We're on the front lines
Empowering
Empowering
We're on the front lines
committed to enhancing life in the Southeast Bronx.
SEBNC plans, develops, and provides services to empower our community from infancy through adulthood, fostering growth and opportunities for all.
Children, Families & Communities
Our Mission
Impact Lives
Families First
We believe that stronger families create more secure and confident children. In order to support children, we partner with the families to assess current needs and identify resources to address them.
Families First
We believe that stronger families create more secure and confident children. In order to support children, we partner with the families to assess current needs and identify resources to address them.
Free Trainings
In order to stay current and on the cutting edge, we participate in many professional development opportunities. we also offer free training to providers to enhance and build their quality of services.
SEBNC Community Garden
Located on the corner of Prospect Avenue & East 168th Street, Bronx, NY 10459. The garden will grow fresh produce in a community in need of a source of healthy food.
There's a seating area and a small outdoor classroom. SEBNC is developing this garden, full of fruits, herbs, and vegetables, as a proven way to bring the community together while creating a healthy and sustainable food source for those in need.
For the Summer the Garden is open from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm Mondays thru Fridays.
The Challenge
Morrisania was ranked #2 as the NYC Community District with the “Highest Barriers” in 2021, considering factors like economic security, housing, health, education, youth, community, and environment.
This ranking highlights inequities across communities and the city’s affordability crisis, showing how opportunities for children are tied to where they live and result from disinvestment and racial discrimination over time.
Community Members Enrolled in our Services
Boxes of Food Distributed During Covid-19
Masks Distributed During Covid-19
"SEBNC is an Equal Opportunity Employer"
Our Impact
We offer essentialsupport
For over 90 years, SEBNC has been a pillar of support in the community, offering 20 diverse programs across 13 facilities.
We proudly serve around 4,000 individuals, ranging from infants to developmentally disabled adults and children, helping each one thrive and succeed.
Population
children live in New York City; over 470,000 are below the age of 5.
Single Parent Households
of these children live in a household headed by a single parent, grandparent, foster parent, or other guardian.
Language Proficiency
live in households where no one over age 13 speaks proficient English.
"SEBNC is an Equal Opportunity Employer"
The Bronx
Important facts you need to know!
Poverty
Poverty
Food Security
Housing
Shelters
Youth Safety
Childcare
Education
Afterschool
Our Programs
Explore Our Services
Developmental Disabilities Services
Early Learning Services
Family Child Care Network
Youth & Family Services
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that apply to the Southeast Bronx Neighborhood Center (SEBNC) include:
No Poverty
Zero Hunger
Good Health & Well-being
Quality Education
Decent Work and Economic Growth
These goals align with the broad scope of services and initiatives that SEBNC typically undertakes to improve the lives of residents in their service areas.
Testimonials
Hear what others are saying about SEBNC
It is heartwarming to hear about the support provided by SEBNC to the Nelson family during their difficult times. Miss Nelson, a single mother with four minor children, faced financial hardship after losing her job. SEBNC's Gwendolyn daycare center played a crucial role in assisting the family. Gwendolyn Blan, one of SEBNC's childcare programs, ensures a safe and nurturing environment for almost 500 children between the ages of three months and five years.
In the Nelson family's case, SEBNC went above and beyond to help. They arranged for the $154 needed for rent through a special fund maintained with the help of a friend of SEBNC. Additionally, Christmas gifts, food, and clothing were provided for all the children through a family contact of a SEBNC staff member named Stafford. Recognizing the importance of employment, SEBNC also helped Mrs. Nelson find a new job as a private guard.
SEBNC takes great pride in its programs, but it acknowledges that the success of these programs relies on the caring and dedicated individuals who run them. The staff at SEBNC demonstrated genuine personal concern for the Nelson family, recognizing that sometimes the support needs to extend beyond the daycare center. They understand that the well-being of each family member is interconnected and that addressing the family's crisis requires teamwork and compassion.
