Johnson Park Story Mural

It was there, in 1984, that Scates first saw a church full of homeless men. Seeing all these people with no home and nowhere to go on Thanksgiving broke her heart. She had the vision of those three Harlem units in her mind, and it was then that the Lord spoke to her and said, “I want you to take care of my people.”

Scates didn’t waste any time.

A Calling Becomes a Mission

Scates moved into the church and began running the food pantry and soup kitchen. A little later, she began working with the staff and volunteers at HARKhomes, a 15-bed holistic sanctuary based in the church basement for homeless men.

With the intention of renovating the homes in Harlem, Scates had the idea to apply for a grant from the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program. She took the initiative and presented the idea, and HARKhomes wrote it up. Together, they got the grant.

To Scates’ dismay, however, without warning or reason, the woman who headed HARKhomes fired her right after the grant came through. Though now unable to help house the people of Harlem through that work, her faith never wavered. Scates was determined to make good on her promise to help the Lord’s people, and whatever it took, she would do just that.

In 1998, Scates attended Pine Crest Bible School in Salisbury Center, New York. It was there she met Mr. and Mrs. Polivka. Upon her graduation in 1991, the couple sponsored Scates to go to Jamaica on a mission trip. She returned to Jamaica on another mission trip in 1992, and in 1993 she went to Russia for a year on yet another mission.

When she came back in 1994, Mr. and Mrs. Polivka opened up their home to her. They talked about opening a Bible school in Russia, but Scates felt called to go into the inner city and do the Lord’s work there. She thought of Albany, but then Mr. Polivka told her about Utica. He explained that the inner city community needed a great deal of help. He told Scates there was a “housing project” where Russians and African Americans lived in Utica, and spoke of the widespread racial tension in the area.

Arriving in Utica

In September 1995, Scates, formerly a homeless veteran, came to Utica, New York, and asked people where the worst area in the city was. They said Cornhill, and it was there she went.

At a meeting in Herkimer County, Scates shared news of her new venture into Cornhill-Utica. There she met Ms. Cathy Mallace, who had lived in Cornhill-Utica all her life. Mallace warmly welcomed Scates to the community and offered to take her on a tour through the neighborhood.

On this tour, Scates saw a desperate need for change. At the time, the Johnson Park-Cornhill community was considered one of the worst neighborhoods in Utica. But Scates didn’t just see poverty, crime, drugs, and gangs. She saw the potential for beauty and positive change around every corner.

At the end of the tour, they drove into Johnson Park, where Ms. Mallace had played as a little girl. Instead of urban decay, Scates heard children laughing and saw them running and playing in a beautiful neighborhood. She was looking for a large house where she could live, start a church, and open a nonprofit outreach center, a work of love for the people of the Cornhill community.

“Positive Change Is Coming to Johnson Park!”

Scates started by picking trash up off the streets and walking around with bullhorns and a megaphone shouting, “Say no to drugs,” and “Positive change is coming to Johnson Park!”

She went to every government program available in the county at that time. Scates used the knowledge she had acquired from the homesteading program in Harlem and applied it in Utica. She invited Joe Howling, housing director of New York State, to come to Utica, and she shared with him what she envisioned for the neighborhood.

The year 1996 was a big year for JCTOD:

• To help needy families fight hunger and food insecurity, JCTOD opened a Food Pantry at 26 Johnson Park.

• Two months later, they opened a neighborhood basketball playground.

• The Oneida County Youth Bureau gave JCTOD its first Youth Program Grant.

• That September, JCTOD received a City of Utica HOME grant for the renovation of 1402 and 1404 West Street.

• In October, they were awarded a grant from the New York State Housing and Homeless Assistance Program (HHAP), the City of Utica, the Enterprise Foundation, and the Community Foundation to develop Permanent Supportive Housing for low-income homeless women and families with special needs.

• In December, JCTOD opened its transitional housing program and Workforce Development program through a start-up grant from the Community Foundation.

In 1997, JCTOD opened a transitional housing program for women with substance abuse and mental health disabilities who desired to be reunited with their children at 1402 West Street.

The list of milestones and awards for their outstanding service to the Johnson Park community goes on.

Reverend Ursula Meier

Reverend Ursula Meier, Johnson Park Center’s Chief Operations Officer, was born on July 12, 1967, in Kestenholz, Switzerland, and it was in that small village that she grew up.

Meier experienced early childhood trauma. She struggled with dyslexia and, at age five, almost died from meningitis. As she got older, she developed a passion for baking and spent her teenage years training as a baker and pastry chef.

Meier later began to struggle with substance and alcohol abuse, and by age 19 it was taking over her life, prompting her to leave home and seek treatment. At that time, there was little diagnosis or recognition of mental health struggles, and most psychiatrists viewed mental illness as an incurable condition that could only be treated with heavy psychiatric medication.

