YONKERS MAYOR MIKE SPANO: “THE NEPPERHAN COMMUNITY CENTER WILL REMAIN AN IMPORTANT RESOURCE TO OUR CITY.”

YONKERS, NY – Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano announced on Thursday, April 18th, the restructuring of the Nepperhan Community Center (NCC), located at 342 Warburton Avenue.

“The Nepperhan Community Center is and will remain an important resource to our City,” said Mayor Spano. “My commitment is to keep it operating for the tradition it provides and for the benefit of the people in our community.”

Spurred on by the Obama Foundation’s revocation of its accreditation and the revocation of its tax-exempt status by the IRS, Mayor Spano and the Yonkers City Council asked the Yonkers Inspector General to investigate. The report, available on the City of Yonkers website, uncovered financial mismanagement, bounced employee paychecks, unpaid utility bills over $200,000, and other missing or incomplete financial records.

“We know how important this center is for the seniors and the young people in this community,” said Mayor Spano. “We want to maintain the programs and make sure the next chapter for the Nepperhan Community Center is one we can take pride in and the next generation can be inspired by. Unfortunately, if the City does not step in, the Nepperhan Community Center is unlikely to qualify for future federal, state, or local grant funds that are the lifeblood of its ability to stay open.”

Spano noted, for example, that the federal government’s revocation of the Community Center’s tax-exempt status makes it ineligible for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds the City distributes each year for community needs.

Furthermore, according to the report, the Community Center’s governing board is establishing a new corporate entity consisting largely of the same people in an apparent effort to sidestep the tax filings it did not make in recent years.

“This is a clear red flag, and will be seen as such by those who would normally provide funding for the Nepperhan Community Center,” said Mayor Spano.

Spano said the City’s Parks Department, Office of Aging, and other City agencies will step in to keep programs running at the Nepperhan Community Center while a true organization with a reputable non-profit board can be formed.

“This is a City-owned building that we are glad to continue to make available virtually free of charge for programs that serve the community,” Mayor Spano said, adding, “In return, the operators must be transparent, provide accountability for the public dollars, and private grants they receive, and above all comply with the tax laws and basic accounting rules.”

Yonkers Inspector General Liam McLaughlin’s recent report on NCC, identified that in January 2024 the U.S. Internal Revenue Service revoked NCC’s tax exempt status for failure to file their Tax Returns for the last three years, 2020, 2021, and 2022. That meant that NCC could not receive grant monies from the City, Obama Foundation or any other entity.

A Thought-Provoking Day of Recognition, Education, and Action with Asha Castleberry-Hernandez and Dr. Uché Blackstock

On Saturday, April 20, 2024, Sister to Sister International (STSI) will host its third Annual Day of Action, where the importance of STEM education and careers will be showcased, and how health disparities have a profound effect on Black and Brown women and girls will be front and center on the agenda. This yearly event is carefully curated to highlight topics that inform and empower—and this year’s theme of Recognition, Education, and Action will not disappoint! Participants will have the opportunity to review evidence-based data that support health inequities while engaged in spirited discussions and breakout sessions as potential solutions are shared and explored for STSI’s 4 pillars. “Since its formation in 1994, the mission, vision, and efforts of STSI have been rooted in a solution-focused trajectory. Our successes are attributed to a dedicated Board of Directors, staff, consultants, volunteers, and the unwavering support of our community partners,” stated Cheryl Brannan, Founder of STSI and the Westchester Black Maternal Child Center for Excellence (WBMCCE).

Joining STSI to infuse the room with the empowering essence of Black and Brown women and girl magic will be Dr. Uché Blackstock and  Asha Castleberry-Hernandez.

Dr. Uché Blackstock, a physician and New York Times bestselling author will engage participants in a intriguing Fireside Chat. Dr. Blackstock is renowned for her advocacy against the structural biases and racism prevalent in healthcare and is the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, a frequent guest on MSNBC and NBC News, and a former associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, as well as the former faculty director for recruitment, retention, and inclusion in the Office of Diversity Affairs at NYU School of Medicine. As an added bonus, each event ticket purchase will include a signed copy of Dr. Uché Blackstock’s book, LEGACY.

Asha Castleberry-Hernandez National Security Expert will deliver a highly anticipated morning Keynote Address. Her distinguished career includes serving as a senior advisor at the U.S. State Department and holding the rank of Major in the U.S. Army Reserves. Notably, she has fulfilled roles such as a Kuwait desk officer at U.S. Army Central, focusing on security cooperation with the Office of Military Cooperation and the Kuwait Ministry of Defense. Castleberry-Hernandez has also been a senior key leadership engagement officer for the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Kuwait. During the Obama administration, she contributed to peacekeeping operations in the African continent at the U.S. Mission at the United Nations.

Pillar updates and break-out sessions, will include Health and wellness; STEM & STEAM careers; Entrepreneurship, pay equity and economic prosperity; and Juvenile and social justice.

The 2024 Day of Action Conference will also spotlight STEM students majoring in health and medicine and recognize various community partners for their support with our collective impact efforts.

