Somerset Home for Temporarily Displaced Children
Jeffrey Fetzko, ACSW, LSW, CFRE
Vol. 6, No. 9, May 1, 2008
The Executive Director's News is published every two weeks, and is specifically written for the employees, board of trustees and friends of the Somerset Home. This issue and past issues are available on our web site at http://www.somersethome.org/main/pages/employee_newsletter.htm.
Volunteer Celebration
Pictured above (left to right) are Kathy Coulahan, Don Kasten, Min Zhang, Jeanine Fenlon, Priscilla Szlachtianchyn, Ginny Garbowski, Jeff Fetzko, Beth Degnan, Roxanne Hagel, Alex Ciccone, Ellen Horn, Roy Horn. Also attending were Christine Feorino, Marsha Montgomery and Anne Bradley-Sosis.
Somerset Home volunteers were welcomed by our staff and honored for their contributions at Whitney House on Tuesday, April 22. Volunteers provide invaluable service supplementing program staff such as in our Brahma House transitional learning center and Pathways independent living skills program. We also rely on volunteers to help us with special events, such as the Run for Runaways and of course those who serve on the board of trustees. We thank all of our volunteers for their efforts on behalf of the youth we serve.
Mentoring Program Award for Somerset Home
Pictured on stage (left to right) are NJGP Chapter President Ralph Serpe, Somerset Home Associate Executive Director Anne Bradley Sosis, Incubator facilitator Geoff Close, and also representing Somerset Home, Clay Sosis and Jaclyn Fetzko next to me on the right.
Last Thursday, April 24th at the annual New Jersey Gift Planning Conference, Somerset Home was recognized for its participation in the NJGP Mentoring (Incubator) program. The program was a two-year commitment where three nonprofit agencies were selected to participate in a peer mentoring program to foster and develop a planned giving program within their respective agencies. We were fortunate indeed to benefit from the expert guidance of seasoned professionals in the field in addition to our classroom training. As a result Somerset Home's planned giving program expanded, securing three new planned gifts this year!
We were honored to be recognized in front of an audience of 250 of our peers at the annual conference. April 24th also happened to be "Bring Your Child to Work Day".
Bank/Office Building Slated for Sparks Location
The owner of the restaurant next to Passages which is currently "Sparks" and formerly, Taste of Tuscany, Cervinos, Bazookas, Today's Lounge and the Cosmopolitan Lounge will be torn down. A new building will be erected on the site which will be an 18,000 sq. ft. office building. The new building is a very attractive two story brick building and there will be nearly 80 parking spaces on the nearly three acre property. The first tenant is Magyar Bank. There will be two drive-up windows at the rear of the property, one of them a 24-hour ATM. We worked cooperatively with the developer, North Bridge Properties and township officials to make sure drainage, landscaping and lighting will not create problems for our activities at Passages. We will continue to work with the developer and the township through the construction phase of this development and are confident that they will be good neighbors.
As always, thank you all for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