This story exemplifies the compassionate character of SEBNC as an organization and the people who work tirelessly to make a positive difference in the lives of those they serve. (2005)
Working to be his best, DeShawn takes good care of himself now. He brushes his teeth, dresses himself, and thinks about what he looks like when he goes out. He is helpful and cooperative. It wasn't always this way for DeShawn. At 25 and minimally verbal, he has moderate intellectual disabilities and a history of cerebral palsy and seizures. He used to be aggressive, disruptive, and abusive, with daily temper tantrums. He resisted structure and was often poorly dressed and dirty. Things began improving dramatically when he joined SEBNC's Best of Me Habilitation program in 2000. Today, his tantrums are rare and less severe. He works well with his peers and the SEBNC staff, helping out with our snack shack operation in our recreation room.
Best of Me is a weekday, "person-centered" program for developmentally disabled Bronx resident adults, serving 33 people in 2005. Our goal is to help them function more independently in all areas of daily life. Our staff of seven works to individualize the program for each participant, depending on their skill and performance levels. Best of Me activities include stipends, check music and dance, trips such as movies and bowling, dining out, special events, community service, and arts and crafts.
DeShawn is just one of many success stories in this program. People with developmental disabilities are too often ignored, dismissed, or even abused. Programs such as Best of Me demonstrate over and over again that people can overcome obstacles, improve, and gain pride and a sense of achievement when their potential is identified and nurtured. Each individual's progress has a compounding effect when it inspires others. With some guidance and structure, DeShawn has turned his life around. Watching him grow and gain confidence helps us to help others. (2005)
José Gonzalez was a healthy, active, and inquisitive toddler adored by friends and family. He was born in 1968, the last of six children. Just before he turned two, José and his 23-year-old sister, Victoria, both sustained brain injuries when their family house collapsed. Things have never been the same for José's family. His mother died in 1990, and his father is also deceased. He and Victoria moved in with another sister in the Morris Avenue section of the Bronx, where he lives today.
In 1993, José began attending SEBNC's Project Career Day Treatment program, which has evolved into today's United Day Habilitation. This is a five-day-a-week program that assists participants in living integrated and productive lives through community service and participation in community events and cultural life. It is designed to enhance the individual's life skills development and help developmentally disabled adults function more independently. In 2005, 35 SEBNC staffers worked with 80 participants in this program.
Although he is an attractive, bilingual, and intelligent man, José was reluctant to interact with the staff and other program participants. His speech was limited to whispers and mumbling under his breath, supplemented with gestures. Over time, his communication and social skills regressed. He would go silent, refusing to verbalize his thoughts or participate in activities. We could only know what he was thinking by reading his lips or his writing.
In July 2005, we transferred José from his regular classroom to an individual group of more verbal individuals. Gradually, in this new environment, things began to improve. José smiled, indicated he wanted to go out more, and volunteered to do things in his classroom. Soon, he was whispering and mumbling again. In October 2005, José began to make sounds once more—not clear and crisp, but he was beginning to speak again. Today, José uses his rich, clear voice to communicate. He may not speak spontaneously or in long sentences, but he is talking again. He doesn't talk about his past hurts, but his willingness and ability to write explicitly about them demonstrate his newfound confidence.
José's progress reaffirms that we can never give up on people, even after years of apparent regression. We found the right environment for José to regain the ability to grow and express himself after being almost muted by a long history of suffering from trauma and loss. Today, at 37, José is emerging as a more rounded man with much to tell. (2005)
As a child of a single-parent home, Joshua Spivey faced many hurdles, including trouble at school and failing grades. Despite these challenges, Joshua has prevailed. Today, "J. Spivey" is a high school junior with a B-plus average and is the captain of the basketball team, the first junior in his school to be so honored. Moreover, he has attracted the interest of several colleges with Division I basketball programs. In November 2005, he was named by the New York Daily News as a top high school student-athlete.
Joshua has also participated since he was 10 in the SEBNC afterschool program and youth center, where one of our directors has been a mentor, friend, tutor, and counselor for seven years. SEBNC's afterschool programs currently serve over 150 elementary, middle, and high school students, offering services that include academic support, computer literacy, leadership and personal development, and community activities. These programs help challenged but hard-working children like Joshua become successful, confident young adults and role models for their peers. (2005)
For many New Yorkers, Hurricane Katrina was only experienced on TV. Not so for three-year-old Chad. His Gulfport, Mississippi home was destroyed. For several months, he didn't see his little brother or his mother, who was living in a shelter while searching for a home and job in New York. Luckily, Chad had just come to New York to visit his great-grandmother, grandmother, and dad, all of whom lived in the southeast Bronx community SEBNC has served for over 40 years. They are also long-standing members of SEBNC.
