Tag Archives: A Better Chance of Westport

A Better Chance Gets A Better House

Posted on November 7, 2011 | 7 comments

One of my favorite Westport projects is A Better Chance.  Part of a national organization — but very, very local — it provides educational and leadership opportunities to students of color from economically disadvantaged areas.

They attend Staples, participate in school and civic life, and give back at least as much to us as they get.

The 8 or so ABC scholars live together during the school year, in an inconspicuous brick home on the corner of North Avenue and Cross Highway.  I’ve driven past it every day for a decade.

But until last weekend, I’d never been inside the “ABC House.”

On Saturday the residents, house parents and board of directors threw an open house.  They marked the 10th anniversary of A Better Chance — and an impressive summer renovation of Glendarcy House (the official name).

ABC House on North Avenue.

The kitchen is sweet.  Resident directors’ quarters have been made more flexible.  There’s a new computer room, expanded dining, and more space for everyone.

There’s even a mud room.  They may be ABC scholars — but they’re also active teenagers.

“Before this, none of our kids wanted to invite anyone else over,” a director said.  “Now they can.”

The renovation — envisioned by Westport architects Sharon Ranney and Eric Michaels, and made real by the generous contributions of time, expertise and spirit by over 2 dozen contractors, painters, masons, interior designers, landscapers, plumbers, carpenters and other artisans and businesses throughout Fairfield County — was completed in just 3 1/2 months.

“We have to do this on time, and we have to do it really well,” one builder said.  “This is for kids.”

The “kids” — really, young adults — proudly showed visitors their new digs.

Luis is only a freshman.  But as he gave me a tour, it was clear he’s already part of the ABC Family.

He paused in front of some photos.  He described the graduates — young men he’s never met — and then pointed out the “Glen” and “Darcy” who gave their name to the house where Luis now lives.

The house that’s newly renovated, thanks to so many caring, creative men and women in Westport and beyond.

The Glendarcy ABC House that is now truly a home.

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Posted in Local business, Organizations, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Targeting A Triathlon

Posted on June 16, 2011 | 1 comment

Rick Spear once thought he’d be a doctor or lawyer.  But the lure of Wall Street was strong.  So in 1984, immediately after graduating from Stanford — where his thesis advisor was Condoleezza Rice — he started making serious money.

Eight years with Morgan Stanley was followed by a decade as a management consultant, advising financial services firms.

In 2003 — age 40 — Spear retired.

He’d always been a bicycle racer.  Now — with time on his hands — he vowed to improve.

Rick Spear

Out of that desire came Target Training.  Spear opened the Westport triathlon and cycling training center and retail store in 2005 as a way to “leverage knowledge of endurance sports to help people like me have healthier bodies.”

A 2nd site opened recently in Greenwich.

“Endurance for Life” is Target Training’s motto.  “You can’t fake being fit — running 5 miles, or biking 50 miles,” Spear says.

Target’s target audience is hard-working (and well-off) men and women.  They train hard.  And typically, as soon as they meet one goal, they look for a new challenge.

Here’s a big one.  This Sunday (June 19), Target Training sponsors its 1st-ever Sprint Triathlon.  The half-mile swim, 13-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run begins and ends at Sherwood Island.  The middle portions takes racers through the Green’s Farms  and Compo neighborhoods.

A portion of the proceeds goes to Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Cancer Care pediatrics department.  It is a cause dear to Spear’s heart.

In its half-decade in Westport, Target Training has been closely involved with community activities.  They sponsor, or work with, the Young Woman’s League Minute Man race, Andy Boas’s Charter Oak Challenge Foundation bike tour, Sound Cyclists and  ABC House.

This month’s triathlon builds on the training Target is known for.  It’s not only cyclists and runners who flock to the center next to Great Cakes — swimmers also work out under the Target banner at the Staples and Longshore and Norwalk Y pools, as well as Compo and Sherwood Island.

On Sunday, Spear will help out — not compete.  “I’m a bike racer, not a triathlete,” he says.   But, he adds — like the competitor he was on Wall Street, and remains today — “I win my share.”

