One and a half years after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, the gym floor at Beach 41^st Street Community Center was still out of commission. All of the floors were stripped bare to the concrete.

“The children weren’t able to play in the gym,” says Nathalie Louis, program director of the Beach 41^st Street Community Center. “It was bare. It didn’t look like a gym at all.”

Today, the Community Center has a fresh coat of blue paint and the gym has a new floor where children can play basketball and run and play—a community effort, thanks to the work of the staff at the Community Center, Council Member Donovan Richards and his supporting staff, Rebuilding Together NYC, and community volunteers from New York City and across the country.

Nathalie Louis says that the repairs to the gym started this summer, thanks to ongoing conversations with NYCHA and City Councilman Donovan Richards. The new paint and other renovations are thanks to Rebuilding Together NYC. Prompted by Far Rockaway/Arverne Nonprofit Coalition’s call for proposals, the Community Center applied for repairs and improvements from Rebuilding Together NYC. The organization will donate a stove to replace the one damaged by Hurricane Sandy and began painting the walls a bright, child-friendly blue in October. The blue—a great improvement over the institutional cream from before—reflects the ocean colors of Far Rockaway. Continue reading →