The former Willing Helpers home on West Madison Avenue in Johnstown is one vote away from conversion by the Arc Lexington into a 6-unit, 18-bed facility for people with autism and learning differences. The city Planning Board gave it conditional approval on Monday.

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The former Willing Helpers home on West Madison Avenue in Johnstown is one vote away from conversion by the Arc Lexington into a 6-unit, 18-bed facility for people with autism and learning differences. The city Planning Board gave it conditional approval on Monday.

For 114 years, a former estate on West Madison Avenue in Johnstown housed elderly women. In a couple of weeks, with city approval, planning will begin to convert it into housing for young men with autism and similar conditions.

The Lexington Foundation of Johnstown won conditional site plan approval Tuesday night to convert the 9,400-square-foot building at 226 W. Madison Ave. into six three-bedroom apartments, helping the residents move toward independent living, higher education and jobs, the foundation states in its application to the city’s Planning Board.

“This residence will provide safe, supportive housing for students enrolled in the program, promoting their continued development in a structured, inclusive community setting,” its application states.

The foundation, which provides fundraising and support for The Arc of Lexington, acquired the building in July from the Willing Helpers Home, which operated it as a senior home for women from 1908 to 2022.

“Together, we are preserving a piece of Johnstown’s history while creating life-changing opportunities for young people in our community,” said Shaloni Winston, CEO of The Arc Lexington, in July.

The building will house the Transition program, which received a $977,000 Mohawk Valley Empowers Program grant earlier this year. The program is for post-secondary students, helping with development of skills social skills, health and wellness, independent life, self-management, self-advocacy and leadership.

The $580,000 project, which City Clerk Carrie Allen said won conditional approval Tuesday pending full approval Nov. 20 of a use variance by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals, would replace siding, upgrade HVAC, renovate a kitchen and add space for 24-hour supervision.

The Willing Helpers Home began in 1883 as a Sunday school class project of Catherine D. Wells at Johnstown Presbyterian Church to help elderly women. It received a $100 donation in Wells’ memory following her 1903 death to form the Willing Helpers Society, which began raising money for a group home.

Charles and Rose Knox gave the house, then known as the Livingston Estate on Rose Hill, to the non-profit in 1907 and it opened as a home for elderly women a year later. But following weakening investment income in 2018 and 2019 and the recession that came with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the home announced it would close in 2022, transferring its last five residents to other assisted living facilities.

Renovations to the facility are expected to begin in February, the Lexington Foundation’s application to the city states. It would be ready for occupants later in 2026.

“Safe and supportive housing is foundational to personal growth,” Winston said in July. “This new residence will help our students build life skills, confidence, and stability — all of which are essential as they transition into adulthood and become valuable members of the workforce.”

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An United Airlines flight arrives at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks alongside Vice President JD Vance about the impact of the government shutdown on the aviation industry, outside of the West Wing of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Washington.

A plane lands at Newark International Airport in Newark, N.J., Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.

Planes taxi in front of an air traffic control tower at Newark International Airport in Newark, N.J., Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.

Planes are seen in front of an air traffic control tower at Newark International Airport in Newark, N.J., Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.

U.S. airlines began canceling hundreds of flights Thursday due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce traffic at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday because of the government shutdown.

Close to 500 flights scheduled for Friday were already cut nationwide, and the number of cancellations climbed steadily throughout Thursday afternoon, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.

The FAA order to cut flights at 40 of the busiest airports across the U.S. includes New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, but the........

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