 can start the program formally. Thank you. Everyone, please take your seats. Our ceremony is going to get underway right now. Thank you. Welcome, everybody. Thank you for coming out on this incredibly beautiful day to celebrate the opening of Bedford Greenhouse. Special thank you to our mayor, Eric Adams, for joining us, for Bronxboro president, Vanessa Gibson, HPD commissioner, Adolfo Carrion, DSS commissioner, Gary Jenkins, and from the state, OT-Doc commissioner, Dan Teetz. I hope I'm not missing anyone, if I am. Oh, Gustavo Rivera. Yes, thank you. OK. So this site was acquired by my predecessor in 2014, nearly eight years ago. What was here before was a house where the building is, and of course, this huge rock behind me. That rock prevented us, or anyone really, from building on the site because it was too expensive to blast it out. But there was a change in the zoning laws that allowed taller buildings like this to be built in locations near transit. And that and the brilliant idea to build around the rock instead of blasting it made it possible for us to create this building. With 117 brand new apartments, every one of which is deeply affordable or supportive for people who have been homeless or are at risk of homelessness here in the Bronx. And not just the building with apartments, but a children's playground right here, a rooftop greenhouse, which I hope you will all see on the tour, and offices with social services, psychiatry, and all of what it takes to make this place a community and not just an apartment building. And this fall, we will start construction on a lot in the back facing Jerome Avenue, and an additional 116 apartments that will also have a children's library and a street level primary care licensed primary care clinic that will offer health care not only to the residents of the building, but also to members of the community, regardless of ability to pay. So this is really the creation of a community and a community center. But this almost didn't happen. Three and a half years ago, the general contractor went bankrupt. The insurance company that was supposed to complete the project reneged on their commitment. And then the pandemic hit. Labor was in short supply. And then the supply chain crisis caused the cost of materials to go through the roof. So project renewal actually had to invest three and a half million dollars of our own money. And as you all know, nonprofits don't have a lot of money in the project in order to bring it to this place. And that's why I am so incredibly grateful for the support of HPD, of HDC, of New York State HHAP, who have really come together to help us try and close as much of that gap as possible. I also want to thank the development team that built the building. I want to call out our vice president of real estate development, Paul Woody, who's equanimity. And believe me, I was not always as calm as he was. Led the team to make this happen. Also, Katie Bauer, our chief housing and shelter officer, who designed the program and services that we have here. And Jasmine Cummings, who led the implementation. And Jasmine is unfortunately homesick today, so she can't be with us in person. Other parts of the development team. ESKW and Andrew Knox, architects, project management support from Jonathan Rose Company, and the fourth general contractor, and the one that finally built the place, Bruno Fristacci. So it's wonderful to celebrate the building and the physical space. But this is really about the people who are going to live here. And I want you to hear from one of our residents, Alexis Reed. Come on up. My name is Alexis Reed. And I'm here to tell you my story. So my son, Kyra, and I moved into Bedford Greenhouse five months ago. But however, I've known about Bedford Greenhouse much longer than that. You see, for a whole year before we moved in, Kyra and I have decided in a homeless shelter just two blocks from here, literally. I walk by this building every day as construction was winding down. And I would think to myself, it would be nice to live here. But I didn't actually think it would happen. Then one day, my case manager presented me with an opportunity to move here. I wasn't sure about the idea of living in supportive housing. I didn't know anything about it, so it made me a little bit hesitant. But I knew I needed a permanent home to make a better life for Kyra and myself, so I went for it. Here I am five months later, and I can tell you it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I've never felt so supported and happy as I do at Bedford Greenhouse. I'm making great strides and working through my traumas I've experienced in my past. I'm able to do this because I have the stability of a home and I have all the services that I need right here. Through Project Renewal's Occupational Therapy Program, I participate in groups like art, music, mindfulness, and my favorite, The Gardening on the Rooftop. Growing fresh vegetables and herbs and cooking with them in my own kitchen, and they're amazing, is inspiring me to lead a healthier lifestyle. Through all the programs here and the support of the staff, my neighbors and I are building a strong caring community. My son, Kyra, is thriving as well. He has his own bedroom, he comes to all the group activities with me, and he loves playing on the playground