(For more information on Target Training’s Sprint Triathlon, click here.)

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But Wait! There’s Still Time!

Posted on March 29, 2011 | Comments Off on But Wait! There’s Still Time!

A Better Chance of Westport’s gala was a tremendous success last weekend.

There was good food, great entertainment, and a fantastic auction.

But a few auction items are still available — for example:

  • 3 sessions with ace college consultant Amy Schafrann
  • An appearance by the singing group The Crustaceans
  • Suzanne Sherman Propp (for a children’s party performance, plus her CD and 2 personalized books)
  • New York Giants tickets
  • 1-year membership to TargeTraining
  • Piano tuning

You can also purchase items that the ABC House would like, but can’t afford through its normal budget:

  • Linens and towels
  • A bike rack
  • Group trips
  • Netflix rentals
  • Cable TV

Bidding and ABC House “wish list” purchasing closes at 11 p.m. next Tuesday (April 5).

Click here for all the items.  If you couldn’t be at the gala last Saturday — here’s A Better Chance.

The scholars of ABC House. (Photo: Pam Einarsen)

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Take A Chance On A Better Chance

Posted on March 17, 2011 | 2 comments

US Open tickets.  A penthouse at Steamboat.  A chauffeured limo ride to, and backstage tour of, Z-100’s “Morning Show.”

Admit it.  You’ve always wanted at least one of those things.

No?  How about 4 house seats to Blue Man Group — anywhere in the US.  A sunset cocktail cruise on a 50-foot boat on Long Island Sound.  A 3-course meal, cooked personally at your house by chef Pascal Fuchs.

Come on.  You know you want it.

Now you can get it (or them) — perhaps without leaving home.

They’re just some of the dozens of items offered at the ABC House online auction.  It’s a major fundraiser for A Better Chance — one of Westport’s major organizations — and it’s a major way to do good while having a good time.

A party with a live band, plus hors d’oeuvres for 50.  Publishing professionals to read your work and offer editorial comments (no more than 500 pages).  VIP tickets to live TV shows like “Regis and Kelly” and “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.”

Online bidding is now underway; it ends at 11:59 p.m. on March 25.  The next night, all high bids become the starting bid at ABC’s “Dream Event” annual gala.  To bid, click here.

Shadow chef Matt Storch for a day in his Match restaurant kitchen.  Be coached by jazz/gospel singer Chris Coogan — and record a demo in his studio.  Artwork.  Three 1-hour sessions with college consultant Amy Schafrann.

And the big one:  Hire the Staples boys soccer team for a birthday party, group or individual lessons, or anything else you want.



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Staples SLOBs

Posted on February 15, 2011 | 8 comments

 

Staples is filled with SLOBs.

And Westport is a far better place for them.

The yuk-yuk anagram stands for Service League of Boys.  The parent-son community service club is one of the most popular organizations at school.

It’s only 3 years old, but already the SLOBs have established a great tradition:  Service Sunday.  Fathers, mothers and teenage sons work together doing construction, landscaping and painting for social service groups in town.

Last year they gave the Gillespie Center a new courtyard, finished the food pantry and painted their office.  SLOBs painted the bathrooms at Bacharach Emergency Housing, and mulched their beds.  They did a lot of landscaping for Saugatuck Apartments and Linxweiler, and also worked for seniors through the Department of Human Services.

This year they’ve added Project Return and the ABC House.

Staples SLOBs work in the Gillespie Shelter food pantry.

They pay for supplies with unique fundraisers.  For 2011 a committee of boys devised an arm wrestling event.  After school on March 11, SLOBs and friends will try to break the Guinness world record for simultaneous arm wrestlers (it’s 200).  Then SLOBs will host an arm wrestling tournament, with teams of 6 (3 males, 3 females — teachers are welcome).  By charging an entry fee, SLOBs hopes to raise up to $10,000.

Tom and David Kalb help landscape Linxweiler House.

But they still need help for Service Day (this year, May 1).  SLOBs provides the grunt work, but they need professionals to help — for example, doing bathroom renovatiions (including new vinyl flooring), and installing paving stones and removing damaged asphalt at the Gillespie Center.

