Harlem’s Bowen Center Announces $100,000 Endowment Gift

The Emma L. Bowen Community Service Center, one of Harlem’s leading community-based organizations dedicated to providing comprehensive community services.

Tonight announced that it has received an endowment gift in the amount of $100,000 from The Carter Foundation, Inc. The announcement was made during the organization’s annual Humanitarian Awards virtual gala, which featured The   , Cynthia Germanotta, and Rep. Adriano Espaillat as the special guest honorees.

In addition to recognizing the Center’s 35th anniversary, the gift is being named in appreciation of Bowen’s longtime Board Chair, Mrs. Patricia Jordan, who has been volunteering in various capacities with the Center since its inception. The endowment will remain invested, and proceeds from the fund will provide ongoing annual support that will enable the Center to continue to expand its programs and services while also ensuring long-term viability for the organization.

“The Bowen Center is a very unique institution that provides a great many services to people in need,” said Carter Foundation Inc., President Dickie S. Carter. “I’m extremely proud of the work Patricia has done with the organization, since its inception, first as a long-time volunteer and now as its Board Chair. She has done an exceptional job steering the organization in the right direction and it is an honor for me to make this gift in the name of my sister, for all of the hard work she has done and will continue to do.”

Located in Harlem, the majority of the Bowen Center’s programs and services are housed in one convenient location. They include a therapeutic preschool for children with behavioral and developmental issues; outpatient mental health services for children and adolescents; outpatient programs for adults & seniors dealing with mental health and addiction recovery challenges; a care management team that provides advocacy and support services to clients and the home-bound; a 20-bed off-site residential addiction recovery facility, and a food pantry program that serves over 22,000 packages of food annually.

“I am profoundly grateful to the Carter Foundation for this extraordinary gift and honor,” said Patricia C. Jordan, Board Chair. “It’s the dream of every Board Chairperson to be on the receiving end of such generosity and support. This gift will provide the Center with much-needed annual funding that will allow us to continue the life-saving services our clients and the community count on. It will also provide us with an opportunity to invest in for a more secure future for the Bowen Center, something that we have been striving for in recent years.”

Based in Washington D.C., The Carter Foundation was established in 1996 and serves as an information gathering and disbursement organization for all in need of improved educational opportunities with special emphasis on the economically underserved and provides funding for the enhancement of the educational skills of young people, particularly the recruitment of underrepresented minorities into educational opportunities, and to create opportunities for research among the community they serve.

In addition to the announcement of the endowment gift, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer presented the organization with a proclamation in honor of its 35th anniversary and proclaimed today, Wednesday, October 20, 2021 “Emma L. Bowen Community Service Center Appreciation Day” in the borough of Manhattan.

The Emma L. Bowen Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community-based organization established in 1986 and licensed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York State Office of Mental Health, NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS), and New York State Department of Education.

Emma L. Bowen Community Service Center – https://www.bowencsc.org

Emma L. Bowen Humanitarian Medal – https://tinyurl.com/2jkxzpcy

Photo credit: 1) Emma L. Bowen. 2) Rev. Al Sharpton. 3) Rep. Adriano Espaillat.