right here in the courtyard. I spend a great deal of time there. I want to thank Project Renewal's staff. I honestly never met such a committed group of people. From the case managers to the therapists to the maintenance workers, they're more than just the staff at this building. They're an extension of my own family. I also want to express my gratitude to everyone here today who helped with Bedford Greenhouse Surveillance. It gives people like myself access to amenities and experiences that I might not have to do so before. You helped create something truly special that has honestly changed my life. And now I'd like to introduce someone who I was honored to meet this morning. He is a great leader for our city, and I'm so happy he is here today to support me and my neighbors. Please welcome Mr. Mayor, excuse me, Mayor Eric Adams. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to do it. You know, Alexis is the symbol of the inspiration as we start the process of reclaiming lives and renewing hope. You know, there's so many communities in our city where hope goes to die. And I think nothing personifies that more than this beautiful place called the Bronx. With the leadership of the previous bar president and now a visionary, our current bar president, our president Gibson, there's a clear expectation of what we expect. And what you stated is so significant. That one rock got in the way of building new foundations in our community. We often look at the barriers and say, how could we get it done instead of looking at the barriers and say, we will get it done? This is going to be a city of yes. Because because we overcame that obstacle, you are now having your place, and you are going on to become a nurse to deal with our nursing shortage that we have in the city. So it feeds on itself. It feeds on itself. If we would have allowed that rock to stand away, we wouldn't have your baby enjoy this beautiful building. You wouldn't go into nursing school. We wouldn't deal with our nursing crises that we're having. So what you're doing is seeding your plant and it's producing not only harvest on the rooftop, but it's producing a harvest in our entire city. My team is on board. We have the HSS commissioner that's here, HBD commissioner that's here. My team wants to be a part of what you're doing. This is what we state when we could produce a good qualitative product here. I've been in the Bronx almost the last couple of weeks with the Bronx mayoral president. You have been ignored. You have been denied. You have been abandoned. That stopped January 1st, 2022, when I became the mayor of the city of New York. We're gonna partner with these great organizations. We're gonna allow you to go out and share your stories because there's so many people who are in our temporary housing or living in shelters who believe where they are is who they are and it's not. We know it's not. And then you said something else that's significant. You said, I've never even thought about living in housing of this magnitude that deals with supportive housing. You need to give your message to those who are yelling that we need more housing, but you stay safe, don't build on my block. Can't have it both ways. If we need more housing, do we need more housing of wraparound services on Park Avenue or so? We need it in all of these communities that are saying that people should not live on the street. They know what, then they need to live on your street. Allow us to build the housing that we need and you are a symbol of why people are gonna be willing to listen. I'm so proud of you. And I wish you so much good fortune. Good luck to you and your son. Thank you, Project Renew, for what you have done. Thank you, Mayor. I said before that we were gonna build around the rock, but I lied a little bit. We had to chip away at it. And so, I'd like to give you a piece of the Bronx. Love it. Vanessa, I'm taking Bronx with me. We have a few more of these and now I'd like to invite the Bronx Poro President, Vanessa Gibson, to say a few words. Good morning, everyone. What an honor and what a privilege to be here at the official ribbon cutting of Bedford Green. We are so grateful. We are so excited. Can we give a round of applause for the entire Project Renewal team? Thank you to Eric, our president, our board chair, the entire staff who pour so much love into projects like this. And Alexis, one of our newest residents here at Bedford, we are just so honored. And when you hear her story, that is the story of many Bronxites, Bronx families who have fallen on hard times, who have been devastated by the impacts of COVID-19, who feel hopeless. Guess what? We are building families every single day. And projects like this matter, we are investing with our time, our money, our labor of love, collaborations with our partners in the city government, state government, and we are creating hope for people who have felt hopeless. We are strengthening those families who have felt weak. And I want to say thank you. For many years, I've worked with Project Renewal as a former member of the city council and a former member of the state assembly, and they are not new to this work. They are true to this work. Every single project has been designed with a community-oriented approach. Supportive housing, affordable housing, wraparound services, primary care, mental health services, trauma-informed care, holistic services, making sure that every family is represented through counseling, through social services, which is critical in the backdrop of COVID-19. So I want to say thank you to Project Renewal because this project is not only transformative, but it's groundbreaking for the Bedford Park community. It is projects like this that will make a difference, that will stabilize our families, that will allow them to live in affordable, quality, and safe housing. That is a fundamental right that every New Yorker should be afforded. 