DePaul’s Black History Month celebration provides an opportunity to recognize the impact of Black leaders on our agency and in the communities we serve. Several of DePaul’s apartment buildings are dedicated to honoring prominent individuals and their contributions.

Joseph L. Allen Apartments

 

Located in Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill neighborhood, DePaul’s Joseph L. Allen Apartments (JLA) are named after the first Black person to be elected to the Schenectady City Council in 1995. Joseph L. Allen dedicated his life to bettering the Hamilton Hill neighborhood in which he grew up and raised his own family.

Remembered as always approachable and willing to lend a hand, Allen was deeply committed to his community, education, work and family. He was also very involved in his parish, participating in the men’s choir and serving as a trustee board member at  Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church which is located across the street from JLA, a three-story, 52,500 square foot building featuring 51 supportive and affordable apartments.

“My father really cared about people,” said Allen’s daughter Lakeia Allen-Bowman when the building opened in 2017. “He genuinely loved the city of Schenectady and willingly helped anyone who needed a hand.”

Allen, who passed away in April 2015 at 79, began his long history of community involvement working for the New York State (NYS) Division for Youth in 1966 where he advanced, eventually becoming Director of the Troy Community Urban Home. Mr. Allen retired from New York State as a Supervisor of the Albany Intake Unit in 1999.

Among his long list of contributions, Allen served as the president of the Schenectady Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), President of the Hamilton Hill Neighborhood Association, Chairman of the Human Services Planning Council of Schenectady County, Hamilton Hill Task Force and the Schenectady IDA Board, and as a trustee board member of the Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church.

Click here to learn more about Joseph L. Allen’s legacy and impact on the Schenectady community.

Upper Falls Square Apartments in Rochester

 

Featuring 150 supportive and affordable apartments, the Upper Falls Square Apartments transformed a vacant property into the first major housing development on Rochester’s Hudson Avenue in more than three decades. The campus consists of two buildings − the Ellen Stubbs Apartments containing 114 apartments and the Minister Raymond and Maxine Scott Apartments containing 36 apartments.

Ellen Stubbs’ generous spirit created a legacy of providing opportunities and improving lives in the Rochester community. She worked as a nurse for over 50 years and advocated for the community through her work with local organizations including the Anthony L. Jordan Health Center, the Community Health Care Association of New York State, the YWCA, the Coalition of North East Associations (CONEA), Baden Street Settlement, Wilson Commencement Park and among others.

Ellen Stubbs, who passed away in December of 2012, received many awards and recognitions for her outstanding dedication and service. She was especially honored to be recognized by the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. for her vision, fortitude and courage in working to uplift and empower professional Black women. She served as a delegate to the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women in 1995 in Beijing, China and as a member of the World Conference Against Racism in 2001 in Durban, South Africa. Ellen Stubbs was active in her church community where she served in several leadership roles.

Minister Raymond Scott, along with his wife Maxine, has a decades-long commitment to bettering the Rochester community.

Minister Scott served as the President of Freedom Integration God Honor Today (FIGHT), the Director of the Hanover House Ministry, a Commissioner of the Rochester Housing Authority Board, and President of the Rochester sub-region of the reflecting his long history in the civil rights movement. He remains one of the leading figures in Rochester’s work for a better community for all.

Minister Scott was director of the DePaul Problem Gamblers Treatment Program and was one of five outsiders called to meet with Attica Prison inmates in an effort to ease tensions during the riot. As a former member of the DePaul Community Services Board of Directors, he passionately worked to help DePaul develop the Upper Falls Square Apartments by tirelessly collaborating with community stakeholders including CONEA, neighbors and businesses in the northeast quadrant, and the Anthony L. Jordan Health Center, creating synergy and excitement about a development that brings needed housing and health and wellness options to a neighborhood in need.

Maxine Scott – whom Minister Scott calls “the wind beneath his wings” – has stood side by side with Minister Scott in all his work for 52 years. She retired after 33 years with the Xerox Corporation and continues to serve her church, Faith Temple, and community as a volunteer. Click here for a video of Ray and Maxine Scott’s comments at the Upper Falls Open House Celebration in 2018.

Click here to learn more about Ellen Stubbs and Minister Raymond and Maxine Scott’s legacy and impact on the Rochester community.