Over its 25-year history, Renaissance Youth Center in Morrisania scraped together the money to keep its doors open for thousands of Bronx kids every week. The nonprofit rented the building that housed its music studios, robotics labs and a room full of live animals. Now, after two years of fundraising, the nonprofit finally owns that building outright, closing a chapter defined by rising rent and financial uncertainty.
The organization purchased the building at 3485 Third Avenue for $7 million, according to Optimal Spaces. Renaissance Youth Center had operated at that address since 2011, leasing the space before making the purchase, as reported by News 12 New York. Bervin Harris, the center's president, CEO and founder, told the station that rising rent had made operations increasingly difficult, with the nonprofit paying over $500,000 per year in rent and taxes.
“This is everything for us,” Harris said, describing years of financially piecing things together just to keep the operation running, per the same News 12 report. The center hosted an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 18, according to footage posted on YouTube.
How the Purchase Came Together
Public capital allocations secured through local elected officials — including Gibson, Assembly Member Chantel Jackson and City Council Member Althea Stevens — covered at least half of the multi-million-dollar purchase, according to the Bronx Times. The nonprofit raised enough money to buy the building over two years with support from donors and local politicians, the station's report noted, transforming what had been a leased space into a permanent home.
Harris said owning the building makes the center's future permanent. He has a long-term goal of eventually establishing a similar program in every New York City borough, he told News 12.
New Space for Classrooms and a Cafeteria
The building's former owner had used its top two floors for storage, but Renaissance Youth Center now plans to relocate and expand some of its interactive classrooms into that space, along with building a cafeteria. Harris said the added capacity will let more schools and children access the center's programs, which already include hands-on offerings in music, STEM, zoology, architecture and astronomy.
The lower floors already contained 15 classrooms, robotics labs, a hydroponic agriculture setup and a zoology room housing more than 40 live animals, per the Bronx Times. Matthew Gomez, a student at the center, said he feels lucky and blessed to attend, according to News 12. The center provides after-school and Saturday activities for 4,000 children every week.
Funding Cuts Threatened Programming Even as Real Estate Deal Closed
The building purchase came together against a backdrop of financial strain elsewhere in the organization's budget. In May, more than 100 Bronx residents rallied at the center to protest nearly $800,000 in proposed cuts from the city Department of Youth and Community Development, cuts that threatened 32 to 35 staff jobs and programming at seven partner schools, the Bronx Times reported.
That funding gap came amid a COMPASS expansion and cuts. The episode underscored a dual reality for South Bronx nonprofits: securing capital funding to buy real estate does not guarantee the operational funding needed to keep daily programming running.
A City Agency Keeps Investing in the Center's Programs
NeON Arts partners with local nonprofits to bring creative programming to youth connected to neighborhood probation networks.
Renaissance Youth Center was co-founded in 2001 by Harris, a former Capitol Records recording artist, and Darren Quinlan, a former NCAA Division I basketball player at St. Bonaventure University, according to Wikipedia. The center's premier performing group, Music With a Message, is a 25-member youth band aged 6 to 21 that writes original songs on social topics and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Apollo Theater, per the center's own materials.
The building purchase, and the earlier threat to its operating budget, carries weight for families across Morrisania who depend on the center's free programming.