You can Register here

Mt. Hope Plaza to Offer Healthy and Safe Affordable Homes for Older New Yorkers

Development Result of Faith-Based Partnership to Develop Housing on Church-Owned Property 

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that construction has begun on a $40 Million affordable housing development for seniors in White Plains. Mt. Hope Plaza will include 56 affordable apartments, including 20 for those in need of supportive services. The development is the result of a partnership with the Mt. Hope African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and Community Housing Innovations to construct affordable housing on an underutilized parcel formerly owned by the church. 

Dr. Gregory Robeson Smith, Senior Pastor of Mt. Hope A.M.E Zion Church says, “Our seniors are the crown jewels of the community with the greatest need for affordable adequate living accommodations. Unfortunately, they are most forgotten. Our mission is without question, to minimize and/or eliminate this atrocious situation.  The Mt. Hope Plaza design will provide a comfortable living space during their maturing golden years.” 

The six-story building is being constructed at 65 Lake Street on a parcel adjacent to Mt. Hope A.M.E Zion Church. The development will include a structured parking garage with 72 spaces, of which 47 will be shared with the church. All 56 apartments are for adults aged 62 and older earning at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income. 

There will be 20 units for seniors experiencing homelessness supported by services and operating funding under the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative administered by the New York State Office of Mental Health. The supportive service provider is Community Housing Innovations. 

Mt. Hope Plaza will participate in the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s New Construction – Housing Program and EPA ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction v1.1 Certification as well as Enterprise Green Communities 2015 Criteria. The building is designed to be all-electric and solar-ready.

Residential amenities will include a green roof, a community room, central laundry room, and free internet to the residents with at least one wired connection in the living room.

The groundbreaking took place on Friday April12.  Leading the delegation for participates was Bishop Dennis Vernon Proctor, Presiding Bishop of the New York. Annual Conference, along with many political land civic dignitaries. Including

Hon Tom Roach, Mayor City of White Plains, Hon George Latimer Westchester County Executive, Hon Andrea Steward-Cousins, Majority Leader New York State Senate, Hon Vadat Gashi, Chair Westchester County Board of Legislatures, Hon Shelly Meyer New York State Senator, and New York State Assemblyman Chris Burdick.

Mount Hope,197 years old is the oldest African American congregation in Westchester County New York.  Its dates back to 1827, when the Quakers of Purchase, New York liberated the slaves and settled them on the rugged highlands in the Silver Lake section of White Plains, New York.  This section was then referred to as “Nigger Hill”, because it was the underground slave station and was located north of Horton’s Pond.

Mt Hope is part of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, its growth and development, is one of the extraordinary stories of American history.  In 1796, a handful of Black men, free and enslaved, along with James L. Varick, walked out of the John Street Methodist Episcopal Churchto establish a separate Black church called Zion.

Throughout history, many of Zion’s early churches had schools attached.  Zion’s commitment to Education continues today.  Slaves, who escaped north to freedom, knew they could find refuge and assistance at Zion Church; therefore, Zion became affectionately known as “Freedom’s Church.”  

Mount Hope and other Zion churches served as important stations along the Underground Railroad in New York State guided by Harriet Tubman and other illustrious members who were leaders in our historic fight for freedom.  They include Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth; Paul Robeson, Madame C.J. Walker and many others who fought so valiantly to free African Americans, socially, politically, and spiritually.

Today, Zion has grown into a worldwide denomination of over 1,250,000 people, whose members continue to adhere to the principles of justice, equality, and freedom upon which the great Church of Zion was founded and has prospered.

The WESPAC Foundation invites all to join them on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at 2 pm at the Wainwright House on the waterfront in Rye, located at 260 Stuyvesant Avenue, as they celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Every year, WESPAC takes the time to honor two or three individuals and organizations that have done and continue to do outstanding work in the pursuit of social, racial, environmental, and economic justice. This year, as they celebrate WESPAC’s 50th anniversary, honoring Juanita Lewis and Community Voices Heard, Diana Sanchez and the Yonkers Sanctuary Movement, and Harry Soloway and Jewish Voice for Peace Westchester!

About WESPAC: The WESPAC Foundation has been a leading force for progressive social change in Westchester County, New York, since 1974. We have been educating, agitating, and organizing for a more just and peaceful world, an end to militarism and racism, and a more fair economy that works for all.  Our members are currently involved with criminal justice reform and police accountability, food justice work, fair housing, climate justice and safe renewable energy, immigrant protection, solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, an end to militarism and drone warfare, and the struggle for justice, equal rights and human dignity for all the inhabitants of Israel/Palestine.

WESPAC Foundation provides outreach and community to individuals, groups, and leaders in civic and religious organizations in greater Westchester who find themselves without a voice or support system for their progressive positions. WESPAC Foundation’s purpose is to give a human face to those who would otherwise be unrecognized victims of war, injustice, and environmental degradation. WESPAC Foundation connects the people of Westchester with a progressive agenda for the planet and its peoples.