Newsletter December 2009 - Unity House

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Message from the CEO
Ihate to brag, but our CFO – well, all of our staff, for that
matter – could teach Wall Street a thing or two about money
management: Earlier this year we celebrated a whistle-clean
2008 audit with no comments on the management letter. For
those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of an audit recently,
"no comments" is a good thing. You know how your mother used
to say, “If you can’t say anything good, then don’t say anything at
all”? In the auditing world, the rule is “If you can’t say anything
bad, don’t say anything at all.”
Our accomplishment is all the more significant when you
consider the complexity of our income sources. Because we
provide such a wide range of services, our funding comes from more than 40 federal, state, county and city sources, and that’s
just our public funding! On the private side, approximately 700 businesses, 450 organizations, 40 foundations, and 5,000
individuals support our work. Each and every donation is received with gratitude and recognition of the responsibility of our
stewardship.
The extreme care we put into tracking and managing the money with which we are entrusted carries through to the care we put
into our programs and services. Here are just a few examples:
A federal Department of Agriculture representative visited the Street Ministry program to recognize the extraordinary work we are
doing in helping people sign up for food stamps. Street Ministry’s employment program also continues to grow, adding
participating employers and working clients.
The expertise of our domestic violence program is now recognized internationally, resulting in our COO, Karla DiGirolamo being
invited to speak at three European conferences this year. Our reputation as a state-of-the-art program, we believe, is why we
received a $3.2 million competitive grant from the NYS Homeless and Housing Assistance Program to build a new domestic
violence shelter.
Our flagship preschool program Unity Sunshine, and USP II, were both re-accredited by the National Association for the Education
of Young Children (NAEYC.) USP III has submitted all the required data for accreditation and is awaiting its site visit. Additionally,
USP opened a new collaboration with Tendercare Childcare Center in Guilderland, a partnership that expands our unique special
education services into Albany County.
Our housing program continues to raise the bar; this year seeing the new Peer Center bustling with more than double client
participation. We also completed the arduous task of moving one of the community residences to a safer and more hospitable
neighborhood.
As the economy takes a bite out of everyone’s peace of mind, we hope to convey to you that your contributions to Unity House go
directly to the bottom line: job creation, safe and affordable housing, food, and the nurture and education of children. Most
importantly, we provide our clients dignity, and the belief that they can take the next step to self-determination and a brighter future.
Yours in service,
Chris Burke, CEO
Chris Burke
Chief Executive Officer
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UNITY HOUSE Newsletter