An Inside Look of the...Outside | | |
The first feature of An Inside Look is here! We are excited to share details of Third Street Alliance's history, facility, and programs that you may not know about.
Let's start with our facility and it's history.
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How It All Started
In the early 1900s, German entrepreneur and owner of the R. & H. Simon Silk Mill, Herman Simon, set out to build the largest mansion on Millionaires' Row (otherwise known as Third Street) in downtown Easton, PA.
With the construction of the Simon Mansion finishing in 1902, the legacy of what now is Third Street Alliance began.
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Simon lived in the mansion with his wife Elizabeth and stepdaughter Grace. Simon was known for having great love and respect for his wife and daughter and was quite progressive regarding women's rights given the time period.
Once Grace married, the Simons built a house for her right next door to the Simon Mansion on top of what had been the formal gardens.
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After the passing of Herman Simon in 1913, the family eventually designated their homes to be used for social service work focused on women, becoming the Easton YWCA in the 1930s.
In the 1980s, the Easton YWCA decided to become an independent non-profit organization - officially becoming Third Street Alliance for Women & Children.
Today we continue to focus on women and children, with our two pillar programs being housing stability and early childhood education.
| | | | Our housing stability program is dedicated to homelessness prevention: providing shelter to women and children, helping people find affordable housing, assisting in housing costs, and connecting clients to jobs and services. | | | | | Early Childhood Education | Our early childhood education program, The Learning Center at Third Street Alliance, offers high-quality, affordable early childhood education for children 6-weeks to 13 years old, with infant and toddler classrooms, preschool and Pre-K Counts classrooms, before and after school care, and school-aged summer care. | | | The front porch's flooring is terrazzo marble, featuring a coat-of-arms with the letter "F" to stand for Free as homage to Simon's home city of Frankfurt, Germany. The porch's column carvings were crafted by Italian sculptors, featuring motifs such as cherubs. |
| | The Simon Mansion and Bixler-Ward House were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. | | | | |
The largest building of our facility, The Simon Mansion is home to many of Third Street Alliance's programs.
The majority of our employee offices are located here, as well as 20 of our shelter rooms.
The inside of The Simon Mansion holds many stories and details that we look forward to sharing with you in future features of An Inside Look.
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Bixler was the surname of Grace's first husband. She later married William Ward, hence the name Bixler-Ward House. The Bixler-Ward House (also called the Bixler Building) has multiple functions today.
On the first floor there are two classrooms for The Learning Center, as well as office space for employees.
The second and third floors are home to 5 shelter rooms, including some larger shelter spaces used to accommodate larger families that come into the shelter.
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During the Easton YWCA era, several additions were added onto the facility.
The section pictured here is now utilized primarily as classrooms for The Learning Center.
A gym was added to the back of the facility that is used for students to play and as a venue for agency events.
A swimming pool, where many Eastonians learned how to swim, was also added. After going into disrepair, the pool was transformed into three brand new classrooms for The Learning Center in 2023.
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Our vision is for women, children, and families to be connected to community and social networks, achieving positive outcomes including health, social & emotional development, and educational & economic advancement.
For nearly a century, our work has been focused on helping those in our community who need it most. This would not be possible without the generous support of our community.
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Support Women & Children
Want to support the work that we do? Please consider making a donation today!
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We're Hiring!
Check out our current job openings.
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