiling to sink in. It will cost $130,000 to fix, Schroeder said.
“You wonder whether it’s better just to burn it down,” Beckman said.
Interior problems such as mold and asbestos sometimes prevent volunteers from being able to help with renovations. Home HeadQuarters ensures the site is safe enough for untrained people to work on it, which sometimes costs more than contractors just doing the whole job, Schroeder said.
“It is usually time-effective for volunteers to do the yard work,” she said.
The Extreme Home Makeover volunteers put in a new layer of groundcover, removed rotting trees and planted daffodil bulbs.
Young girls from the synagogue begged their mom to plant the daffodils.
“Volunteering is one way to let people be included in the beautification aesthetics before the contractors dive in and do the renovation,” Jackson said.
The volunteers picking up trash did one of the day’s dirtiest jobs. Soda cans, broken cassette tapes, soggy cereal boxes and fallen tree branches littered the back yard before the volunteers arrived.
“It looks like a dumping ground,” Bleier said. “You know what the say: out of sight, out of mind.”
Bleier organized the trash piles properly for city pick-up and sorted recyclables from the yard’s debree.
Around late afternoon disposals piled high on the property’s front curb and Goeler was hungry again.
This time though the whole crew took a break together and huddled around Bern’s Volkswagen bug, which doubled as a picnic table. A spread of peanut butter and jelly, bagels, cream cheese and hummus lined her trunk.
After all the work done, trying to wash up before eating proved to be the day’s biggest project.
“I forgot the Purell,” Bern said.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Children's center upgrading facilities - BLOG post for news class
“Don’t leave your vehicles running or your keys in the car. Thank you,” reads the welcome sign on the door of a grey, grim-looking administration building.
Once inside, a crowded waiting room resides on the left. A mother sits nervously waiting for her son, three troubled-looking adolescent boys squirm in their seats and the receptionist’s voice echoes, cutting the stiff silence.
A facilitator paces through the room with a clipboard in hand and a walkie-talkie belted to his waist.
This is the operation of Elmcrest Children’s Center, a multi-service treatment center for children with developmental disabilities and serious medical conditions, along with emotional, behavioral and psychiatric disturbances.
With an increasing demand for services, the center needs more space, according to Joe Geglia, the assistant to the center’s executive director.
A 9,000 square-foot family support center is expected to break ground within the next 30 days, which will replace the existing 3,900 immediate crisis facility.
A family support center is a 14-day program where a quick plan is developed to treat families with problems such as alcohol, drug and sexual abuse. In this program, siblings are kept together to reduce separation trauma and the family is more likely to be re-unified sooner.
The Syracuse-based center treats around 1,500 children and families a year through long-term residential treatment, critical care and pediatric respite programs, according to its Web site.
With a larger, more efficient facility millions of dollars could be saved, Geglia said.
The project’s estimated cost is $1.5 million. The project is a part of a five-year campaign to renovate the facility originally built in the 1920s.
It is being financed by the county and has received donations from many, including COR Companies, which is building the new facility at cost.
“[The project] tugged at their heartstrings,” Geglia said.
Once inside, a crowded waiting room resides on the left. A mother sits nervously waiting for her son, three troubled-looking adolescent boys squirm in their seats and the receptionist’s voice echoes, cutting the stiff silence.
A facilitator paces through the room with a clipboard in hand and a walkie-talkie belted to his waist.
This is the operation of Elmcrest Children’s Center, a multi-service treatment center for children with developmental disabilities and serious medical conditions, along with emotional, behavioral and psychiatric disturbances.
With an increasing demand for services, the center needs more space, according to Joe Geglia, the assistant to the center’s executive director.
A 9,000 square-foot family support center is expected to break ground within the next 30 days, which will replace the existing 3,900 immediate crisis facility.
A family support center is a 14-day program where a quick plan is developed to treat families with problems such as alcohol, drug and sexual abuse. In this program, siblings are kept together to reduce separation trauma and the family is more likely to be re-unified sooner.
The Syracuse-based center treats around 1,500 children and families a year through long-term residential treatment, critical care and pediatric respite programs, according to its Web site.
With a larger, more efficient facility millions of dollars could be saved, Geglia said.
The project’s estimated cost is $1.5 million. The project is a part of a five-year campaign to renovate the facility originally built in the 1920s.
It is being financed by the county and has received donations from many, including COR Companies, which is building the new facility at cost.
“[The project] tugged at their heartstrings,” Geglia said.
Parade homes go green, attendees uninterested - BLOG for news class
The 2008 Parade of Homes – a single site open house that showcases the latest in landscape and interior design – went green this year by exhibiting 10 eco-friendly model residences in Clay’s Country Meadow neighborhood.
