[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 25, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E587-E588]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HARLEM CONGREGATIONS FOR 
               COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT, INC.--FAITH AT WORK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 25, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on the eve of the twentieth 
anniversary of the Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement 
(HCCI) to enter into the Congressional Record a perspective that 
recognizes the many achievements and accomplishments attributed to the 
HCCI.
  Since 1986, the Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (HCCI) 
has been devoted to bringing about positive change to the Harlem 
community as its coalition of churches remain vigilant in their efforts 
to revitalize the spirit of Harlem by continuing to work to improve 
conditions in the community.
  The HCCI initiative started with a consortium of 16 ministers and has 
grown to a membership of nearly 100 churches. Their organization has 
constructed over 2,000 units of affordable housing, provided job 
development and training and established support groups to reinforce 
and assist with services to the community.
  I have lived in Harlem my entire life and can attest to the success 
of the many initiatives undertaken by the HCCI. I have witnessed the 
collective conception of ideas that grew into plans that resulted in 
major improvements to the lives of the people of Harlem.
  Mr. Speaker, I am extremely proud of the achievements of the HCCI and 
I respectfully enter into the Congressional Record this perspective 
which serves to recognize the HCCl's noteworthy accomplishments as we 
approach the organizations' twentieth anniversary.

The Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Inc.: Faith at Work

       For the past two decades, the Harlem Congregations for 
     Community Improvement (HCCI) has quietly, yet methodically, 
     changed the physical landscape and the spiritual soul of the 
     people of the Harlem community. HCCI was founded in 1986 as a 
     consortium of 16 Harlem churches, whose pastors and 
     congregants had long endured the surrounding urban decay. 
     HCCI's first President was the late Bishop Preston R. 
     Washington, Sr. The organization grew to an organization of 
     more than 90 churches, mosques and a synagogue.
       The organization began with a grassroots planning and 
     organizing initiative. Harlem area churches raised $100,000 
     which was matched by the Trinity Episcopal Church on Wall 
     Street. A plan for the Bradhurst community was developed by 
     working with the Harlem Urban Development Corporation, 
     Columbia University's Urban Technical Assistance Project and 
     the City College Architecture Center. That plan was 
     eventually adopted by the City of New York as the Bradhurst 
     Urban Renewal Area Plan. The Bradhurst area had such a high 
     level of deterioration that the blight seemed almost 
     incurable, with rampant crime, drug addiction, abnormally 
     short life expectancy, high infant mortality rates, 
     population exodus, HIV/AIDS,

[[Page E588]]

     an unemployment rate that outstripped the national average, 
     poor schools with alarming dropout rates, and no decent or 
     affordable housing. The first grants to address the Bradhurst 
     area were received from Local Initiative Support Corporation 
     and leveraged donations raised through special church 
     collections. The organization used the Industrial Areas 
     Foundation method of developing an organization. Since then, 
     HCCI's community service has been reversing these conditions 
     concurrently, block by block.
       From welfare-to-work training and placement, to adult basic 
     education and GED prep (in collaboration with Literacy 
     Partners), HCCI has helped hundreds of Harlem residents 
     prepare for the workforce through its Office of Human Capital 
     Development and trains still others to become licensed family 
     childcare providers. Other job readiness services include 
     computer training at HCCI's Career and Technology Center, and 
     collaborations with Literacy Partners. The Intel Computer 
     Clubhouse trained neighborhood kids in web design so well 
     that they won a grant to create a Web site on the negative 
     effects of tobacco. The city's building trade industry has 
     welcomed graduates of the Construction Trades Academy where 
     students learn valuable skills in construction work, 
     including handling hazardous materials such as asbestos 
     abatement and lead paint control.
       HCCI's customer service training program proved valuable 
     for residents who were hired at the new Pathmark Supermarket 
     at 145th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Part of a 
     $42 million real estate initiative, HCCI's Office of Real 
     Estate Development broke ground on the market and a 126-unit 
     co-operative apartment complex in the heart of the Bradhurst 
     neighborhood. Indeed, quality affordable housing has been the 
     centerpiece of HCCI's services to the community from the very 
     beginning. To date, approximately 2,000 units of affordable 
     housing have been built through innovative cross sector 
     collaborations with city and State elected officials, the 
     NYC Housing Development Corporation, the Department of 
     Housing Preservation and Development, a host of banking 
     institutions that include JPMorganChase, Citicorp, Roslyn 
     Savings, the Bank of New York, Bank of America, Wachovia 
     and Washington Mutual. Embarking on the Equitable 
     Development initiative, JP Morgan Chase's Community 
     Development competition awarded the $25,000 top prize to 
     three New School University graduate students to create an 
     architectural design that would transform the Erbograph 
     Building on l46th Street into a new community facility 
     space for some of HCCI's offices and housing for the 
     elderly.
       One of the more damaging health care crises of the 
     twentieth century has been the AIDS epidemic. Communities of 
     color have been the hardest hit. African-American men and 
     women are nine times more likely to die from the disease than 
     white AIDS patients. In 2004, Central Harlem recorded 218 
     newly diagnosed cases of HIV/AIDS. HCCI began to educate 
     Harlem residents about HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and more 
     recently created a pilot program called the Community 
     Organizations and Congregations for Health institute (COACH), 
     offering technical assistance to five faith-based 
     institutions to help them start nonprofits to sustain their 
     HIV prevention services. For the past seven years, HCCI has 
     hosted the Balm in Gilead/Annual Black Church Week of Prayer 
     for the Healing of AIDS. HCCI increases awareness through 
     street education and outreach, presentations and workshops, 
     and their growing Health Resource Library. HCCI's scattersite 
     housing initiative has proved effective in housing HIV/AIDS 
     patients, many of whom were homeless. Food stamp access 
     programs and other services funded by the city's Human 
     Resources Administration have helped restore them to more 
     productive lives.
       The question is always asked whether the church can be an 
     agent for change if it is facing all of the previously 
     mentioned challenges. It is an uphill battle to be sure. But 
     HCCI's 100-church membership has proven that with God's help 
     it can be done.

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