St Stephen’s Episcopal Church & Watson Ministry Center
109 South Barry St, Olean
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, a striking Victorian Gothic and Romanesque landmark built in 1890 and designed by architect Robert W. Gibson, features brown sandstone walls, windows by Whitefriars Stained Glass Studios, and a bell tower. The adjacent Watson Ministry Center, an 1885 wooden Victorian building, was gifted to the church in 1950. Today, after extensive renovations, the building houses the Miriam Center for Hope and Healing, where independent clinicians provide trauma counseling, mental health therapy, and professional training for practitioners across the region. It also hosts Cattaraugus Community Action’s Victim Services program, which offers advocacy, crisis support, and resources for survivors of domestic violence.
The Spark
An unused church building became an opportunity for St. Stephen’s congregation to extend its long tradition of serving the Olean community.
In 2013, Reverend Kim Rossi moved to Olean to become the priest of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. She had previously spent 27 years as a social work consultant focused on mental health; she also had hands-on experience with building projects, having helped rebuild homes in Central America after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and establishing an orphanage in Honduras.
When she arrived, she found the church in need of repairs, with broken furnaces, crumbling chimneys, and a multitude of small issues that required attention. She also noticed that the connected Watson Wing, once used for Sunday school and church offices, now sat unused. Rev. Rossi asked the congregation to consider cleaning it out and making use of it, an idea they embraced as part of their call “to be Christ in the world.” The St. Stephen's congregation had a reputation for serving the community through food pantries, holiday meals for the community, and other ways, and they enthusiastically said yes.
The Project
The congregation of St. Stephen’s has a long tradition of community service, from helping establish Olean’s first hospital in 1898, to supporting the creation of the city’s first homeless shelter, Genesis House, in partnership with other faith communities in 1993. The congregation viewed the repair of the Watson Wing as a continuation of this community work.
Congregation members undertook the work themselves, hand‑sanding the original hardwood floors, repainting walls, and hauling debris into dumpsters, turning their efforts into music-filled community work days. Through the course of the renovation, they overcame issues like windows painted shut, knob‑and‑tube wiring and outdated plumbing and insulation.
Working with local nonprofits, Mary Plonka, a trauma therapist and congregation member, worked closely with Rev. Rossi to conduct a community needs assessment. After floating ideas like creating a homeless shelter for teens, they realized the greatest demand was for mental health services.
With no previous grant‑writing experience, Plonka sought help from friends and family, who guided her through the process. Staff at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were also on her side, going out of their way to support the grant applications. One USDA staff member drove three hours from Syracuse to Olean to walk the team through data entry. Plonka describes the experience as a crash course in persistence. She rewrote proposals, corrected budget lines, and navigated unfamiliar reporting requirements until the applications were accepted.
In 2021, St. Stephen’s received a $269,000 USDA Rural Healthcare Emergency grant for the renovation. However, cost was still an issue. Inflation during COVID pushed construction costs higher than the original estimates, forcing Rev. Rossi to return to the congregation and ask for an additional $80,000. The congregation agreed to draw from the Church’s investments to keep the project alive. In September 2025, with renovations finally complete, the congregation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new Watson Ministry Center. Today, it houses the offices of several licensed therapists on the first floor in the Miriam Center for Hope and Healing and the offices of Cattaraugus Community Action on the upper floor.
Now, the church's unstable bell tower presents a challenge. Congregation members worry about its collapse, which could possibly injure people at the Watson Center. The area around the tower has been closed off from pedestrian access. Demolition is not an option due to its historic status. St.Stephen’s is currently working with architects to figure out ways to stabilize and preserve the structure but have encountered roadblocks accessing New York State funding for the project.
Outcomes & Benefits
Independent clinicians in Cattaraugus County have an affordable space for their practices. The renovated Watson Ministry Center provides office and counseling space for mental health professionals and community service organizations, expanding access to trauma counseling, advocacy, and recovery services in a region with limited access to behavioral health care. Their work helps to alleviate the load on practitioners at the county level.
Maintaining the historic building has allowed modern agencies to operate there. The project preserved the historic character, including the interior layout, while modernizing it for daily use.
The facility demonstrates how historic religious properties can be adapted to meet modern social needs while remaining faithful to their original mission of service.
St. Stephen’s congregation had a strong sense of purpose from the start, which powered their persistence through every challenge of the renovation. They knew exactly what they hoped to accomplish and were unwilling to let go of that vision. As Plonka says, “We don’t exist for ourselves, we exist to help the community,” a belief that kept the project moving forward. Strong leadership also played a crucial role, as Rev. Rossi brought with her the determination she had developed building homes in Central America, which helped sustain the congregation’s momentum.
Partnerships & Funding
St. Stephen’s congregation serves as the cornerstone of the initiative to transform the Watson Center, anchoring the project through dedicated fundraising, individual donations, and volunteer labor. The facility renovations total was originally $518,900 and rose to over $800,000 by completion due to various challenges along the way. The facility's renovation was powered by the church congregation and by major federal and regional awards, including a $268,900 USDA Emergency Rural Health Care grant and a $250,000 contribution from the Appalachian Regional Commission. This funding process was heavily supported by USDA staff, who provided extraordinary hands-on guidance by traveling three hours from Syracuse to assist project leader Plonka with data entry and system onboarding. To ensure the facility's long-term operational sustainability, the Miriam Center for Hope and Healing and Cattaraugus Community Action's Victim Services operate directly out of the building, contributing rent and utilities to offset ongoing upkeep costs. The Center's community network is strengthened by St. Stephen’s close collaboration with an interfaith network of neighboring congregations, including Bethany Lutheran Church, the First Presbyterian Church, the Islamic Society of the Southern Tier, and the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York.
Lessons Learned
Historic buildings can serve modern needs
The Watson Center shows that preservation and contemporary services can coexist without erasing historic character.
Community needs can inform use decisions
A local needs assessment helped the congregation focus the project on mental health and victim support.
Mission can drive redevelopment
St. Stephen’s used its commitment to service to guide how an underused building was transformed.
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church transformed an underused historic building into the Watson Ministry Center, a community-centered hub for mental health, victim advocacy, and social services. Led by Rev. Rossi and supported by the congregation, the church was able to overcome structural and financial hurdles. Through partnerships, grant funding and many hours of volunteer effort, the church found a way to address critical service gaps while breathing new life into the sacred space.