Felice Harris recalled the day she ran into a little boy in a diner.
She first met him as a baby in the special needs program at the Lois Bronz Children”™s Center in Greenburgh.
He was born with an addiction, was severely autistic and could not speak.
On that particular day some years later, “He was handsome, he was grown up and he was able to negotiate the diner situation and there were no outbursts,” said the former center social worker who turned executive director in 2006. “I had developed a real bond with the parents. You”™re going on home visits and you”™re talking to them every month. I was in tears when I saw him in the diner and he spoke and said, ”˜Hello.”™ He still had his obvious challenges and issues, but it was more than a milestone. It was leaps and bounds above what I even expected.”
Thousands of success stories come to mind, she said, and they”™re all interconnected with the center”™s mission to help each child served reach his or her full potential.
What began as a church basement operation has flourished into an educational and health care haven for children.
Originally called Union Child Day Care Center in 1966, the center in its second year joined the Westchester Community Opportunity Program and obtained federal Head Start program funding to expand its reach.
Over the years, the center moved into its Greenburgh location and underwent a name change in 2006.
“We wanted it to be a little more representative of what we do,” Harris said. “One of our board members had said, ”˜Lois (Bronz) has been our biggest fan.”™ She personally ran our phone-a-thon, which was the biggest event that the center held every year for 28 years and raised $450,000 over the course of the years.”
And as time changed the center”™s method of fundraising from phone-a-thon to annual gala, there have been changes in the strategic plan.
“Our focus is renewing our educational programs and increasing the quality of education,” said Susan Somersille Johnson, president of the board of directors. “We are at capacity and we would like to expand. We want to look toward longterm partnerships. We will be doing more fundraisers. We initiated an Early Childhood Education (ECE) quality forward project for classrooms last year and we”™ve seen a vast improvement due to a very generous donation from a foundation.”
The three components include: empowering teachers, engaging with parents and building a classroom of the future.
Upgrading classrooms and technology is a must.
“We need a lot of help there,” Somersille Johnson said. “Our goal by 2011 is to raise $250,000.”
Lois Bronz Children”™s Center operates an infant nursery, a toddler and two-year old program, universal Pre-K, a before and after-school program and Stepping Stones, a certified special education preschool program.
Some 300 children are served at the center, which varies according to program.
The website is lbcc4kids.org.
Felice Harris announced her resignation last week. Laura Lewis will serve as interim executive director during this time of transition. A reason for Harris”™s resignation was unavailable at press time.
