From the Operations Desk:
From the Operations desk:
Allow me to catch you up on what has been happening in operations.
In October of 2025 our mission was selected as one of the Citygate missions to participate in the Innovation and Impact Lab in Baltimore, Maryland. Myself and 3 others of our team were able to spend four days with the Helping Up Mission and their tremendous staff. These days were extremely beneficial and are being used as a benchmark as we move forward. Our plan moving forward included hiring an outside consultant to help us assess and address the issues facing UCAN and to be more intentional with staff development and training.
Innovation and Change Specialist Katie Castro from Ally co was hired to do a full consultation with our entire staff in March. This full day Saturday was well attended. There we were able to talk about: What is moving UCAN forward? What is holding UCAN back? And then worked to create staff generated solutions.
In staff development we have been working in a few areas: Staff were required to go through the Academy of Peer Service training for New York State, Chad Danler was officially moved into a lead operations role to improve consistency with our team, and we have added a 2nd staff meeting per month. We have also added 2 new staff members who have been great additions to the team.
I was invited to participate in a fundraising academy in June at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation. The Fundraising Academy is an in-depth, comprehensive training program designed to equip nonprofit professionals and Board Members with the essential skills and knowledge needed for effective fundraising. This was a good opportunity for me to learn more about how we can be better moving forward.
We were able to knock out some big projects at the mission with the help of strong volunteers from Cummins and Wegmans.
We also had some great upgrades in the facility: Stormer Mechanical worked to get our HVAC system issues corrected and fully functional, we were able to replace one of our ovens with a brand new one, and improve the electrical circuitry in the dining room.
Every day I am trying to stay on task and continue to work hard in helping us as a mission move forward. I deeply appreciate all those who support this mission and have entrusted me with the job of operations manager. 🙂
-Timothy Miller
