A Johnstown nonprofit is teaming up with local artists to help fund the construction of a new community kitchen — it's part of broader trend of artists helping to revitalize Mohawk Valley communities…
St. John’s Church sits at the center of Johnstown. The old stone and arching windows stand as a pillar of the Fulton County city’s community, while the church’s basement houses the local nonprofit One Church Street’s Needy or Alone and Hungry meal programs.
“But to light this stove, for example, you have to lay on your stomach and light this stove from underneath and we can’t leave the pilot lights on, it’s not a stove we can just leave. So, it needs to be turned on in a very special way when our teams are working every weekend,” said Reverend Laurie Garramone.
Reverend Laurie Garramone leads the church’s congregation and is the CEO of One Church Street.
Garramone says after 35 years, the community food programs and the food pantry have outgrown the church’s basement, which is only accessible by stairs. Last year the pantry alone provided more than 65,000 meals – up 22% over the previous year, and the One Church Street program served more than 6,000 meals – up nearly 20% from 2023.
One Church Street has big plans, however. The nonprofit is looking to turn the second floor of a former YMCA next door to the church – a building that the nonprofit has called home since 2014 – into a 520-square-foot community kitchen and events space. The planned renovation would reopen the half-gym on the second floor as an events space, and open up the third floor to host other nonprofits at low cost.
As a part of the effort to raise funds for the expansion, One Church Street has teamed up with local artists for an auction of their work to benefit the project.
Johnstown native sculptor John Van Alstine’s works have been featured in galleries across the world, though he tells WAMC it’s a privilege to have one of his statues go toward funding the community kitchen.
“Well, it’s a great opportunity to join in and I’ve been able to convince a couple of my artist friends to do that and I think I can even find more now that they see how professionally and well it’s being run and the work that’s there and it’s an opportunity to help a great cause,” said Van Alstine.
Once hubs of 20th century industry, cities and towns across New York’s Mohawk Valley have been looking to reinvent themselves in the modern era, and artists have been brought into the fold in multiple locations. For instance, just 10 minutes north of Johnstown, Gloversville has been actively recruiting artists to help reimagine the community. In part by utilizing $10 million in state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding, Gloversville has developed new art spaces, renovated the Glove Theatre, and opened new housing units prioritized for artists.
Back in Johnstown, One Church Street Steering Committee member Nancy Brown says the renovation is overdue and much needed, especially with looming impacts of federal spending cuts to food programs. community -- one in four families in Fulton County are food insecure.
“We are so grateful to the regional foodbank in Latham. We tend to operate on whatever is free first, that’s what we order, we are best with it. We are starting to notice that they’re stressed. What they are able to offer is being stressed. So, I imagine it’s going to affect us at some point because that’s—for instance you could always get some kind of free meat which is what we always got. You can’t anymore. There’s no free meat anymore so it will change what we are able to offer our guests,” said Brown.
Reverend Garramone says she’s seen firsthand how the food programs make a difference to members of the community.
“I told this story at a fundraiser recently that we had about a man who comes to this meal every single Sunday when it is served and it took him nearly 15 minutes to get from his car to this meal. He sits right here every Sunday and he wouldn’t miss is unless he is really not able to. But I watched him because I wanted to see the process it took him to get from his car to this seat. And it was 15 minutes of really labored walking with canes and other things. But he wouldn’t miss it,” said Garramone.
