Queens Borough President Donovan Richards has provided $1 million in funding for a renovation project at a community center in Flushing.
Richards held a press conference on Monday, Nov. 18, at Queens Community House’s Pomonok Community Center, located on NYCHA’s Pomonok campus grounds.
Richards announced that the Fiscal Year 2025 funding will go towards a full-scale renovation of the center, which serves hundreds of residents daily and offers various services for people of all ages.
The capital project aims to renovate the center’s kitchen into a fully functional commercial kitchen, allowing QCH to cook and serve meals for older adults on-site. The project includes a new HVAC system, fire safety improvements, bathrooms, accessibility upgrades, and other renovations.
Richards said that the community center is vital as it serves more than 450 residents of Pomonok Houses. “This site, first and foremost, is a lifeline for the older adults of this community, offering a senior a space to come together to enrich their lives, and of course, our young people who depend on this center for after-school programming and job training,” he said. “There’s even a food pantry and other food access initiatives here for those who need it.”
Richards also shared that he plans to provide even more funding to the center in the future.
“While I am committing $1 million today, I am going to commit another $4 million to bring them up to $5 million so that they can do a full gut renovation, which will cost about $12 million, he said. “ We look forward to working with our state and federal elected officials and partners to get this entire center redone.”
Originally founded in 1975 and known as the Forest Hills Community House, QCH is a multi-site, multi-service settlement house serving Queens residents of all backgrounds. The social services organization has grown to include a network of services at 40 sites in 15 neighborhoods across the borough. The organization is committed to a holistic approach to supporting the immediate and complex needs of those needing QCH’s services.
Programs are run with the goals of helping seniors and families in need of stable housing and providing educational resources for youngsters.
