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Community Corner

Where Giving Happens All Year

Madonna Heights' Dix Hills campus houses women and their families, provides schooling, and stresses independence.

Coat and food drives always pop up during the holidays, but there is one place in Dix Hills that gives year round.

The idea behind , is that one can give somebody a cake, but in the long run, it's better to show them how to bake it. It's about life lessons.

The Madonna Heights campus is located on Burrs Lane. Since 1963, it has provided a structured and nurturing setting for adolescent girls, young women and their families facing behavioral, financial and emotional challenges. In 1996 they became part of the SCO Family of Services, which serves the city and all of Long Island. Madonna Heights is more than a shelter.

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"We cover a gamut [of services], but the mission is the same: to help these women to get a sense of independence and to grow in their self worth," said Marcia Lucas, Madonna Heights program director, estimating they help 100 families in Suffolk County each year.

The campus features a residential treatment center to help with mental health issues and substance abuse. There's the Madonna Heights school for teens unable to attend public schools. The Morning Star Community provides single women and their kids a home-like environment while they learn how to support themselves.

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Each program is funded through its own stream, such as the homeless shelter, funded by the Suffolk County Department of Social Services. Madonna Heights operates several off campus shelters, such as Dotty's House in North Babylon.

"[People] come in as an individual, and whatever they need, we just help them to achieve their goal ... the primary goal is [their own] housing," SCO social worker Cindy Pouliot said.

With the economic downturn comes a greater need for the services Madonna Heights provides.

"As the economy has been so poor and people have lost jobs, the services in all of our programs are there to help these people that are struggling, and who need to know there are people here that will reach out to them," Lucas said.

A key component that keeps Madonna Heights programs running is the help of the community. Long Island Volunteer Enterprise (LIVE) provides volunteer manpower from corporations throughout the area. Temple Beth El in Huntington and the Half Hollow Hills school district have provided fundraisers and programs for Madonna Heights residents.

Yamila Coppola is the LI district manager for the Gap, Inc. The company became involved with Madonna Heights a few years ago through its 'Adopt a Family' program. Since then the company and its employees have supported SCO's Sanctuary Model, which addresses interpersonal trauma through a culture of open communication. Coppola has also let students attend Gap meetings to give girls real life experience in the working world.

She says the company provides the supplies and a push in the right direction, but that ultimately, it's about the women helping themselves and their children ... hence the cake analogy.

"The goal, during Christmas [for example], making gingerbread houses, is to get the mom to come and say [to them], sit next to them, you do it with [your child], and help them make that connection," Coppola said.

The efforts of the Gap and all those that volunteer their time to the many services SCO and Madonna Heights provides all feed into the same ultimate goal: for the women and their families to live productive, independent lives, financially and socially.

"Yamila and her staff brings the belief in the mission of what we do," Lucas said. "That we are here to help women feel better about themselves, learn how to be a mother, learn how to be a good member of society, so we all share the same mission."

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