However, attendees were not interested in the energy-efficient alternatives.
“What we hear from builders when we offer to make a quote about going with a green alternative … is that people still go for the aesthetically pleasing product,” said Mary Thompson, the executive officer of the Home Builders and Remodelers of Central New York an Association of Professionals that puts on the annual event.
More people go to get landscaping and interior decorating ideas, the tough part is getting them interested in the green options, Thompson said.
In the end, the builders build for the customers, she added.
The initial higher cost of going green is to blame, said Carmen Mufale, project manager for Summerset Homes, which built one of the models. He does not think customers have the extra money to spend right now with the economy.
There is a countertop product made out of recycled bottles that looks just like granite, but since it’s more money people won’t buy it, Mufale said.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Customers would rather buy the last piece of granite on earth, than that piece made of recycled bottles.”
Not all of the green improvements were superficial. The builders made the homes with features including energy-efficient furnaces and insulated walls, Thompson said.
Builders are just catching up with the green trend, so customers are slowly following, she said.
About 20,000 people came to see the fully decorated and landscaped models from Sept. 6 to 21, according to Thompson.
However, attendees were not interested in the energy-efficient alternatives.
“What we hear from builders when we offer to make a quote about going with a green alternative … is that people still go for the aesthetically pleasing product,” said Mary Thompson, the executive officer of the Home Builders and Remodelers of Central New York an Association of Professionals that puts on the annual event.
More people go to get landscaping and interior decorating ideas, the tough part is getting them interested in the green options, Thompson said.
In the end, the builders build for the customers, she added.
The initial higher cost of going green is to blame, said Carmen Mufale, project manager for Summerset Homes, which built one of the models. He does not think customers have the extra money to spend right now with the economy.
There is a countertop product made out of recycled bottles that looks just like granite, but since it’s more money people won’t buy it, Mufale said.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Customers would rather buy the last piece of granite on earth, than that piece made of recycled bottles.”
Not all of the green improvements were superficial. The builders made the homes with features including energy-efficient furnaces and insulated walls, Thompson said.
Builders are just catching up with the green trend, so customers are slowly following, she said.
About 20,000 people came to see the fully decorated and landscaped models from Sept. 6 to 21, according to Thompson.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
What's good?
What's good? What's bad?
... How do we know?
It seems like the world is based off bad and good - the black and white of society.
The gray area in between is color that allows for a mix of both.
The media has to portray both good and bad without setting an agenda, but does it really do that?
The media tell good stories - the human-interest type that are flowery and uplifting - and the bad - the ones like the current Wall Street crisis that make you jittery and anxious.
But what about the good in the Wall Street crisis?
People have touched on the fact that it may clean up the American credit system, but I haven't seen a lot of media coverage about it. Isn't it good that Americans could realize their irresponsibility and turn it around?
Why isn't that angle being played up?
No matter how terrible of a story, shouldn't both sides be portrayed - good and bad?
Good and bad need to be in each story to make a piece well-rounded and not one-sided. I feel like that happens less and less.
The more and more I read, the more I get depressed.
The news has definitely instilled fear into the media consumer in me. And I don't think that is going to help the industry's revenue jump up, which needs to happen.
The bad is overtaking the good.
The media might say that's just what's out there today, but I don't believe that it's all bad even with the economic state the country is in right now.
Truth should remain the main objective of reporting, but isn't there a way to dig for the good and get both sides of the story?
... How do we know?
It seems like the world is based off bad and good - the black and white of society.
The gray area in between is color that allows for a mix of both.
The media has to portray both good and bad without setting an agenda, but does it really do that?
The media tell good stories - the human-interest type that are flowery and uplifting - and the bad - the ones like the current Wall Street crisis that make you jittery and anxious.
But what about the good in the Wall Street crisis?
People have touched on the fact that it may clean up the American credit system, but I haven't seen a lot of media coverage about it. Isn't it good that Americans could realize their irresponsibility and turn it around?
Why isn't that angle being played up?
No matter how terrible of a story, shouldn't both sides be portrayed - good and bad?
Good and bad need to be in each story to make a piece well-rounded and not one-sided. I feel like that happens less and less.
The more and more I read, the more I get depressed.
The news has definitely instilled fear into the media consumer in me. And I don't think that is going to help the industry's revenue jump up, which needs to happen.
The bad is overtaking the good.
The media might say that's just what's out there today, but I don't believe that it's all bad even with the economic state the country is in right now.
Truth should remain the main objective of reporting, but isn't there a way to dig for the good and get both sides of the story?
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