Helen Hunter has taught at the Head Start program at Five Towns Community Center for 54 years. But the 83 year old has a special tie to the place, she came here as a girl and her children did as well.
"If we lose this building we will lose everything,” said Hunter who lives near the Lawrence Avenue center. "The people in this place have nowhere to go. Where are they going to go?"
For now, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says residents will still have a community center. But the county has made it clear they are looking for a new vendor to run it when Five Town’s 50-year lease ends in 2024.
"It will be a better community center, a much more inviting place for people to go, a safer place for people to go," said Blakeman, adding that whoever submits a request for proposal will have to spend a minimum of $5 million in capital improvement. He said they will also be required to have a Head Start program and to keep youth athletic programs in place.
"I used to teach in this school district and I can tell you that more than 80 percent of the children living in our community,” said Sasha Young, the director of the food pantry, "live below the poverty level."
From pre-school to after-school to the senior programs, the center serves more than 1,000 community members who have come to rely on their services.
“It’s a nice place they should not close it,” said Isabella Malcangi who likes the senior programming. “It’s not fair to so many people here. That they need the food they can’t afford it.”
Blakeman criticized the not-for-profit for failing to spend money to improve the building and he questioned why the center had drug and alcohol rehab programs in the same building where teen programming occurred.
The center’s executive director, K. Brent Hill, told NBC New York they just replaced the HVAC system and got a generator.
"It would be devastating if we closed," said Hill. "Our children would lose a safe place and safe haven to come and to be nurtured and educated."
Staff members fear any change could hurt an already vulnerable population who has come to trust the people who work here.
"Good luck with that," said Nerthi Sanchez who heads the anti gang programs. "We have been in this community and gained the trust of the community. A new vendor could do something, but not as well as we can."
Vendors have until March to submit a proposal. Staff members and community residents plan on attending a Nassau County legislative meeting to urge the county to renew their lease.
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February 28, 2023 at 09:09AM
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Long Island Community Center That Has Helped Young People for a Century May Lose Lease - NBC New York
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