By Tony Richards
Editor-in-Chief

November 2 was a day of celebration for the Highbridge Community Life Center, as the organization was one of two honored by Bank of America as an outstanding “neighborhood builder” at a ceremony held before the Big Apple Circus at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. A crowd of 340 people was on hand to witness various local groups be honored.   As a result of earning the award, the center will receive $100,000 in grant funding for each of the next two years.The event’s program praised the organization for “recognizing that community leaders are best equipped to create solutions that improve their own community.”

“It was an extraordinary honor because we don't really have an ongoing relationship with Bank of America,” said Sister Ellenrita Purcaro, the center’s director of operations. “I was really taken aback

Founded in 1979 by Sisters of St. Dominic members Ann Lovett and Mary Moynihan, the Highbridge Community Life Center is a network of organizations in the Highbridge community that provides services including adult education, child-welfare advocacy, and housing. Staff members and their families were invited to the ceremony and given free admission to the Big Apple Circus that followed.

Victoria Gonzalez, senior manager of the center’s Growing Assets Program (GAP), which performs preventative work in areas such as HIV-care and child welfare, said both the ceremony and the circus were memorable events. “It was just such a lift to see the circus,” Gonzalez said, “and to give kids an opportunity to see the circus that they never would have been able to at those prices.”

As for the grant money awarded to the center, Gonzalez said she thought the Bridge Builders program— which relies heavily on part-time employees in working to protect children and reduce removals from homes—could particularly benefit.

Brother Ed Phelan, the organization’s executive director, said the funds could provide a crucial safety net, because it allowed the non-profit group to get by financially in instances where state funding was delayed.

“No matter what,” agreed Highbridge Community Life Center board member Nona Petioni. “we’re constantly in need of money.”