By : Sally Valentine

November 18 2011

Day 320 Hillside Children’s Center

I was stepping around construction cones, orange fences and piles of dirt today at Hillside Children’s Center on Cobbs Hill. Christie Raymo had invited me to tour the facilities after reading the article about my family and the Rochester Orphan Asylum in the D & C. Hillside will be celebrating its 150th anniversary next year, and they’ve come a long way from the ROA in Corn Hill that was destroyed by fire. I like the fact that they didn’t let the fire destroy what they were trying to accomplish. They used the lessons of the fire to change to a cottage model and now provide care to 12,000 a year through on campus or off campus programs. Besides the Cobbs Hill site there are services at Crestwood on Scottsville Rd., in the Finger Lakes, near Syracuse, the Southern Tier, and even a work scholarship program in Maryland.

This building and the Nancy Gong stained glass portray the spirit of hope that abides at Hillside. Other buildings are retaining their original brick outer shells while being renovated inside.

Things and people are on the move at Hillside.

Day 320: 12,046 Steps YTD: 2,941,458 Steps Goal: 3,014,000 Steps

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