117 units right here, and this is just phase one. This is just the beginning, but I'm very proud that we're going to be building on Jerome Avenue, and I want to announce today that in the adopted budget, we have been able to allocate $300,000 towards the Jerome project because we can't just talk about it. We have to be about it. We have to commit dollars where we know that we can invest in our families and our children, making sure that families assimilate and integrate into the community. When the mayor and I and Commissioner Jenkins and Commissioner Carrion and Commissioner Teetz, when we toured this building a few moments ago, what we appreciated is many of the apartments are already furnished. We took advantage of some of the refreshments too, air conditioning, bedding, and so many different things that families are not always afforded. There are welcome packages that provide a wealth of resources for the local schools, the parks, the playgrounds, the supermarkets, the grocery stores, so that families that are living here at Bedford Green have the ability to integrate into this community so they don't feel alone, they don't feel lost. So most importantly, I want to say thank you. Thank you for never giving up on all the possibilities that we represent here in the Bronx. Time and time again, we have been shortchanged and denied and so many opportunities that have passed us by, but with projects of this magnitude, we are truly giving hope to so many families in our borough. So I say thank you as your borough president. I look forward to even more groundbreaking and ribbon cuttings because at the end of the day, we have to realize the purpose that we have been given. We're turning our pain into purpose. We're turning our storm into strength and we are investing in our children and our families and our elders and we are giving them the services that they rightfully deserve. So many families don't believe that they deserve access to affordable housing, but this project not only magnifies that, but demonstrates the collaboration between city and state and truly getting stuff done. So congratulations, Project Renewal. Thank you to our partners at DHS, HPD and UltaDoc and all of our partners and the board. Thank you so much for all of your great help. Thank you. And I get a rock. Well, you have the whole Bronx, so I don't really need a rock from me, but. I'm really heavy too. Thank you, everyone, congratulations. And now HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrion. Thank you, Eric. Good morning, everybody. I am so thrilled, so delighted. I'm gonna be super brief, which I'm sure the people standing in the sun will appreciate. We're in the shade. You know, I go back a long, long, long time back when the dinosaurs were roaming the earth in the early days of Project Renewal. I was at the time a district manager of Community Board 5 and I worked very, very closely to ensure that we were making investments with this amazing organization that reclaims, reclaims lives. What is it again? Renews hope. Renews hope, yeah, reclaims lives and renews hope. And the slogan is a very powerful slogan. The mayor said a couple of very important things. I referred to my successor as Borough President as number 14, I'm number 12. And she said some very important things. You're gonna hear Gary Jenkins and Dan talk about the investments we make, the partnerships, the important partnerships, all of this stuff, the complexity of the agency's work, the banks, the contractors, the architects, the engineers, the nonprofit, all of the process ultimately pours into a vessel. It pours into a vessel like Alexis and Cairo. And that's really what this work is all about. And the manifestation of this building is very powerful. You guys have tied together so many important elements of approaching our work in a holistic way. The nice unit, everybody needs a good home that's safe and environmentally comfortable and responsible for the occupants. But to add other elements, the support of housing, the supports that people need in their lives to deal with all the issues, all our mental health issues that we all deal with. The element of a rooftop garden, love the fish tanks and getting that fertilizer into the plants and all that good stuff, and the garden up there and being able to then have Alexis and Cairo put it on their table, the vegetables that come from their garden. You tie it all together. That's the holistic approach of this administration. And I'm proud to be a small partner in a very, very big partnership. Congratulations, Eric and the team here. This is wonderful, and let's do it again. All right, I've got a piece of the rock here. Senator Rivera, please come up. Good morning, everyone. A lot of it has