The Western Avenue Community Center in Bloomington is 90 years old. As part of the anniversary celebration, Charlie Schlenker talks with Development Director Whitney Fryer and Executive Director Amy Cottone about the past, present, and future of the organization. Cottone says there have been a lot of milestones for the agency that has its entire life at the corner of Western Avenue and Locust in Bloomington.
More than a century ago, churches and private charitable organizations handled social services for the needy. When the burden to society became too large to handle that way, government stepped in. And now, as government funded social services erode with the length of the budget stalemate, a few groups are still the way they have always been, privately funded. Director Amy Cottone says the 90 year old Western Avenue Community Center in Bloomington is one of those.
"We're doing our best to be the best stewards of the money we're given and not to use that on frivolous things. There's not a lot of raises for social services and staff but that's where the big hearts come in," Cottone said.
"We have been very fortunate in not having to let staff go. We have not had to cut our programming, because those needs are still going to be there. The families that are facing their day to day basic needs are always going to be there," Cottone said.
The annual budget for the Western Avenue Community Center is $650,000 a year to do, hispanic outreach, translation services, tutoring, mentoring, afterschool programs, recreation activies, a food pantry, and other programs.
Cottone said the center has diversified its local funding base in recent years as the resources of one church alone (Second Presbyterian Church) became inadequate to fill the need. She says many churches now support the center as do State Farm Insurance, the United Way, and private donors.
The community center is working to keep their programs accessible to members of the community even as child poverty has risen in Mclean County over the last decade. Cottone predicts in the next five years the center will outgrow its current space.
The Western Avenue Community Center also attracts more than 200 volunteers per year from across Bloomington Normal.
The gala anniversary fundraiser will be Friday March 11 at the Castle Theater.
