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Organizational
History
The MBD Community Housing Corporation
was founded in 1974 as a coalition of volunteers determined to
save their community from the overwhelming incidence of arson, disinvestment,
abandonment and population loss that had decimated the Crotona Park
East section of Bronx Community District 3. MBD
worked with the local police and fire departments to establish a
community self-help program. Then we sought the assistance of those
not involved in the daily battles for survival, but who were crucial
to our future. MBD sought the involvement
of our Community Board and other government officials to develop
a revitalization plan to restore necessary public services renovate
abandoned buildings and develop new housing to repopulate our neighborhood.
Our initial efforts to take back our community from those who were
destroying and abandonIng it included
community organizing, social services and housing. MBD
has successfully sponsored, constructed, and renovated over 2,300
units of housing. Projects included sponsorship, development, and
sales agent for one and two family homes, and multifamily housing
with aggregate development cost over $200 million. MBD
initiatives have expanded to include economic development. It became
clear to us that our community needed a viable
,commercial base in addition to affordable housing. We needed local
jobs, local products and services, the vitality that commerce adds
to a community, businesses with a stake in the neighborhood's success,
and the contribution of our own dollars to improve our economic
base. The goal of community self-sufficiency requires a vibrant
local economy.
MBD began to address this need in 1983
with our administration of the Commercial Revitalization Program
under contract with New York City's Office of Neighborhood Economic
Development. We work with private merchants in the area and public
agencies to improve the physical appearance of neighborhood commercial
districts. Our program has been extremely successful. Stores, which
were vacant, are occupied and individual merchants have added investments
to businesses previously considered marginal.
MBD Community Housing Corporation having
begun to transform much of its abandoned multifamily stock into
affordable housing turned its attention to the human service needs
of its residents. The impetus for this shift was the development
of New York City's Special Initiatives Program (SIP). With 60% of
SIP projects reserved for homeless families, MBD
recognized the need for a support network to aid the integration
of these families into the community. Shortly thereafter, the agency
extended these services to all residents of MBD
buildings, furthering the organization's stake in the future of
the community and simultaneously enhancing its understanding of
the vast unmet needs of neighborhood residents.
Our accomplishments are both concrete and intangible. One significant
outcome of our efforts has been the establishment of credibility
and respect for the organization from government officials, local
lending institutions, the police and sanitation departments and
local school officials. By working closely with these essential
community actors, MBD has been able
to create cooperative relationships that are so critical to the
success of community revitalization efforts. MBD's
has a diverse array of supports for Crotona Park East. In addition
to housing development and the Retail Center, our current portfolio
includes: (back to top of page)
Accomplishments
Commercial
Development, We began construction, on January 16,2001, of the
"New Horizon" retail center. This 134,000 square-foot,
$30.7 million dollar retail shopping center anchored by a PathMark
Supermarket.
MBD New Horizons Retail Center will
provide the Crotona Park East residents with a safe and convenient
place to buy goods and services not currently found in our neighborhood.
It is projected that the center will create well over 200 full and
part-time permanent jobs and 150 construction jobs. Signed tenants
for the shopping center include Pathmark Stores, Inc., (anchor tenant)
Ashley Stewart, Athlete's Foot, Blockbuster Video, G&G Shops,
Lot Stores, One Price, Paramount Home Decorators, Petland Discount
Stores, Radio Shack, Rent-A-Center, Regine's and Rockaway Bedding.
Total projected number of stores is 19. The projected construction
Period is 14 months. MBD is currently
in pre-development stage of another retail project (in addition
to New Horizons shopping center), which will be a Cineplex that
includes a family restaurant.
Affordable
Housing Production. MBD has sucessfully
sponsered, constructed, and renovated over 2,300 units of housing.
Projects included sponsorship, development, and sales agent for
one and two family homes, and multifamily housing with aggregate
development cost over $200 million. MBD
has been approved for a new N.R.P. project of 50 units of housing
named Ernestine Wilson Plaza.Construction began in September 2000.
This project is a gut rehab consisting of 50 units in four buildings.
In addition, we received recent approval from New York State Housing
Development Corporation for bond financing to develop Bristow Stebbins,
a new construction project for 80 units of affordable housing. We
closed on this project and expect to commence construction by the
end of May 2001. The project consists of three buildings. Two of
the buildings are walk-ups, with 12 apartments for each building.
The thlrd--building is a 5-story elevator building with 56 apartments.
