As we are all aware, it is the heart of a person that keeps them alive. It is the heart that makes you what you are. As long as the heart keeps pumping and distributing blood to the other parts of your body, you will be alive, your being will be aware of caring, loving, pain, happiness, and sadness. Your heart and how it feels, how well it is, has the ability to be kind to someone who needs kindness, to help someone who is in distress and to love someone and be loved.

A community center has the same effect on a community. When your community has a well run center with services that reach out to the residents, regardless of age, gender, financial status, religion, nationality or race, you can be assured that help is close at hand. Should you or your family ever need assistance, support and services, you have a place you can call or come to and your needs will be addressed.

Such a place is Yours, Ours, Mine Community Center, Inc. of Levittown. I have been personally acquainted with this amazing center for more than 28 years. Back in a time when I became a single parent with five children, and things were not easy to say the least, the center was there for my children and myself. I first heard of the center when the then executive director came to speak about its services at another organization where I was a member. I needed counseling for my son, who took the breakup of the family very hard. I also needed a place where he, as the youngest could be taken care of when he was out of school. YOM answered both of those needs.

A very able and caring counselor helped my son work through his problems, as well as some of my own, and the Summer Child Care program (then the "Summer Day Camp") gave me the opportunity to work and earn a living, without the worry of what would happen to my child, as I could not leave him home with my other children, who were just young teens.

At that time, the agency was very young and was just a "Youth Center" with its main focus on children and teens who needed a place to come for socialization and some recreation. The counseling component was fairly new, and the recreation was used for two purposes, one of which was to bring the youth into the center, where outreach workers and youth workers were available to speak to the youth, befriend them and recommend them to counseling if needed. This was referred to as "therapeutic recreation."

At that time, the agency had just moved from a small store front, which is now "Fred's Deli" into the present larger facility, which was a supermarket. The executive director, with the help of some of the teen boys, cleaned out the supermarket, getting rid of old furnishings, such as refrigerators, freezers, shelving, etc., and quickly turned the main floor into a recreation hall. Some pool tables, games, and other recreation equipment were donated, and a few things bought with the meager finances.

Jim Edmondson, the executive director, wrote and submitted applications for grants, to help finance the programs. Soon thereafter the agency received funding from Nassau County Youth Board. He started a nursery school program for preschool children; they would come on a daily basis, or part time. This program was self-sustaining through tuition fees, and then a Bingo game was started to help subsidize the nursery school and start a 'building fund'. The facility was rented, and all of the repairs had to be paid for by the agency.

As the agency grew, more and more programs and services were added, there was the alcohol program for teens and their families, then the substance abuse program, soon it was found that senior citizens needed some place to come for socialization and meals; thereafter, a senior program was established. Needing more funding, the agency started a second Bingo run strictly by volunteers, mostly board members. The funds from the second Bingo were slated for the senior programs, and the alcohol and substance abuse programs. More staff was needed, as well as more space.

In 1979 a holding corporation was formed which bought the building, and held the mortgage. YOM and all the funding sources pay rent for the space they use for the various programs and services. In 1984, as space became critical, the officers of the holding company borrowed $1 million to remodel and reconstruct the building by adding a second story to the building, as well as a nursery school wing.

A newer larger senior program was established and a new "Senior Day Care" program that provides services for frail elderly with various stages of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. These seniors are transported daily to and from their homes to the center by vans and buses owned by the center. They partake in socialization and recreational activities, they receive a hot meal each day and are supervised by qualified geriatric personnel. These are our mothers, fathers and grandparents, many of whom live alone and are lonely. They enjoy the companionship of their peers and frequently, the hot meal we serve them is the only meal they will get on any given day.

The nursery school children come early in the morning and stay until their parents pick them up. Many of the children are from single parent households and others from homes where both parents must work to sustain their family. Older, school-age children come early as well, and then are transported to school. After school they are picked up and brought back to the center. There they may participate in recreational-educational activities, receive needed tutoring or learn to use computers. They stay until parents come for them, often not before 6 p.m.

The seniors and children are a family's most treasured members, and to know that they get good care and the friendship of their peers, permits a caregiver, parent or wage earner to realize some peace of mind while working. This cannot be measured in money, this is something only the heart can treasure.

In addition to the programs mentioned above, there are several counseling services. These help to allow persons to recover from the numerous addictions which we humans may fall slave to. Programs are also available that mend a family unit, help children deal with the breakup of their parents, and help them deal with peer pressure, anger, depression, and myriad other emotional or mental problems. Self-help programs are offered, as well as parenting assistance and job development issues.

The community center is there for you, regardless of what your heart needs, and if it cannot provide a service for you directly, they can always refer you to the proper agency, person or place where your needs will be fulfilled.

This, however, may all come to an end, or at least realize severe limitations, due to the drastic funding cuts, which the county found necessary to levy against YOM and many other agencies dealing with human services. The agency's board of directors with the ability and foresight of its CEO, is desperately trying to keep this heart of the community door open and functioning. We want to keep all our services running at a level that will offer the community a safety net, a place where a youngster can come, such as the new evening recreation program, which presently serves almost 200 youth.

Should our doors close, where will these 200 spend the long evenings ahead, will they hang out in your neighborhood? Will they be destructive and angry? Will the seniors sit home alone again, and not receive a hot meal, or enjoy the activities that keep them lively and active? Will the parents who need the childcare programs have to stop working, or will they have to find other places for their children where care costs much more and is often limited? What will happen to a recovering person beleaguered with an addictive ailment? What will the loss of the many other programs and services mean to our community? The agency employs 85 persons, many of whom are community residents. What will happen to them and their families?

Throughout the years, many lives have been saved due to the assistance received at YOM. Hundreds have achieved great things, frequently, now adult "Yommies" come back and thank the CEO for what the center has done for them. Many have grown into persons they themselves never thought they could be. The agency is proud to call priests, ministers, doctors, law enforcement personnel, professors, attorneys, sports professionals, teachers, company executives, etc. among its alumni. It serves many second and third generations of former youth participants. We wonder where these hundreds of successes would be if it hadn't been for the heart of this community?

I, as a 28-year board member, and former user of YOM's services, ask on behalf of all those who participate and need our services and programs now, and in the future, for your help and support. We cannot let this heart die of failure on our part to lend a helping hand. The devastating 2/3 cut in funding, may be more than we are able to handle on our own. I ask you to look into your hearts, and keep this community center's heart beating for future generations and those who need us now.

Donations may be forwarded to:

Yours, Ours, Mine Community Center

152 Center Lane, Levittown, NY 11756

Telephone: 796-6633

If you are aware of any corporation which may be interested in offering donations or grants, please contact the agency. Also if you are aware of any philanthropic agency or foundation we could contact, please inform us of same. Thank you for caring.