Farewell and Good Luck to TRIP VISTAs Claire Pitts and Mary Rynasko

We were so sad to say goodbye to Claire and Mary who have been stupendous VISTA volunteers at TRIP for the past year.  Their one year of service ended in November when they both moved on to other things.   Mary has moved to NYC (Queens) where she is currently interning at an arts gallery on the Lower East Side called Lu Magnus (www.lumagnus.com) and looking for paid employment as well.  Claire has remained with her family in Troy temporarily and is doing retail work until she moves to Philadelphia in the near future. 

Many of you met Claire at various neighborhood meetings and community events in her role as TRIP’s community outreach worker.  She was an enthusiastic cheerleader among groups even while keeping them focused on the tasks at hand.   Mary was TRIP’s Program Support Worker where her organizational skills were welcomed and put to use streamlining systems and orchestrating progress on various projects.    They both had strong arts backgrounds and so were key in shepherding School 2’s “Paint the Boards” project with sixth graders. 

(See http://triponline.org/news_and_events/PainttheBoards2012.html for terrific photos from this project).  Their graphics and social media skills will be long remembered through their artistic legacy at TRIP:  they created many of our photoboards, HomeOwnership Center palmcards, TRIP banner, revised TNAC brochure, TroyTalk editions, Facebook and website postings, and more. 

More than that, they both brought great spirits into the office every day.  We appreciate and miss their interest in and support of TRIP’s work, their ability to take on any job thrown at them and do it with good cheer, their collaboration in helping out any staff member and customer, and their fresh eyes and recommendations for improvements.  They made TRIP better every day and we will miss them for that.  We wish them well and know that these two terrific young women will go far in life. 

Please see article here about Mary’s musings on being a VISTAvolunteer. 

A New Look for 69 Middleburgh St.

Thanks to all who came to TRIP’s Open House at 69 Middleburgh on December 5th.  We were proud to  display our newly rehabbed 3-unit property at 69 Middleburgh Street in Troy.  The building was completely gutted and rebuilt through our partnership with the City of Troy, TAP and FH Alexander General Contractors.

The 19th Century row home was upgraded to the standards of the 21st century and designed to meet the needs of today’s market with larger bedrooms, new kitchens and bathrooms.  The entire property is now energy efficient with high efficient heating and water (on demand) systems.  Additionally, all the appliances and windows are ENERGY STAR products.

Formerly, the property was a source of neighborhood complaints for years.  When funding became available to rehabilitate a building, we approached the owner requesting to purchase it.  We bought it in  September 2011 and renovated the entire building to make it more appealing to today’s market.  Funding was through the federal HOME program which the City administers.  As with all of its rental properties, TRIP will pay property taxes.

All three units have been rented as of January 1st.   “I never thought I’d be able to afford to get in to a place that was made just for me,” said new tenant Mary Hill, who once lived next door and moved away due to problems at 69 Middleburgh.   The new tenants met standard income eligible requirements and will be paying $624 plus utilities for the one bedroom unit or $732 plus utilities for the two bedroom units.  The energy efficient design will minimize utility costs.

“Our goal is to create areas where people want to stay,” said TRIP Executive Director Patrick Madden.  “We want people to live here because they like it here, not because it’s the only thing they can afford.  That’s the environment we want to create, not only for our tenants but for the block as well.”

If I was born in 1989 am I an adult yet?

An AmeriCorps*VISTA reflects on her year of service.

By Mary Rynasko

Serving with AmeriCorps*VISTA was not something I knew I wanted to do until it happened.  After graduating college in May of 2011, I began my summer pretending that nothing had changed.  I knew I wasn’t going back to school, but I also wasn’t ready to openly admit that I had no idea what I was “doing with my life”.  After indulging myself with trips to Chicago and Maine, I returned home to the daunting task of résumé writing and job applications.  Anyone who has looked for a job in the past decade will tell you how frustrating it can be to spend the time writing cover letters and hearing no reply.  However, I’ve learned that if you talk to enough of your parents’ friends and friends’ parents, someone will email you a job listing that a potential employer will actually read.

After interviewing at Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (TRIP), Inc. and thinking over the big life questions, I decided that AmeriCorps*VISTA was what I wanted to do for the next year of my life. 

Friends and family would probably agree that since about seventh grade I’ve been a bit of a sofa-social-commentator.  I see the problems in the world around me, but as a white, upper-middle class, college graduate, my personal experiences have been primarily those of privilege.  Working at TRIP, and serving the Troy communities, has informed my actions more than The Daily Show ever could have. 

Additionally, my time serving with AmeriCorps*VISTA has improved my professional interaction skills dramatically.  I can no longer hide under the label of “student”; every choice I make has to be done as a professional person representing a local non-profit and also a national tradition of service.

It would be wonderful if I could leave TRIP calling my year “a success”, but really success is a false ideal.  If a person does manage to achieve a true sense of success, they stop trying.  Therefore, the best people are those who tell themselves “Okay, great job!  The project went well!  Next time do it better.”  My year spent envisioning and executing projects to inspire community building has reaffirmed that a feeling of accomplishment is better than one of success.  Departing from TRIP will be another marker in my life, just as beginning here was, but I look forward to continuing to “do good” and I hope that I will always strive to “do good” better.          

Please join TRIP at an Open House!

Celebrating the Completion of a Full Rehabilitation

at

69 Middleburgh St. 
Troy, NY

Wednesday
December 5^th

1 - 3pm

You are invited to 
come and celebrate 

with us

- Tour the Building

- Meet the Neighbors

- Hear from Partners 

at 2pm

Tonight's 2012 Annual Homecoming Dinner Postponed

Due to anticipated weather conditions and our concern for your safety we are regrettably postponing this evening's Annual Homecoming Dinner.
We will be back in touch with you when it has been rescheduled.
Thank you and Stay Safe.

Renter's Insurance: Protecting Your Belongings and Yourself

When you move into a new apartment you're normally thinking about how to arrange the furniture, but what if that furniture were to get damaged or stolen at no fault of your own? Would you have to pay to replace all of your belongings if there were a flood or fire? A landlord's insurance covers the bricks and mortar of an apartment, but the contents are usually the responsibility of the tenant. Consequently, renter's insurance can be a huge relief when unforeseen damage occurs.

Like all forms of insurance, coverage plans vary, and the more you are looking to insure, the more a plan costs. Talking to an insurance representative will help you determine your needs. If you have a car, it may be more cost-effective to bundle your coverages and work with the same company for your renter's insurance.

We all hope that we never have to cash in on our insurance plans, but when problems arise, we're proud of our forethought.

Job Opening at The Homeownership Center

The TRIP NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Center is currently looking for an Intake Specialist/ Outreach Coordinator to join our team. This person will likely be a client's first interaction with our office. The right candidate's primary responsibility will be to effectively interview distressed clients in danger of losing their homes in a non-judgmental manner. During the interview, the Intake Specialist will need to gather the applicable information to determine a client's next steps.

This is a full-time position. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume by November 2, 2012.

For more details about the position and to submit electronic cover letters and resumes visit:
http://triponline.org/who_we_are/job_opportunities.html
No phone calls please.