Social
Services: As a unit-of MBD's
Human Services Department, our Social Service unit provides case
management services to strengthen families in the community. Our
Social Service Coordinators, based in MBD
senior housing developments, provide a full range of social services
for senior care. Social Services also provide housing referral,
public welfare assistance, and outreach services for health monitoring
and medical examinations
Safe
At Home Program: MBD is
continuing its crime initiative with community residents, merchants,
and 42nd Police Precinct to combat existing crime and ensure the
present crime rate does not increase. This program is 'a unique
partnership with
LISC, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development,
and the New York City Police Department. By combining our housing
development activities with intensified law enforcement we can continue
to improve the quality of life for residents in our community. MBD
was one of two community-based organizations in New York City chosen
to implement this program.
Community Health:
We continue to provide health care to our community through a Primary
Health  CarePractice.
This project is a joint venture with MBD
and Bronx Lebanon Hospital. The practice has capacity to handle
8,000 patient visits per year. MBD is putting together an action
plan under the Healthy Neighborhood program to increase access to
quality primary health care in the community, and reduce the impact
of key health issues such as asthma, high blood pressure, HIV, diabetes,
infant sudden death syndrome, etc. MBD
under the MCCAP Program also provides outreach, consumer education
and consumer assistance services.
Workforce
Development: MBD's
Job Resource Center, a unit of MBD
Department of Human Resources, provides job readiness workshops,
GED basic education training, and refers residents to employment
training program and jobs. Last year (2000) we placed 150 residents
in full time and part time jobs
Neighborhood
Open Space: MBD has renovated
two parks and has started constructing MBD's Community Rock Garden.
The Rock Garden is a 40,000 square foot development of land that
has a large rock cropping and the developed park with a waterfall
will beautify the community and provide a safe serene place for
children to play and all residents to use. A New York City capital
grant of $2 million dollars was obtained by MBD
to complete the Community Rock Garden Park in year 2000. This grant
increase the total to $2,248,000 the amount contributed in funds
and in-kind for this project. The Department of Agriculture's Urban
Resources Partnership Program awarded $2-18,000 for the project,
and various public interest groups contributed the remainder.
Community Building: MBD's
Quality of Life Physical Plan won the prestigious American Planning
Association's Presidential A ward for 1996. This has been one of
tools for guiding us into the future.
Geographic
Area Served
The neighborhood serve by MBD is a
52 square block community known as Crotona Park East, bounded
north and south by the Cross Bronx Expressway to East 167th Street
and east and west by the Sheridan Expressway to Crotona Park East.
The area is located in Community District 3 in Bronx County,
New York, and has a population (2000 Census) of26,878.
Population
Served:
The demographic characteristics of the community indicate an area
with low income and recent immigrants with tremendous human service
needs. The community is African American/Latino. According to the
1990 census, median household income in 1990 for our community was
$12,875, contrasted with NYC median of $34,360, Bronx County median
of $25,479. However, U. S. Census Bureau median income estimates
for Bronx, based on 1995 data, shows a 12.77% drop in Bronx median
to $22,225 from $25,479. Assuming the same percentage drop for our
community, our residents are poorer in median income from $12,875
to $11.231. Final figures may show further decline. The 1990 census
also shows 46% percent of resident's earnings are below poverty
level (compared to 29% in the Bronx and 19% in the City). 44% of
households earn less than $10,000 and 23% earn less than $5,000.
More than 40% of residents are on some form of public assistance.
The rest are working poor and older adults (seniors). Single mothers
head 45% of all households, and 37% of population is under eighteen
years of age. Forty percent of residents were born outside mainland
United States; 17% are foreign born and 23 percent from U.S. commonwealths
or territories, and where the vast majority speaks Spanish at home.
MBD's Organizational Relationships:
Within MBD's service area, there
are no organizations, which provide similar services or work to
meet the same needs. MBD, however,
has existing linkages with a range of borough-wide and city agencies
and services including Mid-Bronx Industrial Park Advisory Council,
Wildcat Corporation, Federation of Employment and Guidance Service,
Comprehensive Employment Opportunity Support Center, Bronx Lebanon
Hospital, Institute for Urban Family Health, Madison Boys and Girls
Club, Community Schools 50. MBD maintains
active board membership with the Comprehensive Community Revitalization
Program (CCRP, Inc.), and is a member of Department of Housing Preservation
and Development Neighborhood Entrepreneur Advisory Board Committee,
member of Planning Board #3 Housing and Land Use Committee, and
member of Primary Health Care Advisory Corporation. (back
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