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Civic

84 locations in Rochester, NY

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Human Touch Initiative

Human Touch Initiative, or HTI, is a 501 (c)3 not-for-profit organization established in 2008. Their mission is to make massage accessible for free to those in the Greater Rochester Area with a current cancer diagnosis. Their clients receive 3 oncology massage vouchers with each approved application. The vouchers are redeemable with a list of massage providers. All of the massage providers have received additional training in oncology massage so they can be mindful of the clients current health status and give a meaningful massage. Applying for services can be done on their website. Visit the website or call if you would like to volunteer, become an oncology massage therapy provider, or support HTI through a donation.

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Reconnect Rochester

Reconnect Rochester Reconnect Rochester is a 501(c)(3) organization working to build a more sustainable transportation network for the Rochester region. According to their website, the group's mission/vision is: "Whether by bus, by rail, on bike, or on foot, Reconnect Rochester champions transportation choices that enable a more vibrant and equitable community. We envision a community connected by a robust transportation network that makes it easy for everyone—regardless of physical or economic ability—to get around." Reconnect Rochester organizes an annual event each June, ROC Transit Day, to promote the use of public transit. Individual committees focus on areas including bus transit, rail transit, and safe/complete streets. Reconnect Rochester's meetings are open to the public and meeting times/locations can be found on the group's calendar page.

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Evelyn Sheffer

Lupus is a disease that primarily affects women in their child bearing years, ages 15-55. It is much more common in women than in men, but found in men and children. This disease compromises the autoimmune system and can be life altering and even fatal. There is no specific tests to determine who is at risk nor is there one definative test that can diagnose the disease. People suffer for years and years with the disease and physicians are hesitant to diagnose individuals with the disease due to the sympotms being so vague. Symptoms are as everyday as fatigue, achiness, joint pain, rashes, forgetfulness and thinning of hair. In todays society with life being so busy it is very common for individuals fighting fatigue and joint soreness. Minority women such as African American, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian women have a 2 times greater chance of being diagnosed with this disease. There are many medications that will assist with the pain as well as slow the deteriation process to joints and major organs. At the current time there is no cure for the disease, but getting information is the first step to gaining power over it. There are tests that can be administered that will assist with docotors to see if specific antibodies are in the blood and therefore begin the journey to be able to live with the disease. If you have any questions, there is the Lupus Foundation Genesee Valley Chapter located on 500 Helendale Drive, that is a resource that everyone should use, http://www.lupusgvc.org/. There are other non profit organizations that may be of ineterest to you. Nonprofit Organizations

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Police and Citizens Together Against Crime

Police and Citizens together Against Crime (PAC-TAC) is a volunteer program of the Rochester Police Department. Volunteers patrol streets under the supervision of a Crime Prevention Officer 2 nights a month for 2-3 hours a night and "become the eyes and ears of the RPD" by observing and reporting criminal activity and/or quality of life issues. This is an opportunity to help the community fight crime whether you are a concerned citizen or interested in putting this experience on your resume. Persons also receive training in procedures and radio operation. An information and training session is held the 2nd Tuesday of every month from 7-8:30pm at the Public Safety Bldg, 185 Exchange Blvd (as of January 2008). Interested parties can fill out an application at that time.

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Cerebral Palsy Association

The Cerebral Palsy Association (aka CP Rochester) is a non-profit organization serving the community from both their South Winton Road Campus and the Al Sigl Center. Quoting from "About Us" page: CP Rochester exists to support people with physical and developmental disabilities in choosing and accomplishing successive individualized life goals. We do this by providing a wide range of services to people of all ages in the greater Rochester area. These include: Outpatient Clinical, Residential, Educational and Personal Support Services. Our purpose is to ensure that those we serve safely determine their own pathways in life and live as full members of their communities.

