November 21, 2011
Dear Supporter of Sojourner,
As chairperson of the Board of Directors of Sojourner House at PathStone, Inc., I am pleased to report that Sojourner House is successfully meeting its mission to provide shelter, structure, strength and inspiration to individuals and families in need, so they are prepared to lead responsible and meaningful lives. We ended our financial year June 30, 2011 in very good shape, and the first quarter of our 2011/12 fiscal year is on budget. Our programs at Sojourner House continue to provide high-quality transformative services to homeless women and their children, as well as to families in need of emergency and permanent housing.
As many of you know, we recently had a change in leadership at Sojourner House. Mary Wilmot, hired in early 2011, resigned at the end of the summer. When we hired Mary it was with the knowledge that she would serve in a temporary capacity to assist us in reorganizing services at Sojourner House. During her tenure, Mary positioned Sojourner House to continue its long tradition of serving homeless women and children throughout the Rochester community.
Kathryn Bryan has assumed the interim Executive Director position, and she also serves as Senior Vice President for Property Management at PathStone Corporation. We are very pleased with her leadership to date. The Board will continue to work with Stuart J. Mitchell, president /CEO of PathStone Corporation, over the next few months to identify a permanent Executive Director to lead Sojourner House.
Sojourner House and PathStone Corporation came together two years ago to bring the Sojourner House model of resident services to residents in PathStone properties and to integrate Sojourner administrative operations into PathStone Corporation. The affiliation has strengthened both organizations’ ability to provide families with safe, decent, and affordable housing, as well as to provide the support services they need to transition to economic self-sufficiency.
On October 12, 2011, at the PathStone Corporation Annual Community Luncheon, I had the distinct privilege to publicly express our sincere appreciation to Germaine Knapp for her distinguished service as Executive Director of Sojourner House from March 1997 to February 2011. Germaine deservedly received the PathStone Corporation Visionary Award which was established to honor individuals who are visionaries in the communities where they work.
In Germaine’s remarks she stated: “Having a clear, compelling vision fortunately does not require 20/20 vision. Rather, the vision requires that one has an inner fire that burns through the day to day muck that gets us down from time to time….the vision lives and grows from the mind and heart and serves as a rudder for one’s ambition and behavior….Only a team of inspired cohorts (all sorts of people with various often conflicting ideas about how to get things done) can make the vision happen…and when we have climbed the mountain together standing on a summit celebrating our gold medal achievement, we’ll see that there are many more mountains to climb, but we’ll know how to do it.”
We have all been inspired by Germaine’s leadership and vision. I can personally attest to the inner fire that burns within the Board of Directors and staff at Sojourner House to do our very best to support those in need of our services. Your financial support of our mission allows us to continue to build strong, vibrant, safe communities and neighborhoods, help those we serve create personal, social and financial assets, as well as encourage and provide educational opportunities for life-long learning.
We honor our partnership with you, welcome your input and suggestions for ways in which we can continue to work together, and extend our sincere appreciation for your investment in Sojourner House at PathStone, Inc.
I wish you all the best for the upcoming holiday season.
Best regards,William N. La Forte
Chair, Board of Directors
Sojourner House at PathStone, Inc.