been said, and I'll just say a couple of quick things. Project Renewal, the name of the organization speaks for itself. The effect that a renewal has, not only in an individual, on a family, but on a community. I remember coming here a couple of years ago when it was still the big ass rock right there. It was nothing there. And we're all discussing how the thing was gonna look. And ultimately, yes, it's a big ass rock, you got a little ass rock. But ultimately, this is the type of development that can happen, and that I'm incredibly happy it is happening in my neighborhood. I just walked here this morning, and I was reminded as I'm walking by about what this used to look like. And then when I met Alexis, and I saw everything that they have here as all the amenities that are here, again, I am incredibly proud to partner with Project Renewal to make sure that the city, I'm thankful for the city to do what they're doing. I'm thankful that the state is doing their part to make sure that developments like this happen all over the city, but certainly here in the Bronx. Because we need to renew people. We need to give them the opportunity to do just what Alexis is doing with her family. She is doing something stronger for herself, for her family, and she's making the community stronger as an extension. Thank you, Project Renewal. Thank you for being here. Have a peace on the Bronx. It's the rock. Now, DSS Commissioner Gary Jenkins. Good morning, everyone. So any day we are announcing the completion of Affordable and Supportive Housing is a freaking great day. So today's a great day. We're so pleased to be here to announce the first phase, and the Borough President said it, it's the first phase, not the last phase, of completion of the Beffett Green House. This incredible project will bring 117 supportive units right here. Alexis, I am so proud of you. You are an example of what can be. Stay focused and be there for your daughter as you are and just take advantage of all of the services that's available to you. I am here to support you, whatever you need from the Department of Social Services, call on us. We're here to support you. And the Borough President said it and the Mayor said it, for far too long, the Bronx has been underserved. That stuff stops today, not in this administration. We're gonna be here for the Bronx. We're gonna be here for its residents. We're gonna make sure that the city is standing up and leading in that effort. So I'm not gonna take a long time speaking, I had a whole speech here, but I'm speaking from the heart. We are so proud of Project Renewal. We are so proud of our relationship and our partnership. We wanna continue to build on that area. So thank you. Thank you. All right. I'm from Brooklyn, but it starts with a B, so I hear the Bronx is good too. We've heard a lot from New York City, but I also want to invite ODoc Commissioner from New York State, Dan Thietz. Thank you. Thanks so much, Eric and Project Renewal, and many thanks to the mayor, commissioners, Bronx Borough President for your support for this important project. This project really exemplifies Governor Hockel's $25 billion, five-year affordable and supportive housing plan. This unprecedented investment includes the creation and preservation of 10,000 supportive housing units like these. Permanent supportive housing plays a vital and critical role in helping families and individuals to overcome the obstacles that may have contributed to their homelessness. OTDA's homeless housing and assistance program provides $128 million in capital funding each year to construct projects such as this. Bedford Green House will provide safe, stable and affordable homes for residents along with targeted support services to help these families and individuals live as independently as possible in their community. And we heard from someone who exemplifies that fully. I'm proud to say that our homeless housing and assistance program recently awarded $6 million for the second phase of the Bedford Green House development, so we're very pleased with that. Through collaborative efforts across state government, New York has taken a multifaceted approach to addressing homelessness, including increased capital funding for construction, improved service delivery and innovative policy approaches. Under Governor Hockel, New York recognizes that the causes of homelessness are complex and effectively addressing the challenges that lead to families and individual experiencing homelessness require a comprehensive approach. All of us at OTDA and the homeless housing and assistance program understand the importance of supportive housing and helping some who have experienced homelessness to stabilize their lives and to be full participants in their community. We wanna take this opportunity to prevent you, Eric, so before you give me the rock. So I like Commissioner Jenkins from Brooklyn. We don't have rocks like that. We have sandy beaches, I'm just saying. To join you, to present a plaque commemorating the completion of the project, well, the completion of the first phase. Yes, thank you. We'll come back and give you another one for the second phase. So I present you this wonderful plaque from all of us at AJJP. I also wanna invite some of the partners who have made this possible to speak. I wanna start with our financing