BANANA KELLY COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION INC

Banana Kelly is a nonprofit community development corporation located in the South Bronx. We provide direct services to approximately 5,000 residents annually and also provide support services to the community at large. We empower residents by providing vocational, educational, and cultural programs that assist in the retention of affordable housing accommodations and foster self-sufficiency and collective capacity through self-help, mutual aid, and cooperation. Historically, our primary catchment area has been the Hunts Point/Longwood neighborhood (Bronx Community District 2), but we have worked and continue to work throughout Community Districts 1 through 4 (Mott Haven, West Concourse, and Morrisania) and recently branched into other boroughs. Since our inception in 1977 we have weatherized over 8,000 housing units and renovated and preserved over 2,400 units, some 1,240 of which are still under our administration. Our work over the past 40 years has not focused solely on housing; we have also established programs to assist small businesses, operated construction training programs for youth, developed the first urban dormitory for homeless high school students, operated ESL programs, and much more. Our job is to advocate for South Bronx residents who live in some of the country's poorest census tracks.