H.E.ARTS

A Community Center for Health, Education and the Arts

3-Minute Survey Encuesta de 3 minutos

Help inform what services and programming will be offered at the future HEArts Center within the themes of Health, Education and Arts and Culture.

Our community has been dreaming of and advocating for HEArts a community center for Mott Haven & Port Morris for more than 10 years, repurposing this vacant building for a space focused on holistic health, education, and the arts: The HEArts Center, and honoring and connecting to its community-driven social justice and health-focused roots.

We are now making that dream a reality.



Why Now?

Given the myriad challenges faced by residents of Mott Haven and Port Morris, there should be a community center every few blocks. Instead, there are zero that serve as a multi-purpose, multi-use, and multi-organization space where youth, adults, and elders alike can go for a variety of programming.

Recognizing this systemic failure, residents came together to envision a bold, ground-up solution rooted in community ownership and self-determination. They advocated reclaiming the former Lincoln Detox Center, an abandoned public asset, and transform it into a vibrant hub owned and managed by the community through a Community Land Trust. This approach not only ensures the building serves the public good in perpetuity but also establishes a model for resisting displacement and asserting community control over local resources.

Rather than creating programming directly, the vision for HEArts has always been to provide affordable, permanent space for local organizations already doing vital work in health, education, and the arts, ensuring they have a home to continue serving the community without the threat of displacement.

What is HEArts?

Through years of community-led engagement sessions and planning on how the building at 349 E 140th Street should be transformed and used, we arrived at the idea of HEArts, a center to provide health (H), education (E), and arts (Arts) programming. Expanding on the rich history of the building and reversing its existing state of deterioration, the Mott Haven Port Morris Community Land Stewards (The Land Stewards) is converting the 22,750 square foot building into a community-controlled asset that would serve as a vital anchor and tool for local economic empowerment and self-determination.

What are Community Land Trusts?

Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are community-controlled non-profit organizations that own, steward, and/or manage land in ways that promote public good. They exist outside of the influence of market pressure, create spaces that meet community needs and priorities, develop deeply affordable housing, uphold sustainable development, and address historical injustices. The Land Stewards is proud to be a community land trust and to be part of the citywide land trust movement through the NYC Community Land Initiative.

What is the Land Stewards?

The Mott Haven-Port Morris Community Land Stewards is a CLT that was created in 2013 by South Bronx residents to acquire land for public use and to hold it in perpetuity. We seek to ensure that community members retain a stake in our neighborhood and promote pathways to meaningful self-determination for the Mott Haven-Port Morris community.

What is South Bronx Unite?

South Bronx Unite (SBU) is a community-based organization that brings together neighborhood residents, community organizations, academic institutions, and allies to improve and protect the social, environmental, and economic future of Mott Haven and Port Morris. SBU is also the advocacy arm for The Land Stewards, and is helping to coordinate and strengthen the HEArts Center project together with a wide range of community and project stakeholders.

The Campaign

South Bronx Unite began engaging the community in 2013 after the building became vacant, collaborating with local grassroots organizations to explore its potential redevelopment. By 2015, they formed the Port Morris-Mott Haven Community Land Stewards as a CLT to acquire and steward the space. In 2016, partnering with CCNY's Spitzer School of Architecture, they facilitated envisioning events, leading to a unified vision emphasizing Health, Education, and the arts - thus the HEArts Center vision was born.

Through activities like word exercises and discussions, community members expanded their understanding of community needs and solidified the vision for the space, forging new connections and possibilities for collective prosperity.

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Health.Education.Arts

Vision for the future H.E.Arts Building

Health

The HEArts Center will house organizations that provide programming ranging from healthy nutrition and yoga to maternal health and mental wellbeing. We envision exercise classes, health screenings, group counseling, new mothers support groups, and meditation circles, among other programs. The building will be outfitted with a new commercial kitchen and cafeteria area as a space for healthy cooking demonstrations, and a community kitchen.

Lincoln Detox Center History Timeline

  • 1931

    The Mott Haven Health Center opens as a neighborhood health facility, supporting the larger Lincoln Hospital within the South Bronx.

    1931

  • 1970

    Reacting to the poor conditions at the Lincoln Hospital, The Young Lords and Black Panthers made headlines by marching into Lincoln Hospital and staging a nonviolent takeover in 1970. This intervention had lasting effects for the community and led to the formation of new social justice and health focused initiatives within the South Bronx.

    1970

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A Victory for the Community

In September 2023, The Land Stewards and our joint venture developer partner, Alembic Community Development, were selected as the winning applicant to the Request For proposals issued by New York City Economic Development Corporation to redevelop the vacant Lincoln Recovery Center building into the HEArts Center!

The Land Stewards is now undertaking a bold campaign of resistance and hope — building the HEArts Center — to bring this project to life, and help protect and enhance the future of the South Bronx.

The H.E.Arts Center in the news

Next Steps for the HEArts Center

As the HEArts Center moves toward construction and operations, the project team is focused on the achieving the following milestones:

Deepen Support

  • Gain broader public support

  • Reconfirm community priorities through Programs and Services Survey

  • Participate in HEArts Community Center events and activities to continue building awareness

Secure Funding

  • Seek and secure public and private funding

  • Widen the network of partners

  • Complete $13M HEArts Capital Campaign

Renovate & Begin Programming

  • Procure general contractor

  • Finalize architectural drawings and obtain permits

  • Remediate and renovate building

Our Partners

Project Partners

La Peña del Bronx

Community Partners

Taller Experimental de Arte

Government Partners

Former Speaker of the New York City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito

Funders

Invite People to Support, Share and advocate for the HEArts Center

Reach Out

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any inquiries you may have by filling the form below or emailing us.

devan@southbronxunite.com

127 Lincoln Ave., 2nd Fl