Helping Celebrate Abilities History The Handicapped Children's Association of Southern New York, Inc. has served people with disabilities and their families since 1947. HCA is a New York State Cerebral Palsy Association affiliate and a United Way Member Agency. Mission Develop, establish, and maintain multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment services for developmentally and physically disabled persons and their families. Plan and implement individualized programs designed to increase to the greatest possible degree the individual's physical, social, intellectual, and emotional abilities. Enable developmentally disabled persons to remain in the community, develop to their fullest potential, and become independent functional members of society. Vision To provide integration opportunities for local people with disabilities in a dignified, respectful manner. To provide an environment where activities, services and support are based on the dreams, interests, preferences, strengths, and capabilities of the individual -- where a person with a disability is treated as a person.

The Watershed Agricultural Council partners with hundreds of farm and forest landowners in the New York City Watershed region to ensure their lands stay within a working context. Keeping over 2,000 miles of Watershed lands productive and part of a growing economy is no easy task. Add in the challenge of delivering over one billion gallons of fresh, clean drinking water to nine million New Yorkers each day. Together with Watershed landowners and various partnering agencies, the Council achieves a two-part solution to a growing need: protecting clean water by ensuring working landscapes in agriculture and forestry. These working landscapes, in turn, provide pure food raised on family farms and strong local economies based on thriving farm operations and wood businesses based on healthy forests. All three are a direct result of innovative approaches in Watershed management. The Council uses: • Whole Farms Plans, • Forest Management Plans, • Conservation Easements and • Economic Initiatives to help farmers, forest professionals and private landholders address water pollution concerns on properties located in the Croton and Catskill/Delaware Watersheds.

Delaware Opportunities Inc. was established in 1965 under provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, as a Community Action Agency. Delaware Opportunities is a not-for-profit, private corporation. Although the agency contracts with Delaware County and other local municipalities, the agency is not a part of local government. It is governed by a Board of Directors, and has wide powers, designed to improve living conditions in Delaware County. The mission of the agency is to help people achieve self sufficiency and attain a better quality of life.

Founded in 1984 by a small group of concerned citizens as “Friends Who Care”, the Southern Tier AIDS Program began with $50,000, three staff, donated office space and a desire to ease the suffering of our friends who were dying. Thirty-seven years later STAP is an organization of 75+ professional staff and an operating budget of 3 million dollars annually. The passion and creativity that began this organization continues to inform us today as we provide supportive services to HIV+ persons and state of the art prevention education from 9 offices in 8 counties (Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins) of the Southern Tier of New York. Our mission is to compassionately and competently meet the evolving needs of our communities by serving people affected by chronic illness and to improve public health through disease prevention, care coordination and advocacy.

I took part in a project called The Layla Project that provides information and resources to women about sexual health. Within The Layla Project, I worked with The Diva Cup Club where I created multiple flyers, social media posts, and brainstormed community outreach for the menstrual cups.

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) is one of three AmeriCorps Seniors programs. It is federally funded but locally sponsored allowing those 55 and older to served their communities on local challenges. RSVP matches those eligible with satisfying volunteer experiences and supports volunteers in their efforts to better their communities.

FINGER LAKES INDEPENDENCE CENTER, INC. is a nonprofit organization management company based out of 215 5Th St, Ithaca, NY, United States.

Interviewed local leaders and organizations of Tompkins County to target problematic trends facing marginalized populations, particularly in rural communities; Coordinated with network hubs to organize digestible data from a variety of sources, presenting regularly; Assisted in creating a user-friendly network map, user guide, and gave instruction on how to utilize the platform.

Chesterton House is a center for Christian studies at Cornell University. We exist to facilitate the discovery of the intellectual riches of the historic Christian faith, thereby empowering more faithful Christian living. We do this through our distinguished public lecture series, our residential living centers and the courses we offer in biblical, theological, cultural, and ethical studies.

Mission: United Way of Tompkins County strengthens lives by mobilizing the caring power of our communities to advance the common good. Vision Statement: Working with others we will build an organization that supports individuals in their efforts to live self-sufficient, productive lives, connects families with their communities, encourages diverse agencies and communities to engage each other to achieve mutual goals, and models and expects dignity, fairness, and respect. Find a local volunteer opportunity at getconnected.uwtc.org