partner, Bank of America, Fernando Nunez. Hey, good morning, everyone. Thrilled to be here and it's an absolute honor for me to be here. My name is Fernando Nunez. I am the region executive for Bank of America and I am from the Bronx. I went to high school in the South Bronx, Cardinal Hayes High School. Went to Mahan College in Kingsbridge Riverdale and I lived in the Kingsbridge area for many years and today I am joined by John and Maria from our community development team and financial center team mates who work and live in the Bronx. So we have Delixia, Mireya, Annette and Nicolino who support the Fordham Financial Center here and our 1620 Financial Center in Westchester Avenue and Annette and Delix are district managers for Bank of America from the Bronx. So great to see the career progression from homegrown talent in the Bronx. But hey, on behalf of Bank of America we wanted to congratulate everyone here and all the partners, Eric and Paul and Project Renewal. Thank you so much. You guys did a wonderful job here and we appreciate you incorporating us in this venture that we did here recently. And we also wanted to thank HPD and HTC for all their support. We appreciate you looping us in and being able to partner up with all of you. And at Bank of America, we ask our clients and our teammates, what would you like the power to do? And the response is always the same, especially here locally. We wanna empower our associates and our clients and improve the quality of life. And Project Renewal is one of those great examples that Bank of America will continue to remain committed to throughout our journey here. I wanted to share a couple of things too in terms of the investment we're making in the Bronx. Most recently we helped CityGrow create their new warehouse out in Hunts Point. And at the same time, we renewed our contract with the New York Yankees or the official Bank of the New York Yankees again. And at the same time, we will continue to support these programs like Project Renewal and we're supporting the Bronx Zoo with the dinosaur exhibit, which I encourage all of you to go. I took my kids there recently, they had a great time. But again, thank you so much for having us here. It's been an absolute pleasure. We appreciate it and great to see all the support and all this advocacy for the great borough of the Bronx. So thank you and congratulations for you as well. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to invite Jen Trapinski from the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Thank you, Eric. And congratulations to you and Paul and the entire Project Renewal team on the completion of phase one of Bedford Green. CSH was proud to be able to partner with you to provide the acquisition and pre-development funding back in 2015 when I was a lone officer. Now I'm overseeing our lending nationally. So it's really gratifying to see the progress, to see how New York City's agencies and elected officials came together to overcome the challenges, overcome the big rock, overcome the bankruptcy, overcome all of the challenges that faced this phase one because of the incredible vision that Project Renewal had so many years ago for this project. It really is one of the most innovative and inspirational projects where you can see Alexis and Cairo are great examples of what supportive housing is meant to be. It's not just meant to be a home. It's meant to be that foundation to provide a place where individuals and families can thrive. And that is really exemplified here with Alexis and Cairo and the residents of the phase one. And we look very much forward to in a few years coming back and celebrating the phase two opening as well. Thank you so much. So I wanna make sure that I acknowledge the board of directors of Project Renewal. And many of you are here today. I'm gonna name the ones I see and you're gonna follow me. You know, if I get anyone wrong. I first wanna acknowledge Claudia Rosen who was the board chair when this site was acquired. It took a lot of vision to do that. Thank you Claudia. Our vice chair, Marlene Zorak. Thank you so much. I'm Colleen Kavanaugh. Jean Felcus and Grace Chenema, Gail Weiss, and Shams DeBaron that I miss anymore. Mike Daugherty, I know Mike's here. Lula, Lula Oricard, yes. It's an incredible representation. It's a remarkable group of people who have been steadfast in their support through some really challenging times pulling this together. So I wanna thank you. And then all of the staff of Project Renewal who are here, and if you work for Project Renewal you will at least raise your hand so we can all thank you for doing everything that you do. We also have members of our associates and junior boards who are here. Raise your hands if you're supporting them. That's great, great. Thank you so much. There are, and I know there's some other partners here. I saw Andrew Knox from ESKW and Oliver Chase who has provided lots of legal support. Paul, you're gonna have to tell me who else is here that I'm missing. Is that, I'm doing good? Okay, all right. Well, thank you all so much for coming out. We have some food and refreshments here and we're offering tours of the building. So if you haven't seen this place, don't leave without seeing what we do here. Thank you all so much for your support for coming out. Very much appreciated.