Community Centers & Youth Development

We provide funding for the construction and renovation of community centers as well as after-school programs in underserved neighborhoods throughout the city.

Access to safe, inclusive spaces for play, exercise, and community gathering is essential to thriving neighborhoods. In New York City, community centers have become indispensable infrastructure, making the city healthier and more connected by providing equitable access to sports, arts, community building, and education for everyone. Robust after-school programming has also become important for children and working families. In an expensive city like New York, many families require both parents to work. And since most jobs extend past the end of the school day, after-school programming allows parents to focus on work while secure in the knowledge that their child is in a safe and enriching environment.

Our work includes funding the construction of the Major Owens Health and Wellness Community Center in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The project involved the redevelopment of the 112,000 square foot Bedford-Union Armory into a one-stop community and recreational facility for one of Brooklyn’s most historically underserved neighborhoods.

We also provided capital to fund building upgrades and ongoing after-school programming at the 250,000 square foot Nike Track & Field Center in Washington Heights. We’ve help finance the construction of Make the Road’s new community center serving the immigrant community in Queens as well as the development of the National Urban League Empowerment Center in Harlem. And since most jobs extend past the end of the school day, after-school programming allows parents to focus on work while secure in the knowledge that their child is in a safe and enriching environment.