Capping four years of diligent and very hard work by a band of dedicated members, the Woman’s Club of Albany has received a $148,500 state grant to help pay for long-awaited exterior repairs to our historic home.

The grant was awarded through the state’s Regional Economic Development Councils and was among those announced Thursday, Dec.19, by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

This is the third grant the WCA has received in recent months to help realize our goal of repairing the main entrance and front porch, stabilizing the side entrance, resolving any water infiltration problems and installing a ramp to make the building accessible. As we celebrate 100 years of home ownership, it is gratifying to know we can fulfill our mission as stewards of this beautiful house. 

Thank you and kudos to everyone who worked long and hard to get us to this point.

Special thanks to members Becky Parsons, Paula Rosenberg and Mary Thackeray for doing the heavy lifting on this latest grant (known as a Consolidated Funding Application Environmental Protection Fund grant) and on previous grant applications. Thanks also to our architects Marilyn Kaplan and Kim Alvarez, for their technical support over the years and to members Lorraine Weiss, Linda Wagner and Robbin Hodge, who stepped in to help when needed.

Our thanks also go to President Anne Gresco and Treasurer Pattie Beeler who worked tirelessly with Assembly Member Pat Fahy to secure a $150,000 Community Capital Assistance Grant from the New York State Dormitory Authority.

Thanks also to Linda Wagner, who navigated the application process to win a $10,000 Bender Family Foundation grant that will be used to conduct a water study of our property.

 Finally, thanks to all of you who support our events and other efforts to raise the matching funds required to qualify for some of these grants. We could not have done it without you!