The Story of Johnson Park
Cornhill Community Mural - Utica, NY
JCTOD Outreach, Inc., doing business as Johnson Park Center (JPC), is a faith-based nonprofit organization that promotes positive change, revitalization, and community development in the heart of Cornhill, the City of Utica’s poorest neighborhood. JPC provides emergency and supportive housing for women, children, and families, as well as a range of community-based support services in nutrition, recreation, mentoring, and advocacy. Their programs build hope and empowerment and help individuals become self-sufficient, contributing members of the community.
Many voices tell the story of Johnson Park Center and how it came to be, and there are equally many ways to tell it. With this telling, we start at the beginning, going all the way back to a Johnson Park some wouldn’t recognize today.
It is there that we first meet Reverend Doctor Maria A. Scates, D.D.
Reverend Dr. Maria Scates
26 Johnson Park
Rev. Scates was born on April 22, 1954, in Portsmouth, Virginia. Raised by both parents, she grew up in Portsmouth. In 1977, Rev. Scates joined the military, where her last assignment was at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. After leaving the military in February 1981, she returned home to Virginia and began a job with the Civil Service.
Rev. Scates would not stay long at that job in Virginia and eventually moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. Unable to afford an apartment there on her own, she ended up renting with another young woman.
She found her way to a church in Upper New York City, where Rev. Scates met a woman involved in a New York City Homestead Housing Program. The program consisted of tenants doing sheetrock, painting, and general carpentry work, while the city provided electrical, plumbing, heating, and roofing. Upon completion, the building would become a cooperative, and each tenant could purchase an apartment for $250.
Soon after leaving Jersey City for the big city, she moved in with the homestead leader and her children on 142nd Street in Upper Harlem, New York, and soon became the captain of the next Homestead Project. Rev. Scates later discovered that the leader was a closet alcoholic. It was through this living experience that Rev. Scates first learned to navigate life with a mother struggling with substance abuse.
While still attending the same church, Rev. Scates met a woman named Wanda, who lived on 118th Street, first floor, in the heart of Harlem. She decided to move in with Wanda.
Rev. Scates lived as a squatter on the second floor, and together they ran out the drug dealers and got to work. Rev. Scates quickly learned what it meant to live in an abandoned building with no heat or hot water, and what it took to endure the hardship that came with it.
Winter proved harsh. Wanda instructed her to use a hot plate to heat water and generate steam, and to tape garbage bags against the windows for insulation. Rev. Scates learned how to repair the building, hang sheetrock, and paint.
While Rev. Scates was still homeless and living as a squatter, she began training to obtain her real estate license. She was not just homeless and volunteering. She was also a real estate agent.
Rev. Scates later came upon three brownstone buildings on 69th Street in Harlem. She discovered that the owner was a pastor and that she wanted to sell the three brownstones. The pastor invited Rev. Scates to volunteer at the church soup kitchen for Thanksgiving.
Rev. Scates in Demo
It was there, in 1984, that Rev. Scates first saw a church full of homeless men. Seeing all of those people with no home and nowhere to go on Thanksgiving broke her heart. She had the vision of those three brownstones in Harlem in mind when 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
Rev. 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 from HARKhomes, where she served as manager of a 15-bed holistic shelter for homeless men based in the church basement.
Rev. Scates & Mr. Polivka
To rehab the three brownstones, Rev. Scates proposed applying for a grant from the New York State Homeless Housing and Assistance Program. She initiated the idea and presented it, and HARKhomes wrote it up. Together, they were awarded a grant.
To Rev. Scates’ dismay, however, without warning or reason, right after the grant came through, the pastor removed her from the project and told her to leave the church. Although she was no longer able to house the people of Harlem through that work, her faith never wavered.
Rev. Scates was determined to keep her promise to help the Lord’s people, and whatever it took, she would do just that.
In 1988, Rev. Scates attended Pinecrest Bible School in Salisbury Center, New York. Upon her graduation in 1991, she went to Kingston, Jamaica, as a missionary running Bible schools.
While in Jamaica, Mr. Robert and Mrs. Wendy Polivka began supporting the Bible schools. After returning to the United States, Rev. Scates met the Polivkas to thank them for their support in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, she shared with Mr. Polivka her thoughts about opening a Bible school in Russia.
Afterward, she felt called instead to go to an inner city in the United States and do the Lord’s work there. Rev. Scates considered Albany, but then Mr. Polivka told her about Utica. He explained that the inner-city community there needed a great deal of help. He told her there was a “housing project” where Russians and African Americans lived in Utica, and he described the widespread racial tension in the area.
