Umbrella provides vetted workers for home maintenance for seniors on a sliding pay scale from about…read more$59. a year to $575 per year. It also provides transportation to appointments for enrollees, if needed. Umbrella Staff is pleasant and interested in supporting Seniors who want to stay in their homes but need assistance maintaining the home. The office staff responds to requests by matching workers in Umbrella workers group with requests. They call you back with name of worker and contact information so you can schedule work. Many retired individuals work for Umbrella in spirit of volunteering. When we started the rate was $15. a hour; it was increased to $20. hour when we left. You provide supplies. I thought $15. was too low to attract and keep workers. You can tip is you like and I often did. If you need skilled labor such as an electrician or plumber the rates were much higher such $65. hour. My experiences: I used it for three years with mixed results. *The housekeeper was unstable. Kept her on too long. *The guy who painted our garage steps was not conscientious. Had to be redone. *The guy who stained our cedar fence was excellent, but he stopped doing work because of health problems. *Guy who painted iron railing did a great job. *The lady gardener was fantastic, and I was pleased she did gardening as requested for three years. I kindly called her the "Energizer Bunny." We no longer use umbrella because we have found people to do what is needed from referrals from neighbors.

5/1/2020 Ms. Marcine…read morePalkovic 22 Continental Rd. Schenectady NY 12306 NYS Office of the Aging NY Connects Program Empire State Plaza Albany, NY 12223-1251 Dear NY Connects The purpose of my letter is to inform you of the experience that I had with Umbrella of the Capital District's Manager, Ron Byrne, so your agencies can protect other Seniors. My father passed in 2013, Umbrella was recommended by a librarian at SUNY/SCCC. From 2013-2014, Elaine Santos was one of the managers, and then retired. Umbrella charged me for a home inspection, I did not receive any thing in writing. From 2013-2015, they charged me for home inspections. I was not told the credentials of the person who did the home inspections. The home inspection did not advise me that the garage roof needed to be reshingled. In the year 2015, Elaine Santos retired. Ron Byrne became the sole manager. In August 2015, he phoned to say he had a grant for home repairs. I sent pictures of painting that needed and a door frame that needed to be replaced. I was required to provide personal information. Sadly, I didn't receive any benefit from the yearly fee required. I didn't receive any benefit for the painting and door frame repairs from the grant Byrne received. The person who was suppose to do the repairs, was not a contractor, but a Schenenctady school maintenance man, Richard Osterhout. The materials are still sitting in my garage. Osterhout swept the area, he but didn't even start the work, then quit. When I asked why I was charged to sweep; they refused to answer or refund the money. To add insult to injury, Byrne refused to refund the money for the purchase of materials. To add insult to the degree of exploitation, after paying the required fee, noone showed up to snow blow. Byrne told me to pay out of pocket for snowblowing, in addition to the fee already paid to Umbrella. I phoned the office asking for the receipts for the yearly maintenance fees and the record of home inspections. The office refused to provide any record of the fees or home inspections. I contacted the NYS Attorney General's office. In Byrne's reply, to the AG's office, in an effort to discredit my statements, he had the workers write silly allegations meant to humiliate me that were untrue. The refund issue was never settled, the AG's office said there was nothing they could do to obtain a refund for the materials sitting in the garage or a refund on the yearly fee paid. The letter said they understood my frustration. Last year 2019, the garage roof started to leak, and I am told it needs to be replaced ASAP. I was never informed of this by the home inspections Umbrella charged me for, and the materials sit in the corner of the garage. have been told by two roofers that the garage roof needs to be reshingled this year-ASAP. I didn't realize when I paid Umbrella, they don't have to provide records or be accountable for the grant money the agency awarded them. Burned by Umbrella in 2015, Marcine Palkovic

I looked at their website to find out about them it's a simple website. I thought they might be…read morerelated to Samaritan Hospital. I also tried to find out about the insurance, but didn't see anything. I called up and I found out they are not connected to Samaritan Hospital. They also do not take Medicaid Medicare. I really feel like those are two things that should be at the top of their website. When I mention to the to the woman who answered the phone I got the feeling they will never update their website so I can't give them any more than two stars. If they update the website I'll remove my review.

