CCAgenda_94Jan26 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

CON LNG inters can be cold and sense of community. lonely in upstate New "What I wanted was a safe, York, an d Renee Edel- bright room that had lots of toys i man, trapped inside all and educational games," Edelman Whe m. day with her one year -old daugh- says, "a place where parents and 0 ter yearned to break through the kids could get to know one an i solation. She wondered, "Where other and become friends. So I de- can I take Meredith to play with cided to make a place, an indoor iaki esi t other children? Where can I go to family playground." meet other moms Edelman, 36, had no profes- Her town of Amherst, a sprawl sional training in child develop- ing Buffalo suburb, offered virtu- ment or community organisation; ally no structured recreational ser- she had been a geriatrics social children under six. Many worker before she became an at- for chil How parents arks were run- home mom. Her financial re- p neighborhood p some w ere dangerous. Edel- sources were modest. "My hus- so dang created a lace down; CI"ea Buffalo p considered o• to one of band is a scientist at SUNY co for kids -and the fast-food franchises that have but it's been a struggle to live on themselves. play areas. But she doubted that a one income." restaurant would offer her much Nonetheless, she began to ex- plore her options. She learned that Amherst's town government had bought an abandoned school build- ing for $1; the town planned to in- vest $2.5 million to turn the school into what would later be named the Harlem Road Commu- nity Center. Only one room was still available. At a town meeting in 1990, Edelman asked whether she could turn the room into a play space. To her surprise, she was granted permission to use the room as a new play- and learning center. Edelman named it the• Fam ily Room. She wrangled carpeting from the town, asked her in -laws for a contribution (they gave $150), and asked neighbors to do- nate toys. The first day. "On the community center's opening day, in January, 1991, the only people who showed up were me, a friend, and our kids," Edel- man recalls. Fortunately a TV crew Was there that day to cover the cen- ter's opening, and the crew stopped' by the Family Room and taped a small spot. In the follow. ing weeks, the mothers and chit dren began to arrive. Kathleen Burkard, 37, an ele- mentary school teacher for ten W years, who had decided to stay "Creating the Family Room brought us together," say the mothers who donated their time and talents. 56 PARENTS JANUARY 1993 1