Elsie K. Powell House is the conference and retreat center of New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
Our Mission
To foster spiritual growth after the manner of Friends and to strengthen the application of Friends’ testimonies in the world.
Our Vision
To be the place of heart-felt welcome where all are empowered to live authentically in the world and to recognize truth and call it forth from one another.
Our Values
Friends believe there is that of God in every person. Each of us has the capacity to experience and respond to the movement of Spirit in our lives. We honor the upwelling of Spirit and its expression in one another, including children, the aged and all in between. Grounded by this Spirit, we:
recognize the dignity of every person
accept our responsibility to care for the earth and all its inhabitants
reject violence of any kind
strive to conduct ourselves with integrity and to focus on what is essential, and
embrace community through active listening, shared work and joyful connections
About Powell House
Powell House was established by New York Yearly Meeting in 1960 as the result of a gift of residential property from Elsie K. Powell, Sr. This property, with subsequent additions and improvements, now consists of Pitt Hall, the Anna Curtis Center (ACC), a director’s residence, a youth directors’ residence, and 57 acres of land with a campground and two wildlife ponds. In 2008 Powell House completed a major renovation of the ACC using $760,000 in donations to better meet the needs of the youth retreats and rental groups, provide greater access to differently abled people, and reduce Powell House’s carbon footprint.
Powell House is used primarily for spiritually focused conferences and community-building gatherings of groups in New York Yearly Meeting. It is also used for meetings of Yearly Meeting committees or conferences sponsored by them. Best known for our stellar youth program serving children in grades 4-12, the full portfolio of programs includes a wide variety of educational, inspirational, and organizational activities for youth and adults related to the religious, benevolent, and social concerns of the Religious Society of Friends. The facilities are made available for use by affiliated Friends’ organizations and other religious or educational groups having interests compatible with those of Friends. Several Friends Schools bring cohorts of students on a regular basis.
Powell House currently has 16 staff members: 2 co-executive directors, 2 co-youth directors, office administrator, bookkeeper, food service manager, housekeeping manager, cooks, and facilities support staff. It is managed by the Powell House Committee (or PoHoCo), whose members are appointed by the Yearly Meeting for terms of five years. Periodically, youth are co-opted to represent youth conference participants at meetings of the corporation. The Powell House Committee currently has 22 appointees from seven Quarters and Regions of NYYM and one co-opted from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. In recent years, Powell House has hosted an average of 70 conferences and retreats serving 2,500 people per year.