For Immediate Release
MOUNT HOPE THANKS NY CITY COUNCIL AND LAUNCHES CAPITAL CAMPAIGN FOR NEW COMMUNITY CENTER
Gifford Miller Keynote Speaker at Celebration Introducing Community Center
Bronx, NY (November 20, 2003)…At its annual Legislative Breakfast, Mount Hope Housing Company will launch a capital campaign to raise approximately $1 million to build the new Mount Hope Community Center by 2005, a much-anticipated relief for the densely populated Mount Hope section of the south Bronx.
The Mount Hope housing and community development organization will also take the opportunity to thank City Council for its grant of $3 million, honoring NY City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and honorary guests Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and Council Representative Maria Baez for their roles in providing funding for this project. Gifford Miller will serve as the Keynote Speaker at the popular Mount Hope annual function, a networking breakfast for Bronx business leaders, elected officials, stakeholders and community organizers.
“Our community, which has worked so hard to bring back this South Bronx neighborhood, deserves a safe place for its children to learn and play as well as an educational and cultural center for its adult citizens,” says Shaun M. Belle, Mount Hope’s CEO and President. “We are thrilled at the idea that the Mount Hope Community Center will be a model for other communities as well.”
One of the first projects of its kind to be built in the Bronx, the Mount Hope Community Center will be an innovative example of “sustainable architecture” – energy-efficient, environmentally sensitive, economically prudent design also known as “intelligent” or “responsible” architecture. Human comfort is of high priority, with clean air, abundant natural light and green areas as prerequisites – especially valuable in an area with exceptionally high asthma rates and a severe lack of recreational space.
Centralizing not only recreational and cultural facilities, but also a broad array of Mount Hope services, such as youth, employment, matched savings and financial literacy programs, the Mount Hope Community Center, to be built on four adjoining vacant lots at E. 175th St. between Townsend and Walton Avenues, will house a gymnasium, conference center, computer labs, classrooms and play areas. During the Legislative Breakfast, Mount Hope Housing will show a brief animation of the building plans and introduce its Buy-A-Brick and naming opportunities to raise funds for the Center.
The event will be held from 9-10:30AM at Lehman College, Thurs., Nov. 20, 2003, in the Faculty Dining Room, Music Building, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard, Bronx, NY.
Media Contact: Lynn Honeysett: 914.576.7747;cell: 914.548.9652, LBH222@aol.com or
Candice Fletcher: 718.294.4319 X 15; Candice_Fletcher@mounthopehousing.org
About Mt. Hope Housing Co., Inc: Mount Hope Housing Company was founded in 1986 in response to the deterioration of the Mount Hope community of the Bronx. A community development company, Mount Hope provides affordable housing, as well as youth and employment services, financial programs, job training and life skills programs.