The medications Meier’s psychiatrist put her on had severe side effects. She lost the use of her arms and developed a constant shaking syndrome. Meier hit rock bottom and knew she needed real help through rehabilitation, but her psychiatrist refused to sign the papers necessary for her to enter rehab.

Fortunately, Meier had a good friend who advocated for her and eventually found her a rehabilitation program.

For the next two and a half years, Meier lived first in a residential facility, then in a halfway house, and eventually in independent living. During the time she was in rehab, HIV hit the scene, and half the people there were leaving with what felt like a death sentence.

Now on her own, Meier realized she carried a deep longing to travel. She was making plans to explore far-off places when her boyfriend proposed marriage. Knowing she had to answer the call to see the world, Meier refused his proposal.

She learned English and set off on a journey to satisfy her wanderlust. When she got to England, she received a call that her boyfriend had overdosed and died. She began to think deeply about her own mortality and how she wanted to live the rest of her life.

She continued traveling through Scotland and Ireland and eventually returned to Switzerland with a heavy heart, but also with a fresh new perspective. Meier now knew there were other ways of being in the world.

A Life of Service

When Meier returned to Switzerland, she knew she wanted to be of service and help others in need. She first went to Zurich to work with homeless men, and from there went on to work with nuns at a children’s home. Meier began dedicating her life to God and became committed to serving others.

She entered the field of social work, but soon felt called to pursue a degree that would allow her to become a missionary. Her dream was to go to India, and America was the very last place she imagined she’d end up.

By this point, Meier had completed her degree as a pastry chef as part of her second level of education, and went on to receive higher education in Social Pedagogy. She was preparing to leave Switzerland for the jungles of Peru to visit friends and get a sense of missionary life. She had planned a three-month trip.

In the meantime, Meier had written a letter to her mentor, a missionary named Linda Sutter, who lived in Wisconsin. Sutter was someone Meier deeply admired. The original plan was for Meier to visit Sutter in Wisconsin, then head to Nepal to see the Machu Picchu mountains, and later continue on to Peru.

But three days before leaving for her three-month journey, Sutter told Meier that Pine Crest Bible Training Center in New York was offering a one-year scholarship.

Meier felt called by God and had enough faith to change direction entirely.

She canceled her trip to Nepal and Peru, headed to Wisconsin to visit Sutter, and then answered the call to attend Pine Crest Bible School. After visiting with Sutter, she took a long Greyhound bus ride to Utica, New York, and from there was given a ride to Salisbury Center.

That Sunday, Meier went to church and felt God reassure her that Pine Crest was exactly where she was meant to be.

And so she stayed in the United States and enrolled.

Finding Johnson Park

This region was not only a culture shock for Meier. It was also a sacrifice.

Back home in Switzerland, she still had an apartment, but in order to stay in the United States she had to give up everything, including her health insurance. She ran out of money quickly. Her clothes and shoes wore out, and she even lost teeth because she could not afford dental care.

Then the day came when Pine Crest sent students on a one-day internship to help Reverend Dr. Scates at 26 Johnson Park.

Having come from a wealthy European country, Meier was stunned when she first encountered the poverty and violence in Cornhill and the Johnson Park neighborhood. Crack addiction had affected generations, and the damage was everywhere.

In 1998, following her internship and training at Pine Crest, Meier felt called to return to Johnson Park.

There was no salary when she arrived to work at JPC under Scates’ leadership. Though this worried her, Scates reassured her, “The Lord will provide.”

Alongside Scates, Meier ran the youth center for the first 15 years of her time at JPC. Back then, JPC was entirely volunteer-based. Meier and Scates lived together on the third floor at 26 Johnson Park, and the two of them got by with very little as they worked to develop and serve the neighborhood around them.

Meier didn’t know how to work the shower system and simply assumed everyone took cold showers. It wasn’t until after a full year of cold showers that someone finally showed her how to turn on the hot water.

Now estranged from her family and living in the United States, Meier did not adjust overnight. She received news from Switzerland that her mother had passed away. Longing to see her father, she grew even more homesick, but she knew the JPC community needed her to stay.

Her work with the agency wasn’t the only thing keeping her from returning home. Visa issues meant she couldn’t simply come and go as she pleased, and so she continued serving under Scates, pouring her energy, faith, and devotion into helping lead the development of JPC.

Because her English was still developing and American culture remained unfamiliar, those first years were some of the hardest. But she was supported by people around her. Three seniors and a school teacher from the 1300 West Street block embraced and helped her in many ways. Volunteers like Ms. Wolfe, Ms. Grenicko, Ms. Jackson, and Mr. Crossly became an important part of Meier’s foundation at JPC.

It was a rough road for a while, but Meier felt purposeful, assured, and supported by the JPC community and in her work.

The Food Pantry and a Growing Legacy

A firm believer in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and with her background as a baker and pastry chef, Meier naturally took to running the Food Pantry.