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Chestnut Street

Chestnut Street runs north-south through downtown Rochester. It begins in the south at the northern end of Monroe Avenue. When it crosses East Avenue, it becomes North Chestnut Street. At Andrews/University, it turns into North Street. It is part of Route 31. From the Inner Loop to East Broad Street, Chestnut forms the east-west boundary between the Manhattan Square Park and Washington Square neighborhoods. Continuing north, it passes briefly through the Midtown District, continues through the East End, and then becomes the east-west border between the St. Joseph's Park Neighborhood and Grove Place. Located on Chestnut Street, traveling south: 169N : Vertex Night Club 155N : Harro East Ballroom 150N: University of Rochester Medical Center - Adult Outpatient Mental Health Services Center 111N : All Saints Anglican Church 111N : Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation 50 Chestnut Street - See page for tenant list. 100 : HSBC Building - See page for tenant list. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park 161 : Rochester Educational Opportunity Center of SUNY REOC B-Stro Ultimate Styles Salon 225 : ESL Federal Credit Union

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Chamber of Commerce Building

The Chamber of Commerce Building is located on St. Paul Street. It was designed by Claude Bragdon, and built in 1916. The building was a gift to the community from George Eastman. Bragdon and Eastman had a falling out over the design of the building. 1 The building is now home to SUNY Brockport MetroCenter (website). The trustees of the Greater Rochester Metro Chamber of Commerce allowed the sale of the building following the merger of the Chamber with the Industrial Management Council into the Rochester Business Alliance. Notes and References Listed in National Register of Historic Places- Monroe County on October, 4, 1985 Architecture of Braddon on LibraryWeb.org has photos and information. vintage postcard of the building on VintageViews.org. 1Bragdon on LibraryWeb.org

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Christ Church Rochester

Christ Church Rochester (typically just called Christ Church) is an Episcopal church in the East End. The building is the home of the very impressive Craighead-Saunders Organ, a reproduction of a 1776 organ from Vilnius, Lithuania. See: pic. It is frequently used by the Eastman School of Music for public concerts. The church is also the home of the Christ Church Schola Cantorum. For one week each year the church becomes a music venue for the Rochester International Jazz Festival

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Memorial A. M. E. Zion Church

Memorial A. M. E. Zion Church has the distinction of being the oldest operating Black church in the city of Rochester, having been founded in 1827 as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Their first building, erected in 1833 on Favor Street, served as the meeting grounds for notable abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and commanded national significance; its basement was the original home of Douglass' North Star newspaper. In 1907 the original structure was replaced on the same site by a new building (which still stands) incorporating a number of memorial windows honoring Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and Harriet Tubman among others. At that time "Memorial" was added to the name of the church. The congregation moved to their modern building on Clarissa Street in 1975; the memorial windows to Anthony and Tubman can still be seen there. Rochester History Vol. XXI: Lights and Shadows In Local Negro History Beyond the Sanctuary - A Look Back in History

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First Unitarian Church of Rochester

The building in winter Installing the organ from the former St. Bernard's Seminary in the auditorium The church building for First Unitarian Church of Rochester was designed by Louis Kahn and regularly draws architects, students, and other visitors from around the world. The congregation is theologically diverse (typical for UUs), including both theists and nontheists. The church has a long history of social justice activity (local historian Blake McKelvey once called it "Rochester's alert conscience and hospitable roof") which continues today in the form of support for marriage equality and other progressive (or, if you prefer, liberal) causes. To participate in a survey on local architecture visit, Rochester Archipedia Survey

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First Baptist Church of Rochester

First Baptist Church of Rochester was RocWiki's Business of the Month for January 2011! First Baptist Church of Rochester is an American Baptist Church dating back to 1818, whose welcome states: "We seek to be a welcoming community where every child of God is included. Individually we espouse soul freedom, endeavoring to live by the moral and ethical principles taught by Christ and revealed in scripture, realizing that God is the ultimate and soul judge of our thoughts and actions. As a worshipping community, we celebrate and seek to be worthy trustees of God's creation in all its diversity. We uphold freedom of religious expression, expect no conformity to any creed, and strive for social justice within all human relationships." 1 Participatory activities include: Adult and Youth Choirs Bell Choir Youth group activities Bible Studies FBC is also home to HealthCore Counseling and Consulting and Rochester English Country Dancing. 1Website About Page

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All Saints Anglican Church

All Saints Anglican Church is a church located in the St. Joseph's Park Neighborhood. They are a Bible-based parish of Anglican Christians in the Greater Rochester area officially remaining within the Anglican Communion, and an affiliate parish of the American Anglican Council. The Holy Scriptures are the basis and authority for their worship, education and practices. They remain in the orthodox Anglican traditions of Christian Faith and are members of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in the Diocese of the Holy Spirit.

