For immediate release ………………..
Contact: Teresa Martinez
Director, Carolyn’s House
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716-278-9662
716-807-1822 cell
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   Lockport, N.Y. (May 3, 2009)  The YWCA of Niagara received the 2009 Hallmark Initiative Award for Economic Empowerment from the YWCA USA for its program at Carolyn’s House.
   The YWCA of Niagara Carolyn’s House program was one of six finalists among YWCA agencies throughout the country recognized for having an exemplary model program in either racial justice or economic empowerment. Awards in the two categories were announced at the YWCA USA National Conference in Washington, D.C. 

   Carolyn’s House is a supportive housing program for homeless women and children. Residents participate in various onsite educational, vocational and life skills programs designed to help them become self-sufficient.  Carolyn’s House provides culinary arts training, GED classes, certified nursing assistant courses, janitorial and maintenance courses, Individual Development Accounts and financial literacy, and a variety of counseling and parenting programs. The YWCA of Niagara also operates a full-service catering business out of Carolyn’s House, The Catering Crew, which employs students and graduates of its culinary training program.
   Kathleen Granchelli, CEO of the YWCA of Niagara, and Teresa Martinez, Director of Carolyn’s House, attended the conference and accepted the award.  
   “It is always gratifying to receive recognition from your peers,” said Granchelli.  “The YWCA focuses on two major areas, economic self sufficiency for women and racial justice.  We were thrilled that the national group looked at the economic program at Carolyn’s House as a prototype model for the nation.  These programs are funded by two local foundations; the John R. Oishei Foundation and the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, investors who recognize that economic self sufficiency is critical for women as they move toward better futures.”    
   “On behalf of the board of directors of the YWCA, we thank the YWCA USA for this prestigious national award that honors the success of the program at Carolyn’s House, one that reflects the commitment and dedication of the YWCA staff and board members to continue its efforts to create the kinds of programs specific to the YWCA’s mission of empowering women,” said Marty Troia and Dr. Nancy McGlen, co-presidents of the board of directors of the YWCA of Niagara.
   The YWCA USA Hallmark initiatives are designed to have a direct and measurable impact throughout each YWCA as well as beyond the YWCA’s daily programs and services. These impacts are achieved by first ensuring that YWCA policies, practices and program curricula reflect the priorities of racial justice and women’s economic advancement. The YWCA agencies then expand their efforts by designing and implementing specific programs.
   For more information, contact the YWCA of Niagara at 716-433-6714 or www.ywcaniagara.org.

Niagara Gazette
February 13, 2007
Safe at Home
By Michele DeLuca

NIAGARA FALLS — She was too young to have children. She knows that now. But she loves them too much for regret. And it’s really not her past that concerns her. It’s her future and theirs which holds her attention now.

Brandi is a 25-year-old resident of Carolyn’s House in Niagara Falls. Her last name cannot be used to protect her privacy, but one important note can be shared. Her life may have been saved by the support network available to her at Carolyn’s House, a residence for woman who are homeless or abused or simply out of luck.

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Niagara Gazette
February 13, 2007
House director, staff provide recipe for success
By Michele DeLuca

Whenever Teresa Martinez helps a woman find a home, or when she guides a family toward a better life, she thinks of her mother.
Martinez is director of Carolyn’s House in Niagara Falls, a unique place where women and children can come to heal and grow. And she has a clear understanding of how important it is when someone extends a hand.
“I was raised in a single-parent home, and watched my mother work different jobs and struggle with issues of childcare and tight budgets,” she said recently during an interview at the house on Sixth Street.
“I think about how tired she must have been at 2 and 3 in the morning, when she was sewing clothes for us because she couldn’t afford to buy them,” Martinez remembers.

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