Mission
The Sixth Street Community Center is committed to empowering the Loisaida community and celebrating its extraordinary diversity. We believe that all neighborhood residents, regardless of their income level, have the right to a safe, clean, and healthy neighborhood environment. Our mission is threefold:
Additionally, we seek to create a fulfilling sense of community in the neighborhood, and we offer a variety of programs that bring neighborhood residents together around the same table.
- To educate young people about sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and health;
- To expand accessibility and affordability of fresh, organic, local foods in the neighborhood; and
- To strengthen food safety laws through our campaign to promote wholesome, nutritious, and unadulterated food.
Additionally, we seek to create a fulfilling sense of community in the neighborhood, and we offer a variety of programs that bring neighborhood residents together around the same table.
History
In 1978, a group of single mothers living on East 6th Street between Avenues B and C formed a block association. Tired of the decrepit condition of their neighborhood where they were struggling to raise their children and make better lives for themselves, they hoped that through a joint effort they could make a change. Together, they organized to make the neighborhood a better and safer community in which to raise their families. One of their first efforts was to advocate for the City to seal up abandoned buildings, which were frequently hotbeds of drug trafficking and crime.
After many years of advocating and fundraising, and thanks to generous grants from Save the Children and other foundations, the block association was finally able to purchase and renovate the abandoned synagogue at 638 E Sixth Street, and Sixth Street Community Center was born.
From its beginning, Sixth Street Community Center has fostered economic and community development through a variety of programs including after school and summer camps, tenants rights and entitlement advocacy, and life skills and career development for teens. Beginning in 1996, Sixth Street Community Center initiated projects that bring youth and community residents together around issues of sustainable agriculture, health and nutrition through our Community Supported Agriculture, Seeds To Supper, and SOS Food programs.
After many years of advocating and fundraising, and thanks to generous grants from Save the Children and other foundations, the block association was finally able to purchase and renovate the abandoned synagogue at 638 E Sixth Street, and Sixth Street Community Center was born.
From its beginning, Sixth Street Community Center has fostered economic and community development through a variety of programs including after school and summer camps, tenants rights and entitlement advocacy, and life skills and career development for teens. Beginning in 1996, Sixth Street Community Center initiated projects that bring youth and community residents together around issues of sustainable agriculture, health and nutrition through our Community Supported Agriculture, Seeds To Supper, and SOS Food programs.