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Presbytery of Genesee Valley

Website Graphic The Presbytery of Genesee Valley is the regional presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of the USA that covers Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Orleans, and Wyoming Counties. They are headquartered on South Winton Road in Brighton. Member Churches in Monroe County City of Rochester Brighton Presbyterian Church Calvary St. Andrews Parish Dewey Ave Presbyterian Church Downtown United Presbyterian Church Lakeside Presbyterian Church New Life Presbyterian Church South Presbyterian Church Third Presbyterian Church Trinity Emmanuel Presbyterian Church Eastern Suburbs Christ Clarion Presbyterian Church (Pittsford) First Presbyterian Church of East Rochester First Presbyterian Church of Pittsford Irondequoit Presbyterian Church John Calvin Presbyterian Church (Irondequoit) Laurelton United Presbyterian Church (Irondequoit) Penfield Presbyterian Church Perinton Presbyterian Church Summerville Presbyterian Church Webster Presbyterian Church Western Suburbs Bethany Presbyterian Church (Greece) Brockport, First Presbyterian Church Chili, First Presbyterian Church Gates Presbyterian Church John Knox Presbyterian Church (Greece) Ogden Presbyterian Church Parkminster Presbyterian Church (Chili) Southern Suburbs Honeoye Falls, First Presbyterian Church Mendon, The Church Rochester Korean United Presbyterian Church (Rush) Scottsville Union Presbyterian Church Member Churches in Surrounding Counties See website directory

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Francis Pharcellus Church

Wikimedia Image of Church Francis Pharcellus Church (February 22, 1839-April 11, 1906) was an American publisher and editor. He was born in Rochester, New York and is most famous for writing the 21st September, 1897 editorial, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." From the editorial page of the New York Sun, September 21, 1897: Is There a Santa Claus? We take pleasure in answering at once thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun: Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? — Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 West Ninety-fifth street. Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. Francis Pharcellus Church died in New York City and is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

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County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency

COMIDA holds its board meetings at the Ebenezer Watts Conference Center. Photo by Ben Margolis (April 2007) The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) is an economic development agency of Monroe County, as described on their website About Us page, "was created ... with the goal to promote, encourage, attract and develop job and recreational opportunities and economically sound commerce and industry throughout Monroe County, for the purpose of preventing unemployment and economic deterioration. ... COMIDA provides assistance to qualified applicants/projects. COMIDA does not lend any money to these projects, rather this assistance is provided through tax exemptions, real property tax abatements and access to lower interest rates through tax exempt bond issues. ... Approved projects have included construction of a blood collection processing facility for the Red Cross, a state-of-the-art distribution center for CooperVision, renovation of an existing building for Rochester Precision Optics manufacturing facility, renovation of the former ArtCraft Optical building" - {now known as Buckingham Commons }. "COMIDA provides this assistance without any public money. Income is generated by the fees charged to applicants. These monies are reinvested in our community to further the goals of economic development." COMIDA has been controversial in recent times with accusation by government officials and citizens of always granting tax breaks, eroding the tax base, and for not creating jobs that are equal in value to the taxes not collected. COMDIA lists the following partnerships: Biz2Edu, Empire State Development, Greater Rochester Enterprise, The Entrepreneurs Network, RochesterWorks!, Small Business Administration, City of Rochester, Rochester Business Alliance, Rochester Downtown Development Corporation, CNSE's Smart System Technology & Commercialization Center of Excellence, and Rochester Gas & Electric Notes and References COMIDA Board Meetings to review applications are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Ebenezer Watts Conference Center, 49 S. Fitzhugh Street, Rochester, New York 14614 at 12:00 noon. Every project seeking COMIDA assistance must use all local labor for the construction of new, expanded or renovated facilities. 1 Audit Problems - NY State Office of State Comptroller Also see COMIDA Discussions on Water Buffalo Press Forum calls for oversight of COMIDA (PDF) from D&C Update on COMIDA June 2006 - on RochesterTurning.com Brighton Town Councilman questions County of Monroe COMDIA BNET.com - Daly Record Sep 17-2008 Maggie Brooks' COMDIA does it Again!!! On DragonFlyEye.net Penfield bayfront housing project gets tax breaks Democrat and Chronicle - 10/15/2013 COMIDA Approves Incentives For Xerox - WXXI 07/25/2013 COMIDA OKs breaks for Marketplace; new anchor planned - RBJ 12/18/2013

