Community Development

Westhab works with local residents, businesses, government, and other nonprofits to improve the quality of life in the underserved neighborhoods where we build and preserve affordable housing. Based on the expressed needs of community members we provide free programs and services that enable individuals and families to gain skills and knowledge necessary to achieve their goals. In an effort to strengthen the community as a whole, we bring neighbors together to identify and prioritize local needs, connect with local leaders and develop solutions. We then help to marshal additional resources through collaborations with government and other nonprofit entities. We have obtained county, state and federal funding to address issues such as public safety, open space, public services, and local business development.

Community Resource Center – 49 East 3rd Street, Mount Vernon, NY – (914) 667-0638

Westhab’s 49 East 3rd Street Community Resource Center in Mount Vernon offers employment services, youth programs and service referrals for Mount Vernon’s south side community. Westhab’s Employment Services staff is based at this location, as is the staff of Westhab’s youth program, the PEAK Center. The Community Resource Center also serves as a meeting place for civic, social and community groups that come together on local issues such business development and youth advocacy.

Community Resources Center – 103 Elm Street, Yonkers, NY – (914) 968-7627

Westhab’s Elm Street Community Resource Center in the Nodine Hill neighborhood of southwest Yonkers is a welcoming site for information gathering, referrals, onsite services, and a wide range of programs designed to meet community members’ expressed needs. The center brings neighbors together to tackle issues of importance within the Nodine Hill community. The Center also works in concert with Westhab’s youth center just a few blocks away. Onsite services are provided by Westhab’s Employment Services team, our Community Organizer and our Community Services Advocate.

Coalition Work

There is great value in collaboration. Westhab takes part in a number of public and private coalitions and task forces working to create systemic change for populations in need. In Yonkers, Westhab leads the U.S. Department of Justice supported Weed & Seed Coalition, chairs the Drug Free Communities Coalition, and is in active participant on the NYS Department of Criminal Justice Services supported Juvenile Crime Enforcement Coalition (combating school truancy and juvenile delinquency) and the Yonkers Network (mental Health). In Mount Vernon, Westhab is actively involved with the Community That Cares coalition, the Truancy Reduction Task Force, and the Mount Vernon Network. Westhab is also a member of the Community Advisory Board for the Westchester Food Bank and Fathers Count (Re-entry service).

Elm Street Garden 2012 Harvest Celebration
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano presents Westhab's Rich Nightingale (left) with a Proclamation as well as a Citation from Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer.
	The Elm Street Garden is now three years old, and to celebrate the young people from Westhab's Elm Street Youth Center, along with our friends from Bet Am Shalom Synagogue, Congregation Kol Ami, and the Hebrew Institute, held a Harvest Celebration. Our Growing Together initiative, funded by UJA, supports our ongoing gardening, preparing and eating of our organic herbs and vegetables, and collaboration with our Garden partners. First photo: County Board of Legislators Chair Ken Jenkins and County Legislator Virginia Perez get a tutorial on herbs from the Elm Street youth. Second Photo:The Elm Street Garden Community.
Community Pride in Nodine Hill
	On April 19th and 21st Westhab's Elm Street Community Resource Center, along with the Yonkers YMCA and other community partners, sponsored two community clean up days in Nodine Hill. Residents, young and old, joined in the effort, picking up litter throughout the neighborhood. The events were held on a school vacation week so young people would have the opportunity to get involved in community services. One resident commented, "It is powerful to see the kids out here. If they are out here cleaning and taking care of the neighborhood, then we all should be." The Community Resource Center has become a hub of community development in the neighborhood and the place to go to receive services and become civically involved.
Elm Street Vegetable Garden 2010...the Beginning
	Thanks to a project that grew out of Jewish Social Action Month (JSAM) and was funded by UJA-Federation of New York, three White Plains synagogues have helped Westhab’s Elm Street Youth Center bring four vegetable beds to a bountiful harvest this fall. Read more here: Jewish Social Action Month Plants a Powerful Seed