Pros are also needed for power washing at 2 houses; porch renovation and replacement of rotted shingles; replacing a rotted stockade fence, and sheetrocking a small area of the food pantry.

Sure, Staples students sometimes leave the cafeteria a mess.  But this group of SLOBs is doing some pretty neat things.

(Interested in helping with Service Sunday, either by donating professional expertise or money?  Able to donate a storage shed, new grill, and/or new tools like rakes and shovels?  Contact Suzanne Kalb:  skalb@optonline.net; 203-226-4803.)


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Posted in Organizations, People, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Cheryl Scott-Daniels: A Really Good Realtor

Posted on December 20, 2010 | 8 comments

We’ve got even more realtors in Westport than we have teardowns.

That’s a lot.  (Pun intended).

But we have only one 2010 State Realtor of the Year.

That’s Cheryl Scott-Daniels.

The owner of ERA Select Homes was chosen for this honor by the Connecticut Association of Realtors.  It’s given annually for contributions to local, regional, state and national real estate organizations, as well as to “consumers in their pursuit of home ownership.”

It’s not every day we’ve got such a celebrity in our midst.  So “06880” decided to find out what makes someone a State Realtor of the Year.

Cheryl Scott-Daniels

Caring for clients colleagues is one element of what Cheryl does.  So is constant contact with national and state legislators, along with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, on industry-related issues.

Chery’s route to real estate began with a BS in…chemistry.  After earning an MBA she became a vice president of marketing at Revlon and Max Factor.  At the same time, she and a friend were renovating houses for resale.  She enjoyed that far more than “the corporate practice of making decisions to boost quarterly profits at the sacrifice of the long-term health of brands.”

When her company merged with another and moved to California, Cheryl took a real estate course and exam.

She loves the diversity involved in realtoring.  Doing it well, she says, demands a broad base of knowledge and skill.  She relishes meeting “many different kinds of people in every conceivable business, all ages, lifestyles, nationalities, religions and economic levels” — and helping them make “what is often the biggest personal financial decisions of their lives.”

Until a few months ago, she says, “I would have said the worst thing is watching people make the wrong decisions, which ultimately cause them to lose money, because they won’t accept advice.”

Lately, though, she’s met people who can no longer afford to keep their houses.  “It’s horrible watching them try to continue their lives,” she says.

Cheryl chose Westport for its great schools system, and “some public transportation, although limited, for nannies” who can’t always drive.

She loves the town, and surrounding area.  The proximity to New York’s museums, shopping, restaurants and theater is balanced by “idyllic settings which vary dramatically from season to season, great educational systems, wonderful recreational opportunities” and more.

Who could tell Cheryl is a realtor?!

Of course, she is much more.  She’s an active community service volunteer, with a strong desire to “make our town better and improve the quality of life for those less fortunate.”

An active Rotarian, one of her favorite projects was bringing together students from Norwalk, Bridgeport, Westport and Weston.

On TEAM Westport, she helps Westporters “better understand and celebrate our differences.”  It is particularly important, she says, to prepare youngsters for the diversity they’ll find in college.

A Better Chance of Westport plays a key role too, she says. “I can’t help everyone, but everyone we help makes their own lives, and that of their family and our country, more productive.”  She would love for Westport to offer an ABC House for girls.

So what does the 2010 honoree think about 2011, real estate-wise?

The local market is stabilizing, Cheryl says.  It’s correcting the “astronomical” prices rises of a few years ago.

Economists predict general annual appreciation of 2-3%, following stabilization, she says.  That means that sellers waiting for the market to come back to the rates of half a decade ago will probably have to wait a dozen years.

“Now is a great time to sell if you are also buying,” she concludes.  “Interest rates, though rising, remain historically low.  Inventory is plentiful, and prices are very appealing to buyers.  If a buyer has a sustainable income, now is the time to buy a home you can truly afford.”

Spoken like a true Realtor of the Year.

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Posted in Economy, Local business, Organizations, People, Real estate

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Get In The Game

Posted on August 19, 2010 | 1 comment

Have you always wanted to play baseball in Yankee Stadium?