From the owner: Samaritan Counseling Center is the largest nonprofit, interfaith counseling practice in the Capital…read moreRegion. It is a mental health safety net for people in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and congregations. In 2007, Samaritans professional therapists provided 12,000 sessions. This increased to 14,000 in 2008, and the number continues to grow. Since 1985, the Center has offered professional, compassionate counseling services to people in varying financial circumstances. There are few other affordable places available for people to turn to with their mental health burdens.The Centers therapists are all certified and licensed professionals, representing the disciplines of clinical social work, clinical psychology, marriage and family therapy, and pastoral counseling.

We needed some extra furniture that was stored in our basement removed. The furniture was in good…read moreshape, so we did not want it to go to a landfill. Keith was excellent to work with, he scheduled a pickup quickly, The two gentlemen who showed up were great as well. They carefully removed the items from our basement which was kind of tricky because of the turns involved and the size of the furniture. They did no damage to our house or the furniture. They showed up on time and charged us exactly what Keith quoted. We would highly recommend!

We had a great experience with Portier and John as they came to remove an out of commission…read morerefrigerator from our basement. It was tight but they removed it efficiently without damage to walls, railings or door jambs. They laid carpet like drop clothes along the entire route prior to removal. Both men were very friendly and outgoing. We highly recommend this business!

I am sorry to be writing this letter but feel I have no choice. The repair work that was done on my…read moreRuth Duckworth sculpture is extremely disappointing and frankly unacceptable. I went into this with realistic expectations. I did not expect to see a completely invisible restoration, but when I finally had the opportunity to inspect the "restored" piece I was shocked by how crude the work was. The section that was reattached does not align properly with the section it had been broken off from, at the joint line they are two different heights. The wide and boldly visible bond line between the two sections is very distracting and its surface is irregular and unsightly At the edge where the two pieces connect there is an open area that's missing material. I have shown images to two longtime museum restoration experts I know and asked for their opinion. They were reluctant to critique another restorer's work but in spite of their professional reticence one said, "That this could look much better." The other restorer noted "it should have been possible to achieve a far less visible (though not invisible) joint." I came to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center after speaking with other restorers who said the size and weight of the sculpture put the job beyond their comfort zones. The poor quality of repair work displayed on the Duckworth seems to indicate that the Williamstown team should have said the same. It would have saved me a great deal of time and money as well as avoiding WACC having a very unhappy customer. Now I need to find a more knowledgeable person who will first have to undo the work the Williamstown team has done before they can improve and bring the sculpture to a presentable condition. The Williamstown Art Conservation Center has an excellent reputation, but this very disappointing repair certainly does not live up to it. Douglas Heller Heller Gallery NYC

From the owner: Williamstown Art Conservation Center is a nonprofit institution for the conservation and…read morepreservation of artworks and objects of cultural heritage. WACC provides the highest standards of professional service in all areas of treatment and consultation for museums and other nonprofit organizations as well as private institutions, businesses, and individuals throughout New England and the Northeast. WACC also co-founded and operates the Atlanta Art Conservation Center to serve institutions and individuals in the South.

Very difficult to get a hold of my agent. I left numerous emails that also went unanswered! In…read moreaddition, they changed my life insurance policy from paycheck withdrawals to direct payments without telling me. I am very disappointed to say the least.

This one is a little awkward..As a CSEA member, I had the chance to purchase automobile insurance…read moreat a good price through this agency. They referred me to a company named Plymouth Rock who sold me an automobile package. When someone hit my car and getting a claim filed became complex, Plymouth Rock turned out to be a mistake. Filed the claim with overseas phone center ASAP. Next morning spent 47 minutes on hold trying to reach a US rep, no answer at all, gave up, washed dishes, then called the sales people and asked for assistance with filing a claim with the insurance company of the people who hit me while parked, they refused stating it was a salvage vehicle. Funny, you sounded helpful when I purchased your insurance multiple years in a row. When I spoke to Pearl, the reps were professional and courteous, but had no solutions. Connected me to the Plymouth Rock claims department who absolutely refused to lift a finger to help me file a claim with All-State ( their foreign phone reps were refusing to take the claim as I was not able to provide the home address and personal phone number of the women who hit me. As she had called the police to report her own accident, and apologized and the police had been present, I had not demanded that she give me her personal information. ) Pearl kept suggesting actions that I had already tried. When I spoke to CSEA about Pearl Insurance and the terrible experience I had with Plymouth Rock, Csea said call the Pearl vice president, he's great, he'll fix it, the office manager intercepted the call and while polite, she didn't let me speak to him. So, everyone was polite. They just sold me useless insurance from a terrible company named Plymouth Rock.