Over the years, Meier’s creative thinking allowed the food pantry to change and adapt with the times. What began by serving 15 households per month eventually grew to serving 4,803 households per month. During this time, a drive-thru pantry system was also developed so people could safely receive food during the pandemic.

Under the leadership of Scates, Meier felt her calling outgrow her desire to return home to Switzerland. She felt it was a privilege and an honor to serve the JPC community under Scates, and she felt free to do the Lord’s work in the way she was called to serve.

One woman, a former drug dealer and ex-convict who had lost her house while in prison, came to JPC after being released. She recalled Meier giving her a big hug as she sobbed, having never before grieved the loss of her mother. She remembers Meier saying:

“I’m going to love you until you love yourself.”

That woman later volunteered at JPC from 2010 to 2016, was hired onto staff in 2017, and still works at JPC today.

This is just one of many JPC success stories, stories of women who were able to rebuild and rehabilitate their lives through support, care, and opportunity.

It wasn’t until 2023, 25 years later, that Meier finally returned home to Switzerland. What she found when she visited her family and her old apartment was that it was no longer home. It was a bittersweet return, but it gave her the closure she needed to say goodbye to her old life in Switzerland and fully embrace Utica, New York, and the United States as her true home.

The Growth of Johnson Park Center

And so the work of Scates and Meier continued, and with it the growth and development of the Johnson Park-Cornhill community and JPC.

Milestones in Growth and Service

• April 2001: With the help of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County and farmers in the Watertown area, JCTOD opened the Let’s Grow Community Garden at 1409–11 West Street, where children could grow their own fruits and vegetables to take home.

• 2003: After many years of project development, JCTOD opened Johnson Park Apartments at 19 Johnson Park. What was once a former drug house became home to six units of Permanent Supportive Housing.

• 2004: JCTOD opened Oneida County’s first family shelter, where traditional and non-traditional low-income families could be referred by the Oneida County Department of Social Services and remain together during a crisis.

• January 2007: JCTOD received a grant from the NYS HHAP, the City of Utica, and Enterprise Community Partners to create eight one-bedroom and efficiency units of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless women without children whose primary disability was mental health related.

• February 2008: JPC was designated a Community Housing Development Organization, and through a grant from the City of Utica HOME Program, JPC purchased 1420 West Street and 210–212 Arthur Street. This was a major victory, as drug dealers, slumlords, and gang leaders no longer occupied that corner.

• December 2009: Working in partnership with Hage & Hage, Green Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Consulting Services, and C. Lewis Tomaselli Architects, JPC received a planning grant from the Community Foundation to create and develop the JPC Green Community Project Master Plan, which included a Multi-Purpose Childcare & Family Center, the Energy Technology & Maintenance Facility, and a vision for all JPC properties to become Green LEED Certified.

• January 2015: The Head, Hand & Heart Family Enrichment Program opened, an early childhood development program that gives children ages 3–5 the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe, supportive environment and provides children from low-income households a chance at a brighter future.

• May 2015: JPC’s Food Pantry reached 1,000,000 meals served.

• Fall 2024: JPC completed the Johnson Park Green Living Apartments and Community Center. Consisting of four buildings — a 51-unit building, a 2-unit building, a 9-unit building, and a community center — these apartments have served many families and individuals in need, including those living with mental health challenges and disabilities, those seeking a safe place to continue recovery, and older adults in need of housing with daily living assistance.

Located at 1402 West Street and open three days a week, the JPC Food Pantry provides enough food to help sustain households throughout the month. Each household can visit up to twice per month, and evening hours help meet the needs of working families.

JPC is an official food distribution site registered with the Food Bank of Central New York. The pantry offers an open door to self-sufficiency and access to nutrition, helping the “working poor” support their mental and physical health so they can care for their families and function more fully in society.

A Legacy of Love, Faith, and Direct Action

With no more than a vision in her mind and faith in her heart, Reverend Dr. Maria Scates raised up hope, love, and healing in a community that had been abandoned and left in crisis. With her determination and trust in the mission, Scates was exactly the leader the Johnson Park-Cornhill community needed, and her strength paved the way for other leaders to follow.

The adversity faced and overcome by both of these women, and their ability to turn hardship into the greatest power of all, love, is nothing short of extraordinary.

Their continued commitment to expressing love and gratitude through direct action is rare. These women do not simply look to help people. They fight for people. They go the extra mile and beyond to help others make the changes they need to heal and live a better quality of life for themselves, for their families, and for those around them.

Thanks to all the volunteers over the years who have walked, and continue to walk, in the footsteps of these women, and to all the staff at JPCwho make valiant efforts to serve those in need and help the Johnson Park-Cornhill community shine brightly with love and positive change.

The mission of JPC began with the vision of one woman, and it continued to thrive through the perseverance of another.

But it takes a whole community to keep fighting the good fight for positive change, to serve, and to lift one another up day after day.

Thank You to all the sponsors

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