Lena Park back on track

Lena Park CDC executive director Kimberly Simmons in the organization’s newly renovated site on American Legion Highway ­— the same building the CDC had to leave after tough economic times in 2008.

When the Lena Park Community Development Corporation shuttered the doors of its long-time home on American Legion highway in 2008, the change signaled a great loss for local community residents. Although it did not go out of business and continued to maintain its stock of affordable housing, the organization’s move to the Jackson Square area meant a loss of childcare and after-school services for the many residents of Franklin Hill and surrounding areas who used it.

But the 2008 closing was not the end of the story. A few weeks ago, Lena Park CDC returned to its original home, which has been refurbished handsomely – an apt symbol of a new era for the organization.

In a building tour and conversation with the Banner, executive director Kimberly Simmons tells the story of a social service organization once known as the Mens’ Hasidic Association Hecht House back when Dorchester had a sizeable Jewish population.

When the neighborhood demographics changed and the Jewish community left the area, the building was sold to Lena Park.

“[The building] was given with the understanding that it would always remain a part of the community,” Simmons said. “That’s been the mission and the vision from the very start.”

Simmons said the financial troubles that eventually led to the building’s demise began during the 2008 economic downturn. Tough economic times exacerbated the difficulty of adequately heating such a large facility, along with limited from childcare services, which are not known for being lucrative.

As a result, the organization not only had to shift sites but also leadership when the board asked director Lorraine Baugh to step down.

What followed was a long regrouping process, during which Lena Park hired a consultant to help the organization restructure and get back on its feet.

Simmons said the process involved a lot of community input.

“Residents got to raise their voice,” she said. “We were asking ourselves, ‘What would the Lena Park of the future look like?’”

Simmons credits board president Rev. David Wright for seeing the organization through a difficult chapter.

“He steered a sinking ship until he got it above water again,” she said.

Throughout the turbulence, however, Simmons says the organization maintained its affordable housing stock across four different locations: Olmsted Green, Brown Kaplan Town Homes, LBB Apartments (co-owned with the Urban Edge community development corporation) and Granite Lena Park Apartments. Combined, she said, the properties serve as home to approximately 2,300 people.

A new chapter

A large part of the organization’s solution to its financial woes came from a different use of the building space. They sold off part of it — about 12,000 square feet — to the Edward Brooke Charter School and kept the remaining 10,000 square feet for themselves.

The Brooke School on American Legion Highway opened in 2011 and currently serves 460 students in grades K through 8.

With financing from the tax credits received from that sale, Lena Park was able to renovate and refurbish the space from top to bottom.

The building now boasts two floors of brightly colored walls, a technology café with twenty computers, and plenty of space for meetings, community gatherings and movie nights.

The technology café will allow Lena Park to provide young people with computer literacy classes, as well as exposure to areas such as coding, app design and gaming that are proving to be big job creators. An IT program manager will be on staff to design innovative offerings.

Lena Park CDC also will continue its family-oriented programming, such as childcare and workshops on topics ranging from financial literacy to conflict resolution.

There’s also a series of recreational activities for young people and adults interested in golf, tennis, soccer, martial arts and yoga.

Although the organization has just moved into its new home and still is staffing up, some activities, like workshops and parent groups, have already started. Others are set to begin soon, including an expected June start date for the IT programming.

The center’s new “FabLab,” sponsored by MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms and its off-shoot organization, the Fab Foundation, is perhaps the flashiest development. When finished, the FabLab will have equipment for a variety of 2D and 3D production, including vinyl work, glass etching, and fashion design. The FabLab will provide opportunities for young people to gain hands-on technological skills, practice entrepreneurialism, and perhaps even raise money. The FabLab is set to open in September.

“We’re trying to introduce [young people] into careers they are not usually geared towards,” said Simmons. “We want them to have the same opportunities as any other kids.”

And the organization is not done growing. The organization currently has a staff of seven, with plans to expand to seventeen. Simmons came on board in 2014 after being involved for almost a decade as a parent.

Lena Park also is in the process of recruiting a few new board members, with an emphasis on local residents. To that end, Simmons started a community council about a year ago that meets monthly to discuss the nonprofit and its needs.

Lena Park operates by membership. Membership applications are accepted year-round and are low cost. The organization is currently gearing up for the launch of its six-week summer program, which will start July 5 and run Monday through Friday. Those who are interested should contact Alice Gomes at 617-533-8133.