Over the past seven years or so, volunteers at the nonprofit Friends of the Otisville School overcame challenge after challenge to get their cause rolling.
Now, the century-old former school building is so close to finishing the ground-level renovations that, if everything goes as expected, it can open its doors to the public by January next year as the Old School Community Center.
“It is meant to be truly a place for the community,” said Alison Miller, who, along with several other residents, formed a nonprofit in 2016 and bought the vacant school building from the Town of Mount Hope for $10 to convert it into a multi-purpose community center.
Seven years in, despite the long hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has raised nearly half a million dollars to cover the most expensive work on the ground level.
The only remaining work is repainting several rooms, replacing the hallway floors, and fixing the new gym floors damaged by roof drain leaks—another setback on the journey of saving the old building.
A sum of $50,000 will do the work, according to Ms. Miller, which is only about one-tenth of what the organization has raised so far but remains to be found.
“It is stressful, but it is a big responsibility,” Bob Clouse, another founding member and current secretary at the nonprofit, told The Epoch Times. “But we have gone this far now, and we know we can do it.”
Finding the Money
Since day one, money has been the nonprofit’s top challenge. Still, it has been gradually overcome with determination, faith, and support from the community, according to Ms. Miller and Mr. Clouse.“It was a little tough in the beginning because when you are a new nonprofit, people just don’t go out and start throwing money at you,” Mr. Clouse said. “You have to establish yourself and your credibility.”
The first major grant came in 2020 when former state Sen. Jen Metzger secured $100,000 in funding, which covered a brand-new heating and cooling system for the gym.
One year later, the home improvement retail company Lowe’s donated $100,000 to the organization to replace the gym floors, renovate stages, and repaint the gym room.
That donation was soon followed by a $150,000 grant that state Sen. James Skoufis secured to pay for a new HVAC system for the rest of the first floor.
This summer, T-Mobile gave a grant to renovate the entire parking lot in front of the building.
The organization also received smaller grants along the way, including $5,000 to establish a community recycling project and $5,000 from Orange County to turn one ground floor room into a fitness studio.
Ms. Miller, the fundraising chair at the nonprofit and an English teacher by profession, said that as the organization overcame the funding bottleneck, she had her own personal growth, including taking on new skills in grant writing and building renovations.
Since she got involved in the cause, she has volunteered 10 to 20 hours a week.
Community Support
“Investing myself in a project for the community has definitely made me more attached to this community,” Ms. Miller said. “This is one thing that brings people together. When it comes to this building, people’s politics don’t really matter.”
The organization regularly hosts community fundraising; residents and former students at the old school who now live elsewhere chip in.
The building was built in 1914 and originally housed a K-12 school before being turned into an elementary school in the early 1970s; it was closed down by the Minisink Valley School District in 2008 and transferred to the Town of Mount Hope, which at one time considered demolishing the building.
“The majority of the community really want to save the building because there is a lot of emotional attachment,” said Mr. Clouse, who studied there until high school graduation.
“People were very supportive, and that’s what keeps us going,” Ms. Miller said. “[Some] donated money even if they don’t have a lot to spare.”
Local contractors that work with the organization also gave generous support, both said, including the Middletown-based Quality Healing and Cooling, the True Value hardware store in Otisville, and Todd Lyons Paving and Hutchings Insurance in the Middletown area.
A new street sign was recently designed by local Boy Scout Matt Higby.
“We are moving, and we feel so close to opening the doors,” Ms. Miller said, adding that a preschool had already expressed interest in renting part of the space.
She also has plans for veteran programs, movie series, guest speaker events, toy drives, and even perhaps a community dinner in the gym.
The rest of the Friends of the Old Otisville board members are Daphne Charney-Duggan, Ken Pinkela, Todd Boniface, and Ron Stewart.
