Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 9

41 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 UT I CA , NEW YORK Upstate Cerebral Palsy is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit that provides innovative services and supports for individuals with differing abilities while creating exceptional opportunities to fulfill life choices. Founded over a half-century ago, several parents and grandparents were searching for programs and services to provide for their children living with cerebral palsy. In September of 1950, the first clinic officially opened its doors in Kernan School located in Utica, NY. At that time, five staff members provided a combination of therapeutic and educational services to seven children. Since then, Upstate Cerebral Palsy has grown to serve approximately 8,500 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as individuals with mental and behavioral health needs in over 70 locations. Currently serving families in Oneida, Herkimer, Madison, and Lewis counties, the agency continues to support individuals by focusing on core services including day habilitation, community- based programming, residential services, early intervention and school-aged education, childcare, vocational training and supportive employment, recreation and art, and integrated healthcare for individuals and families in the community. Our journey continues as we work to empower people through exceptional opportunities so they can live more independent and meaningful lives. ...... For more information, please visit our website www.upstatecp.org being a “host community,” to encourage growth for its cultural institutions and its expanding opportunities for commerce. “The city has been a melting pot for well over a century,” reports Mayor Robert Palmieri. “Going back many years ago, the Italians, the Poles, the Germans, the Jews – all ethnic groups, really, migrated here and formulated Utica as their home. And each pocket of the city assumed its own neighborhood: the West Side was more of a German and Polish community; the East Side was predominantly Italian; the South Side was more Jewish and African American; and North Utica – one of the undeveloped areas going back over 100 years – really melted into all of it. That was the beginning of Utica as a modern industrialized city, and we’ve continued to be a city which is known as a welcoming community because of our history.” Utica’s population has remained ethnically Mayor Robert Palmieri