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Fitzhugh Street

Fitzhugh Street is an old route that is divided in two ways: between North and South Fitzhugh Street, and in two disconnected fragments chopped up by the Inner Loop. One part is in downtown's Four Corners neighborhood and the other is in Corn Hill. To make matters even more confusing, the two divisions do not correspond: the downtown portion is both North and South. This article refers to "Fitzhugh Street" as a whole. Fitzhugh Street is known for its rich heritage. It passes through two historic districts and boasts some impressive architecture. Located on Fitzhugh Street Traveling south. Downtown Fitzhugh Street in Four Corners is dominated by the City Hall Historic District to the south and Downtown United Presbyterian Church and City Hall (on the corner of North Fitzhugh and Church Street) to the north. Intersects with West Main Street and West Broad Street. 121 N: Downtown United Presbyterian Church Borinquen Dance Theatre GVCLU NYCLU Rochester Gay Men's Chorus Rochester Roots Rochester Women's Community Chorus 40 N : Rochester and Monroe County Employees Federal Credit Union 28 N: Sister Cities Parking Garage 10 N : Monroe County Public Defender's Office 13 S : Academy Building Founders Café 17 S : St. Luke's Church 47 S : Monroe County District Attorney Corn Hill South Fitzhugh in Corn Hill is primarily residential and is considered one of the most beautiful streets in Rochester. It is part of the Third Ward Historic District. South Plymouth Avenue is a notable intersection. 133 S : Hoyt-Potter House Corn Hill Neighbors Association Landmark Society 134 S : Pathfinder Engineers and Architects 148 S : Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Links Birdseye View of Fitzhugh Street, Rochester c.1904 - Rochester Subway (2012-12-07) City Living: That oft-forgotten leg of Fitzhugh Street - Democrat and Chronicle (2013-11-13)

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New Hope Free Methodist Church

New Hope's Building at 62 Union St. Our vision is to be a hub of life transformation that spreads the hope of Jesus Christ to all four quadrants of the City of Rochester. We are young, old and everything in between. We come from different economic, social, ethnic and racial backgrounds. We embrace diversity, in all its complexity, because it reflects our understanding of God’s Kingdom and His heart for all people to be one. We are partners with God and others in works of service and expressions of love, justice and mercy. Our mission is to Love God, Love Each Other and Serve the World.

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Airport Rochester Taxi Services

Airport & Rochester Taxi Services is a taxi and transportation services company serving Rochester, Rochester Airport and surrounding suburbs. "Our taxi drivers are licensed to drive a taxi after background check. Taxi cabs are equipped with taximeters and taxi fares are regulated by the City council. All taximeters are certified checked and sealed by the Dpt. of weight and measurements. Ride Airport & Rochester Taxi services cabs with peace of mind." 1

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City Hall

General Info City Hall is the seat of government for the City of Rochester. It is located in the Four Corners section of downtown at the corner of Fitzhugh Street and Church Street. It is home to the Mayor, City Council, the City Clerk and many departments of city government. Here you will also find our FOIL office. Many official public meetings and events are held here. Because the City Clerk issues marriage licenses and is authorized by law to marry couples there are also many marriages held in the ornate atrium. The Link Gallery located in City Hall hosts periodic art exhibits and is open to the public at no cost. City Hall Cafe is located in the basement and opens to the public at 9:00AM. Old City Hall The current City Hall is an old Federal building originally built in 1885. It was sold to the city and tastefully expanded and renovated about 1975. Additional restoration work on the historic building's facade has been done since then. Rochester's first City Hall is now known as Irving Place and is still standing. Rochester City Hall Photo Lab The City Hall Photo Lab contains over 1,500 images of city events, places, and public works from the past 20 years, and over 150 images of Rochester's earlier history. The collection doesn't have regular hours, so to get access to the collection, you need to have a Records Access Application filed with the Bureau of Communications. If you want to use this nifty city resource, you can file a Access Application using the contact information above. Zagster has a bike station outside.

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Golden Link

The Golden Link Folk Singing Society promotes concerts, workshops, jam sessions, and the Turtle Hill Folk Fesitval. Golden Link also has a large lending library of sheet and recorded music. They host a weekly play/sing along at the Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, inviting anyone with interest to come and contribute. Everyone is given a chance to play, sing, or request a song of their own choosing—everyone else free to contribute as they see fit. Their web site provides one of (if not the) most comprehensive calendars relating to folk music and dance in the Rochester area. Click here to view calendar.

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