At the Green Chimneys campus in Brewster, the cacophony of animal sounds ”“ goats bleating, kookaburras laughing, Bactrian Camels making the sounds that Bactrian Camels make ”“ will be joined by the sounds of hammers and whirring saws.
Green Chimneys, which provides day and residential educational treatment options for special-needs children, received a $750,000 Empire Development Corp. grant to renovate two buildings and add seven new classrooms on the grounds. The school has around 100 residential students, and serves children from 75 school districts in the Hudson Valley.
Five new classrooms will be built in Ross Hall, which is named for Dr. Sam Ross, who founded Green Chimneys in 1947, and two will be built in the Nature”™s Nursery building, which houses early childhood education programs.
“It”™s going to give us some elbow room,” said Joe Whalen, the executive director of Green Chimneys. “It gets the kids out of (classroom trailers) here, and they”™ll go away as soon as we finish the classrooms.”
Whalen told the Business Journal that replacing the classroom trailers with the new classrooms will allow Green Chimneys to expand to accommodate the need for its services.
“There”™s parents right now that want to place their kids, but there”™s no room at the inn, so to speak,” Whalen said. “Those parents have been looking for a resource, and we”™ll be able to do more and expand our service to the region.”
Among the services that Green Chimneys provides is the unique concept of therapy in a farm environment, According to the Green Chimneys website, children can play with a dog, cat or rabbit during a session with a trained adult, to the more comprehensive approaches where children experience an immersion with animals, including therapeutic horseback riding, horticulture therapy including greenhouse and garden work, nature, adventure activities and a dog interaction and training program to help prepare rescued dogs for adoption.
“The founder, Sam Ross, and Myra Ross, they developed the program and the school, and had animals from day one,” said Whalen, who began his career at Green Chimneys as a teacher. “They knew why it was important for the kids residing here, and it”™s developed and has a bigger impact today than they probably thought it would back in 1947.”
Animals, Whalen explained, are therapeutic partners with the children under the modern techniques Green Chimneys uses. The menagerie maintained at the facility in Brewster ranges from birds of prey, including an Andean condor and a bald eagle, to horses, goats, sheep, and a pair of Bactrian camels.
“We”™re considered, internationally, one of the best sites for this kind of interaction,” said Whalen.
Kristin Dionne, Green Chimneys”™ director of fund development, said that the school is excited about the grant.
“It really shows the economic impact that Green Chimneys has, even though we”™re a non-profit,” said Dionne. “We have over 500 employees, which makes us one of the largest in Putnam County.”
Dionne and Whalen said that the renovation and construction of the seven new classrooms will help Green Chimneys continue to hire locally. Green Chimneys frequently uses local subcontractors for plumbing, electrical, and other needs.
“We want to make sure have an impact to the community,” Whalen said. “Anybody that”™s out there that wants to plumb or do something, we always have something to bid on.”
To Whalen and Dionne, the grant and the seven new classrooms it will provide are signs that people notice the important work that Green Chimneys does and the impact that it has in the Hudson Valley.
“The fact that EDC looked at us as some place that could benefit, we celebrate it,” Whalen said. “We believe that we have to support our local community. That”™s healthy for all of us. I think we”™ll be growing for a long time.”
