Foundation in Johnstown gives $30,000 to effort
The Leader-Herald
Friday, July 17, 2009

Schenectady – The Dominic Ferraioli Foundation of Johnstown has awarded Northeast Parent & Child Society a $30,000 grant to the “We Build Futures” Capital Campaign to construct a new Career Development Center at 530 Franklin Street in downtown Schenectady. 

Northeast has received more than $100,000 of the $1 million the foundation has distributed, according to a news release. 

The $30,000 grant will help Northeast’s Emergency Medical Technician Program serve 45 young parents. 

Participants will receive GED and EMT training at Schenectady County Community College, earn college credit and participate in an internship at Mohawk Ambulance Service in Schenectady. 

Students who pass the state GED and EMT exams and complete program requirements will receive job offers from Mohawk Ambulance, the news release said. 

The new center will allow Northeast to increase the number of Schenectady County youths receiving agency career services from 100 to 250 per year. Staff will assure that at least 150 youths per year find and maintain well-paying jobs, according to the news release. 

Construction of Northeast’s Career Development Center will begin in winter 2009. 

By summer 2010, Career Development will offer space for young people to develop the skills necessary to support themselves and their families, the news release said. 

“Dominic Ferraioli believed that hard work was the key to success,” Dominic Ferraioli Foundation Administrator Kathleen Ratajczak said in the news release. “This philosophy seems to be at the heart of Northeast’s EMT Training Program, which is why the trustees of the Dominic Ferraioli Foundation believed that a grant to the program was the perfect fit in furthering the values and goals of Mr. Ferraioli.” 

The Dominic Ferraioli Foundation is a private foundation established in 2001. 

Ferraioli was a local businessman who owned and operated a floor-covering business in Schenectady and a golf course in Guilderland, according to the news release. 

The mission of the foundation is to further the values and goals of Ferraioli with particular consideration given to aiding and assisting medical facilities, the news release said. 

Since its inception, the foundation has granted more than $1 million to various local charities. 

For further information, contact the foundation’s administrator via e-mail at kratajcz@hodgsonruss.com. 

Northeast Parent & Child Society provides residential, special education, family foster care, children’s mental health, family preservation, and career development programs. For the past 120 years, the organization has helped more than 100,000 children and families, according to the news release. 

For more information about the organization, visit the Web site www.neparentchild.org.