Arriving in Utica
26-28 Johnson Park
In September 1995, Scates, formerly a homeless veteran, came to Utica, New York, and asked people what the worst area in the city was. They said Cornhill, and that is where she went.
At a meeting in Herkimer County, Rev. Scates shared her new venture into Cornhill-Utica. There she met Ms. Cathy Mallace, who was in attendance at the meeting. Ms. Mallace, who had lived in Cornhill-Utica all her life, happily welcomed Rev. Scates to the community and offered to take her on a tour through the Cornhill section of Utica.
On that tour, Rev. 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 Rev. Scates did not 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 used to play as a little girl. Instead of urban decay, Rev. Scates heard children’s laughter and saw them running and playing in a beautiful neighborhood.
She was searching for a large house to live in and to start a church and nonprofit outreach center, a work of love for the people of the Cornhill community. And it was at 26–28 Johnson Park that she found the very place she had been looking for, the very same place she had seen in her dreams.
A few days later, Rev. Scates met with the property’s managing agent and shared her plans for the church, the nonprofit outreach center, and a place to live and work. That same day, he handed her the keys to the house.
“Positive Change Is Coming to Johnson Park!”
Rev. Scates signed the deed for the properties on November 14, 1995, exactly two months and one day after her return from Russia. On that same day, she moved into the third floor with a bed, a few household items, and some missionary school equipment.
Rev. Scates became the Founder and first Chief Executive Officer of JCTOD Outreach, Inc. To this day, she continues to serve in this role as a full-time volunteer.
A fire had occurred on the second floor before Rev. Scates moved in, nearly burning out the entire floor. That burned-out space would later be restored as Rev. Scates built hope and love back into what had once been a major drug house.
She started by picking up trash off the streets and walking around with bullhorns and a megaphone, shouting, “Say NO to drugs!” and “Positive Change is coming to Johnson Park!”
The year 1996 was a big year for JPC. Rev. Scates applied to every government program available in the city and county at the time. She used the knowledge she had gained from working with the homesteading program in Harlem and applied it in Utica.
She invited Mr. Joseph Holland, the Housing Director at New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), to come to Utica, and she shared with him what she envisioned for the neighborhood.
She went to every government program available in the county at that time. Scates used the knowledge she had acquired from working with the homesteading program in Harlem and applied it to 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 Growth of Johnson Park Center
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, and the Oneida County Youth Bureau gave JPC its first Youth Program Grant.
That September, JPC received a City of Utica HOME grant to renovate 1402 and 1404 West Street. In October, JPC received a NYS Seed Award Grant for 19 Johnson Park.
In 1997, JPC was awarded a grant from the New York State Homeless Housing and 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 at 19 Johnson Park (JPA 1).
JCTOD also opened a Computer Training Program through a start-up grant from the Community Foundation, along with Workforce Development. In addition, 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.
JCTOD has many milestones and awards highlighting its outstanding service to the Johnson Park community to this day.
Reverend Ursula Meier
Rev. Meier as a child
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 where 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 graduated at 19 as a baker and pastry chef.
Meier began to struggle with substance and alcohol abuse, and at 19 it started to take over her life, prompting her to leave home and seek treatment. Back then, there was little to no diagnosis or recognition of mental health struggles, and most psychiatrists viewed mental illness as an incurable affliction that could only be treated with heavy psychiatric medications.
The meds that Meier’s psychiatrist put her on had severe side effects and led to Meier losing the use of her arms, as well as developing a constant shaking syndrome. Meier hit rock bottom and knew she needed to go to a rehabilitation facility to get real help, but her psychiatrist refused to sign the necessary papers for her to go into rehab.
Fortunately, Meier had a good friend who advocated for her and eventually found her a rehab.
For the next two and a half years, Meier lived in a residential facility, then a halfway house, and eventually moved on to independent living. During the time Meier was in rehab, HIV hit the scene, and half the people in her rehab were leaving with what felt like a death sentence.
Now on her own, Meier realized she harbored a deep longing to travel. She was already making plans to explore far-off places when her boyfriend proposed marriage. Knowing she had to answer this 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, Meier received a call that her boyfriend had overdosed and died. She began to think about her own mortality and how she wanted to live the rest of her life.
She continued her journey abroad to Scotland and Ireland and came back to Switzerland with a heavy heart, but a fresh new perspective. Meier now knew there were other ways of being in the world, and she continued to reflect upon her journey.