Tough luck.  Unless you’re a major leaguer, you can’t.

But there’s always Harbor Yard.

Thanks to a group of enterprising Staples students, on Labor Day (Sept. 6) you can not only play baseball at the cozy Bridgeport field — you’ll help raise money for A Better Chance of Westport (ABC) too.

Jordan Glick, Jesse Heussner, Dan Hirschberg, Jake Hirschberg and Erik Sawyer are Staples students who have been friends since elementary school.  Jordan, Jesse, Dan and Jake play on the tennis team; Erik is on the baseball squad.

Modeling a similar program event run by Dan’s parents, the teenagers have planned a charity baseball/softball event.  From 1-5 p.m., self-organized teams will compete against each other in friendly games, on the same field used by the Bridgeport Bluefish.

(From left) Jake Hirschberg, Jordan Glick, Jesse Heussner, Dan Hirschberg and Erik Sawyer take a break from planning their big Harbor Yard event.

Beyond baseball and softball, fun events are planned for younger children on and off the field, between and during innings.

The Staples athletes chose ABC for 100% of all donations because it’s local, important, part of their daily school life, and always in need of funds.  “If anyone deserves money, it’s the hard-working kids at ABC House,” the organizers say.

The 4 boys hope for participation from local men’s softball teams, the Staples baseball and softball teams, ABC scholars and donors — and anyone else who “wants to have a good time on the field, and give back to the community at the same time.”

All players will receive a complimentary jersey, and food and drinks will be available for everyone all day long.

(Recommended donations are $250 per adult, and $100 per youth under 18.  To register a team — or simply donate to the event, by check made out to “ABC” — contact Danny Hirschberg, 5 Boxwood La., Westport, CT 06880.  For more information, email: abcfantasybaseball@gmail.com)

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An ABC House Landmark

Posted on May 19, 2010 | 2 comments

A Better Chance of Westport is proud of many things:  The character and work ethic of the young “scholars” in its program.

The spirit of the ABC House on North Avenue.

The support of Westport families, institutions and businesses to help the ABC scholars achieve their dreams.

Now ABC points with pride to something else:  Its 1st 2 scholars have graduated from college.

Earlier this month, Shamir Clayton walked down the aisle at Emory University.  A few days later, Anthony Soto did the same at Assumption College.

Shamir — an economics major — heads to Orlando, to work for Coca-Cola in sales and marketing.  He just bought his 1st car, and plans to pursue a graduate degree.

Anthony — a business major — may work, or enroll directly in an MBA program.

They’ve come a long way from their 1st days in Westport, back in 2002.

Anthony Soto and Shamir Clayton, during their first days in the ABC program -- 8 years ago.

 “It’s hard to be an ABC scholar,” notes ABC co-president Gail Cohen.

There are high academic standards, and social restrictions.  ABC scholars can’t drive, for example, and spend 3 hours studying each night.

“But these kids come away with a skill set that enables them to be that much more successful,” Cohen says.  “When a college sees what our kids have gone through, they realize they’re stand-up young men who can succeed on their own.

“They go to college knowing how to study, and how to interface with different kinds of people.”

Scholars maintain their relationship with ABC long after leaving Staples.  The program provides money for books in college.  Graduates are invited back for the annual Dream Event fundraiser — and asked to speak, if they want.

Anthony returned one year with his girlfriend.  He wanted to show her the place that meant so much to him, at a crucial point in his life.

“Anthony and Shamir grew up with us,” co-president Lee Bollert says. 

“When they came here, we were like new parents.  We’d never done this before.  But their families trusted us with their sons.

“We probably made some mistakes.  And they had no older kids to guide them.  They had to be brave, and be able to take risks.  We appreciate them taking us on, as much as we took them on.”

And now — like “parents” everywhere — everyone associated with ABC will wipe away a tear, wish their “sons” well, and watch proudly as Anthony and Shamir make their way in the world.

While telling them, of course, that they’re always welcome back “home.”

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Posted in Education, Organizations, People, Staples HS

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