WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. November 29, 2004: The Reverend Janet Vincent, Rector of Grace Church reported to WPCNR Monday afternoon that the Department of Social Services contacted Grace Friday and asked for a meeting with the Church Board of Directors to discuss the issue of Samaritan House finances. Vincent said today that the meeting could take place possibly this week. ("We don't have a date yet, she said.)

Vincent also said the Church and the Grace Church subsidiary which manages Samaritan House has no intention of closing Samaritan House if their financial deficit of approximately $70,000 could be met. Vincent explained that Grace Church,  the landlord of Samaritan House (located on the third floor of the Grace Church annex) had sought to raise the Samaritan House rent (paid to Grace Church), as a means of making up a portion of the deficit the operation runs. She did not have exact figures in front of her.

Vincent told this reporter she called me because "there's been confusion as to what has happened."

Never told D.S.S. it was planning to close.

Vincent denied that Grace Church had told the D.S.S. it was planning to close Samaritan House, while in negotiations for a new contract.  "That is not true." She said. "We'd happily keep it open  if we have a contract (with the Department of Social Services)."

She said Grace Church is not seeking a battle with the Department of Social Services.

Reverend Vincent  is quoted in the Monday Journal News as saying at a sermon Sunday morning at Grace Church that "On November 17, we were notified by Social Services that they would not give Samritan House a new contract. It was totally their decision."

Mahon, on the other hand said in the same article that Samaritan House had and we quote from the article, decided to close Samaritan House while still in contract negotiations with his department

Reverend Vincent also denied she had ever told the Journal News reporter that Louis Cappelli was giving $1,000,000 to the church. She explained "you know what happens, what you say comes out in bits and pieces."

"We've been negotiating with Mr. Cappelli for 2-1/2 years about renovation plans for the church, and he always understood it would include renovating Samaritan House," Vincent told WPCNR. Asked if the renovations planned would mean displacement of the residents of Samaritan House, Vincent said, it would be done perhaps incrementally so displacement of residents would be minimal. Asked if the kitchen renovation would require closing of the soup kitchen, Vincent happily reported the kitchen was already renovated, and that the hall where the hungry were fed needed to be renovated. She said it was possible the soup kitchen might have to be moved temporarily during work on that serving area.

Vincent disclosed that no contract had been signed with Mr. Cappelli or his organization for any of the renovation work as of yet.

Figures Figures Figures

Vincent said she could not comment on the figures disclosed by  in the Journal News article today which were at odds with the figures given by Joseph D'Ambrosio, Executive Director of the Grace Community Center  in the very same paper last week, because she was not close to them. Mr. D'Ambrosio has yet to speak with WPCNR on the financial pictures the Samaritan House and Open Arms Shelter face, though invited to do so last week.

Today, Mr. Mahon, Commissioner of the Department of Social Services, is reported as saying Grace Church, the Samaritan House landlord had asked for a $70,000 rent increase for the third floor Samaritan House staging area. The article notes that Mahon reports that Grace Church asked for a 37% increase of $221,538.24  above the $598,752 allocation Samaritan House receives, which appears larger than the 15% increase Mr. D'Ambrosio said Samaritan was seeking.

WPCNR asked the Westchester County Department of Communications to arrange for Mr. Mahon or Ms. Travers to speak with WPCNR on this matter last week, but to date neither Mr. Mahon nor Ms. Travers have contacted WPCNR.

A Rumor Starts Press Feeding Frenzy

Asked how the Department of Social Services got the impression Grace Church had decided to close Samaritan House, Vincent said it was a story that got started by a resident of Samaritan House who told it to a minister she believed was from Peekskill. Vincent said she was first approached on the story by a Channel 4 reporter who asked her about it. Then she spoke to The Journal News when Ms. Elan called. Asked how the Department of Social Services got the impression from Grace Church it was closing, Vincent said she did not know, but repeated Grace Church had never told the D.S.S. it was closing or that it had threatened to close.

Vincent recounted that the church had talked with the Department of Social Services last summer that they could not continue running the present deficits that they had run for the last three years, and needed a better contract to cover those deficits. She said the Church had not heard from the D.S.S. on the negotiations, since the summer. Vincent denied contacting the press about this situation.

WPCNR asked Reverend Vincent why Grace Church had told workers at Samaritan House they would be out of a job as of January 1, if negotiations were still going on. Vincent said the church had not actually fired the staff effective January 1 as reported in the Journal News November 23  when reporter Susan Elan wrote: "She (Robbin Clarke) was fired with the rest of the (Samaritan House) staff"). "We told them that if we didn't have a new contract they could be out of a job, January 1," Vincent explained.