Queens Community House breaks ground on
renovation of Forest Hills community center
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.18 COM | AUG. 13 - AUG. 19, 2021
ing at a time when many
of the central Queens
families served by the
center are still reeling
from the pandemic and
its aftermath.
“COVID exacerbated
many of the issues that
impact our communities
around healthcare,
around safety, around
education — we saw all
of these disparities,”
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards
said. “But coming out of
this pandemic, we are
not going back to ‘normal,’
but to a ‘new normal’
where every facility
in Queens is first-class,
where everybody has the
same access to the same
things, where quality
is something that is not
foreign to us.”
In addition, QCH
will be opening a new
8,000-square-foot annex
down the block, further
increasing its ability to
serve the more than 500
children, teens, adults
and older adults who
use the center on a daily
basis. Queens Community
House, founded in
1975, is a multi-service
settlement house serving
more than 20,000 children,
youths, adults and
seniors each year.
Their mission is to
provide individuals and
families with the tools
to enrich their lives and
build healthy, inclusive
communities.
“I always feel confident
that with any
type of funding that we
give them, QCH uses
it for the best purposes
possible for the community,”
Councilman
Daniel Dromm said.
“As an elected official,
that to me is very comforting
and it’s great to
know that we have QCH
here, not only in Forest
Hills, but in many neighborhoods
across the
borough of Queens.”
The facility will be
modernized with stateof
the-art technology;
an elevator and other
accessories to make the
building fully accessible;
new community
spaces that create opportunities
for great crosscultural
and cross-generational
interaction;
an expanded party area
to accommodate the expansion
of QCH’s food
programs; reimagined
activity rooms for classes
and meetings; and an
outdoor greens space to
the neighborhood.
“For decades, QCH
has served the people of
Queens with hundreds
of unique programs for
all ages and communities,”
Assemblyman
Daniel Rosenthal wrote
on Twitter following the
event.
Through a broad network
of programs operating
out of 25 sites in
11 neighborhoods, QCH
offers Queens residents a
needed support system at
every stage of life, helping
them to develop the
knowledge, confidence
and skills to change
their lives for the better
and become active participants
in their larger
community.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at
bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
BY BILL PARRY
Queens Community
House (QCH), one of the
boroughs largest social
service organizations,
recently held a groundbreaking
ceremony to
celebrate the renovation
of the Forest Hills Community
Center, its original
and largest program
site.
A number of elected
officials took part in the
event, and QCH executive
director Ben Thomases
thanked them for
helping secure the more
than $9 million of public
funding for the project.
“The improvement
of and addition to these
program spaces is critical
to meet the needs of
the communities QCH
serves throughout the
borough of Queens,”
Thomases said. “QCH
eagerly looks forward
to welcoming our
neighbors back to a
transformed and truly
dignified space.”
The renovation of the
Forest Hills Community
Center, located at 108-25
62nd Dr., is scheduled to
begin in August, with
a grand opening anticipated
next summer.
Several of the speakers
noted the poignancy
of the renovation, com-
Elected officials take part in a groundbreaking for
Queens Community House’s renovations at its Forest
Hills community center. Courtesy of QCH
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