A year and a half after floods in Penn Yan destroyed the facility, the ARC of Yates is opening its doors, and the North Avenue location has been built back better than ever.
The building that was completely flooded in May of 2014 was ARC's main program facility. Since then it has undergone extensive clean up and renovations. ARC's president and CEO Daniele Lyman says in the meantime, they have been shuffling around, providing services out of some unlikely places.
"We have had individuals at a church. Our administrative office space has been turned into program space for a year and a half. Our administrative staff then moved into an old call center."
The ARC of Yates is a non-profit, providing services for people with disabilities. They do job training, therapy, and day habilitation. Lyman says everyone, service providers and clients alike, are excited to have a home-base again.
She says the renovations will also help them serve even more people.
"We have some additional classroom space, as well as some additional programming space so we can take more people into our day habilitation program."
The project was funded largely by money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, state grants, and private donations.
