Two groups looking for HUD grants through county

WARWICK-Winslow Therapeutic Riding and the Warwick Community Center have both requested Housing and Urban Development funds, administered each year through the county's Community Development Block Grant program. Both groups have received funding through the program in years past. Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton explained that projects receiving HUD funding through this program usually benefit the elderly, handicapped, or low income residents. Both of these organizations meet the county's criteria. Winslow, which provides therapeutic riding for children and adults with disabilities, is asking for $60,000 for clearing, seeding and fencing eight acres of pasture land and for the repair of a dam and outlet control of a nearby pond. "We're growing. We've got lots more kids," said Virginia Mazza, a founding member of Winslow and former executive director. "The place is hopping." Winslow has been providing therapy through horses to people with disabilities for 30 years. About 96 percent of its clients are children, Mazza said. Now, Winslow is also looking into creating a program to help disabled veterans. Karen Thomas of the Warwick Community Center requested $75,000 from the county's program to work specifically on the Teen Center. "We've been working on the heat, electric — the infrastructure of the building," said Thomas. "Now, we've been looking at individual rooms." There are some safety issues in the Teen Room, she added, but there is a big need to make it comfortable and to look good. The center has gotten a $50,000 grant through state Sen. Thomas Morahan's office, but she estimates the cost for the renovation will be about $157,000. The Warwick Community Center will be putting a new roof on the building this summer with funds from last year's HUD grant. The town will forward the requests to the county. The funding may not be coming from the county but the local Rotary made an impact on the newly opened senior center. Ed Madalena, John McGloin, and Al Fernandez — all members of the Warwick Valley Rotary — presented the town with $4,100 for chairs for the new senior center. "Rotary to the rescue," said Sweeton. "Rotary does a lot of great projects. This is just another example of how Rotary makes this a better place." All of these things happen at Town Board meetings, which are generally held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. These meetings are later televised on Cablevision's channel 12. Now, the municipal channel is moving to channel 21 as Newschannel 12 launches on June 14.