A Life of Service
When she got back, Meier knew she wanted to be of service and help others in need. She first went to Zurich and began working with homeless men, and from there went to work with nuns at a children’s home.
She received a higher education as a social pedagogue through a three-year apprenticeship program working with those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her dream was to go to India, and America was the very last place Meier thought she’d end up.
After graduation, Meier got ready to leave Switzerland to get a sense of what missionary life was like. She 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. This was someone Meier very much admired.
The plan was to visit Sutter in Wisconsin, and from there Meier would take a trip to see the Machu Picchu mountains and visit her friends from Switzerland who were residing in the jungles of Peru. Three days before Meier left for her three-month journey, Sutter told her that Pinecrest Bible Training Center in New York was offering a one-year scholarship.
Finding Johnson Park
Meier felt called by God and had enough faith to change direction. She canceled her trip to Peru and was Wisconsin-bound to visit Sutter and answer the call at Pine Crest Bible School.
After visiting with Sutter, she took a very 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 God spoke to her, reassuring her that Pinecrest was where she was called to be. And so Meier stayed in the United States and enrolled.
This area was not only a culture shock for her, but a sacrifice. Back home in Switzerland, Meier still had an apartment, but in order to stay she had to give up everything, including her health insurance. She ran out of money fast. All her clothes and shoes had holes, and she ended up losing teeth because she couldn’t afford a dentist.
Rev. Meier & Rev. Scates cleaning
The day came when Pinecrest sent students on a one-day internship to help and assist Reverend Dr. Scates at 26 Johnson Park. Having come from a rich country in Europe, Meier was quite taken aback upon first seeing the poverty and violence that flooded the Cornhill area and the neighborhood of Johnson Park. Crack addiction had affected generations, and its destruction had run amok.
Rev. Meier with Kids
In 1998, following her internship and training at Pinecrest, Meier felt the call to come back to Johnson Park. Having run out of money at the school, Meier had a closer look into the hardship of poverty, and financially speaking, things wouldn’t turn around at JPC until much later.
There was no salary when Meier showed up to work at JPC under Scates’ leadership, and though this worried her, Scates would assure 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 all 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, at first, they worked on developing and serving the neighborhood around them.
Meier, now estranged from her family and living in the States, wouldn’t adjust overnight. She missed her family and her three best friends: Marlis, Marianne G., and Marianne R. She received news from back home in Switzerland that her mother had passed away. Longing to see her father, Meier grew even more homesick, but she knew that the agency and the JPC community needed her to stay.
She continued to serve under Scates, putting all her energy, faith, and devotion into helping lead the development of JPC. As her English wasn’t yet fully refined and American culture still came as somewhat of a shock, those first years proved the hardest.
It was three seniors and a school teacher from the 1300 West Street block who embraced and supported Meier in various tasks. The help of volunteers like Ms. Wolfe, Ms. Grenicko, Ms. Jackson, and Mr. Crossly was a huge 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 at 15 households per month grew to 4,803 households per month, and during that time a drive-thru pantry was developed at JPC 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 upon getting released. She recalls Meier giving her a big hug as she sobbed and 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 then volunteered at JPC from 2010–2016, was hired on as staff at JPC in 2017, and still works at JPC today.
This is just one of many JPC success stories of women whom they have helped make full recoveries and rehabilitate their lives.
It wasn’t until 2023, 25 years later, that Meier finally returned home to Switzerland. What she found when she went back and visited her family and her old apartment in Switzerland was that it was no longer her home.
This was a bittersweet return, but it gave Meier 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.
Milestones in Growth and Service
And so the work of Rev. Scates and Rev. Meier continued, and as a result, so did the growth and development of the Johnson Park-Cornhill community and JPC.
In April 2001, with the help of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County and farmers in the Watertown area, JPC opened its Let’s Grow Community Garden at 1409–11 West Street, where children could grow their own fruits and vegetables to take home.
In 2003, after many years of project development, JCTOD opened Johnson Park Apartments at 19 Johnson Park (JPA 1). What was once a drug house became home to six units of Permanent Supportive Housing. That same year, JPC received a grant from the NYS HHAP, the City of Utica, and Enterprise Community Partners to provide permanent supportive housing for homeless mothers with mental health as a primary disability, along with co-occurring disorders, who desired to be reunited with their children through three apartments at 15 Johnson Park (JPA 2).
In 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 to stay together during a crisis.
