Junior League of Albany partners with Liberty House for signature project

ALBANY — Every three years, the Junior League of Albany selects a nonprofit or community organization for its signature project, sending its members in as volunteers and raising funds for the selected organization.

Six months ago, the Junior League began working with Liberty House — a domestic violence shelter and resource center — as its most recent project.

“Our goal is to help (Liberty House) through volunteerism and fundraising,” Faryn Hackett, president of the league’s board of directors, said.

The volunteerism component has so far included helping with landscaping, volunteering in the shelter and painting — essentially anything that is needed. The league conducts two fundraisers over the course of the year, in the fall and in the spring, all of the proceeds from which go to the signature project as well as Children’s Miracle Network.

Every couple of years, the league will have representatives from different organizations come and make a presentation, then a vote is taken to select the signature project and a contract is built. After two or three years, the contract can either be renewed or the league will move on to another organization.

“(We chose Liberty House) mainly to focus on families as a whole, and it definitely pulled at the heartstrings.” Hackett said.

While the fundraising goals are set rather high, Hackett said the goal as far as Liberty House is concerned is just to help out in any way the league can. Her overall hope, she said, is that the league’s members can establish a meaningful connection with Liberty House.

In some cases with its signature projects, there are members who continue to help after the commitment ends.

“The chance to help with this organization (sets up a connection) for years to come,” Hackett said. “We seem to be off to a really great start this year.

“The reason we as a league do this is to improve the community.”

Diane Rogers, the executive director of Liberty House, said the organization is excited to be selected as the signature project. When Liberty House was started in 1981, it was the Porterfield Methodist Women’s Club, and the league played a big part of Liberty House opening its doors to shelter victims of domestic violence.

Given that history, the selection of Liberty House by the league for the three-year project seems all the more fitting.

“It is vital to the success of our organization to have community involvement and partnerships with businesses, churches and social/civic clubs,” Rogers said. “We are excited to be the signature project of the Junior League and look forward to the financial support we will receive as well as the volunteer hours that will help us to complete some much-needed projects over the next three years.

“One very important aspect of having this partnership is the awareness of domestic violence that results from community involvement. Getting our message out to all of our community members regarding domestic violence, red flags, how to get help and how you can help is crucial to ending domestic violence in the communities that we serve.”

The Junior League is conducting its end-of-year dinner on May 3, where it is expected to present the money it has raised for Liberty House. After a break during the summer, the league will start working on the project again in full force.

For more information, visit www.jlalbany.org. Additional information on Liberty House can be found at http://libertyhouseofalbany.com.

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