Chad was enrolled in SEBNC's Gwendolyn Bland Day Care Center while awaiting reunification with his brother and mother, who found housing and employment in Rochester, NY. At Gwendolyn Bland and our other day care centers, young children find a secure and comforting environment. "CJ" is a bright, energetic, and happy boy, full of promise and hope. One can only imagine how critical and what a relief it was for Chad's family, while coping with the extended trauma of Hurricane Katrina, to know he was being properly cared for. (2005)
COVID-19 Updates
Health Protocols
Masks Requirements – Face coverings are strongly recommended to be worn when indoors.
- Participants and staff, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask when:
- Returning to work or program on the sixth day after testing positive for COVID-19 through day 10 after symptom onset or date of positive test, whichever is earlier, including when traveling on CNL transportation or the agency van.
- Exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 at program or office.
- Participants and staff, regardless of vaccination status, are strongly recommended to wear a mask:
- When they are exposed to someone with COVID-19, whether the exposure occurred at program, home or within the community. The person should wear a mask for 10 days after the last day of exposure and get tested at least 24 hours apart on the 4th and 5th day of the exposure.
- When they are moderately-to-severely immunocompromised, and masking is recommended by their healthcare provider
- In crowded indoor settings
Screenings
- A daily health screening is no longer required to enter program sites.
Staff Vaccinations
- Vaccination is still required for all visitors entering all SEBNC program sites.
- Vaccination is still required for all SEBNC employees
- Vaccination is required for all SEBNC employees who work in DOE sites
- Proof of positive COVID-19 test is still required for all participants and staff.
All people 5 years of age or older are eligible for vaccine in NYC. Get vaccinated today!
Please help us spread the word! Most of the resources below are available on nyc.gov/health in at least 13 languages.
- Main Vaccine homepage: nyc.gov/covidvaccine
- Where to get vaccinated: nyc.gov/vaccinefinder OR by calling 877-VAX-4NYC
- In home vaccinations are available for ALL New Yorkers 12 and older: Go to nyc.gov/homevaccine to sign up or call 877-VAX-4NYC
- Vaccine Referral Bonus Program: nyc.gov/vaccineincentives
- Share the facts about vaccines:
- Vaccine basics:
- How the vaccines were developed and how they work:
- COVID-19 Vaccine Development Infographic
- How It Works – Infographic – Pfizer and Moderna
- How It Works – Infographic – J&J
- Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, and Fertility:
- If you have COVID-19: COVID-19 Symptoms – What To Do Factsheet
- Self-testing FAQ: COVID-19 At Home Testing
- Videos
- Social Media kit – use hashtags #IGotTheShotNYC and #NYCVaccineForAll
- Resources for Healthcare Providers ,
Sign up for the Vaccine Command Center Newsletter here!
- (Tuesday 4/13), Federal partners alerted the City about a small number of rare serious adverse events involving the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine. We are communicating this directly to all COVID-19 vaccine providers.
- Note: 6.8 million doses of J&J have been administered nationally, and there were 6 of these (CVST) adverse events reported
- While these events are extremely rare, out of an abundance of caution the City is pausing the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine today and will review operations for the coming days.
- For patients who were due to receive the vaccine, those appointments will be rescheduled. A message will be sent but staff will be on site to speak with them in case the message was not received. Homebound appointments will also be rescheduled.
- We will continue to administer the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in NYC and will keep everyone updated as we learn more and if there will be any further impact on operations.
- You will not be able to make appointments for J&J vaccines at this time. This may mean sites that were previously available to you to schedule are no longer available. In our Authorized Scheduling system, this includes only the Co-op City site and the NYPD-East New York site.
- The cases being reviewed by the FDA and CDC involve a type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) that was seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia).
- People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.
- This is the vaccine system working exactly as it should: events are reported nationally and the actions being taken today reflect how seriously we take signals from our warning system. Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System at https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html
- Continuing our COVID vaccination efforts remains an urgent priority for protecting New Yorkers. We will proceed with administering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to beat back the COVID-19 pandemic.