In January 2007, JPC received a grant from the NYS HHAP, the City of Utica, and Enterprise Community Partners to create eight one-bedroom and/or efficiency units to provide permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless women without children who had mental health as a primary disability and co-occurring disorders. This became a major resource for women living in shelters, motels, and for those recently released from jail and living on the streets at 1414 and 1420 West Street (JPA 4).
This was also a major victory for JPC, as it marked the end of a period when murder, drug dealers, slumlords, and gang leaders had overtaken the corner of Arthur and West Streets.
In February 2008, JPC was designated as a Community Housing Development Organization.
In 2012, JPC received a grant from the NYS HHAP, the City of Utica, and NYSERDA to create eight one-bedroom and/or efficiency units to provide permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless women without children who had mental health as a primary disability and co-occurring disorders. This created an important resource for women living in shelters, motels, and for those recently released from jail and living on the streets at 1418 West Street and 210–212 Arthur Street (JPA 5), with LEED Platinum certification.
Also in 2012, JPC received a grant from the NYS HHAP, the City of Utica, and NYSERDA Capital Funding, along with Operating/Case Management Funding through the NYS Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI), to create eight one-bedroom and/or efficiency units to provide permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless women without children with mental health disability, physical health disability, and co-occurring disorders. This created another major resource for women living in shelters, motels, hospitals, and on the streets at 1 Johnson Park and 18 Johnson Park (JPA 6).
In January 2015, the Head, Hand & Heart Family Enrichment Program opened. This early childhood development program gives children ages 3–5, along with their siblings, the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe and supportive environment. It also includes a parent support group and is aimed at giving children from low-income households a chance at a brighter future.
In May 2015, JPC’s Food Pantry reached 1,000,000 meals served.
Located at 1404–05 West Street and open three days a week, the JPC Food Pantry provides enough food to last attendees throughout the month. Each household can come up to three times 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 provides an open door to self-sufficiency and access to nutrition to help the “working poor” achieve mental and physical health so they can feed their families and function in society.
Building Toward the Future
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.
In 2024, JPC completed the Johnson Park Green Living Apartments and Community Center. Working in partnership with Rockabill Development, the project brought together capital funding from JP Morgan Chase Bank, Hudson Housing Capital, NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), NYS Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the NYS Community Reinvestment Fund, NYS HHAP, NYSERDA, the City of Utica, and the Community Foundation, along with Operating/Case Management Funding through ESSHI.
Consisting of four buildings — a 51-unit building, a 2-unit building, a 9-unit building, and a Community Center — these 62 apartments have impacted many individuals and families in need. They serve people living with mental and physical health disabilities, people seeking a safe place to continue their recovery, and members of the 55-and-older frail population who need housing with daily life-skills assistance available.
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 A. Scates, D.D., raised up hope, love, and healing in a community that had been abandoned and left in crisis. With determination and trust in the mission, Rev. Scates was exactly the leader that the Johnson Park-Cornhill community needed, and her strength paved the way for other leaders to follow.
Once a stranger in this land, Reverend Meier had some very big shoes to fill in her leadership role at JPC. She allowed her own faith, as well as her faith in Rev. Dr. Scates, to guide her on her path of helping people and serving the Johnson Park-Cornhill community, and it made her a stronger leader every day. She chose to stay, no matter the challenge she faced.
The adversity these women faced and overcame, and their ability to turn that hardship into the greatest power of all — love — is nothing short of a miracle.
Their continued motivation to express love and gratitude to people through direct action is a rare thing to behold, as these women do not just look to help — they fight for people. They go the extra mile and beyond to help people 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 continued to walk in the footsteps of these women, and to all the employees at JPC who make valiant efforts to serve those in need and help the Johnson Park-Cornhill community shine bright with love and positive change.
The mission of JPC began with the vision of one woman and 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.
Friends & Supporters
Artwork Brought to Life by
Meet the JPC Mural Lead Artist: Angela DeCarlis
Angela DeCarlis is a New York-based artist and muralist who creates large-scale work designed to connect people more deeply to a space, and to themselves within it. Her murals are rooted in story, presence, and the experience of the environment, with each project shaped by the people, purpose, and feeling behind it. From concept through completion, she brings creative vision, leadership, and a strong sense of how to create work that doesn’t just stand out visually, but actually means something to the people who live with it. Learn more about Angela and her work at belife.us or on Facebook
Want to Bring an Art Thing to Life in your neighborhood?
Are you an artist, organization, or community group interested in bringing a public art project to life in your own neighborhood? The Art Thing would love to help support that process! From early ideas to gathering people, resources, and momentum. Reach out and let’s make someTHING together.