Former Board Members of Nepperhan Community Center Issue Statement
We received the following statement from the former Board members of the Nepperhan Community Center:
With this press release, we (former board members of Nepperhan Community Center, Inc.) regret to inform the Yonkers community that Nepperilan Community Center, Inc. is presently defunct. In other words, Nepperhan Community Center, Inc., tecnnically still exists asa nonprofit; however, it is hopelessly in debt,has no assets, has no income and no longer hasa 50l(c)(3) tax exempt status.
A brief History of Nepperhan Community Center, Inc.
Historically, the “Nepperhan” section of Yonkers wasa community of homeowners who were predominantly of African descent; today, thatcommunity is now known as
•Runyon Heights”. At some point, around 1918, the Nepperhan community of homeowners established a “Nepperhan Community Center” to provide services for children and families in the Yonkers black community. In 1942, those same group of homeowners formed an organization known as•Nepperhan Community Center, Inc.•
Nepperhan Community Center, Inc. was incorporated as a New York State Not-For Profit corporation. lt was registered asa charity with the NYS attomey general and it obtained 50l(c)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS.
Some time during the 1980’s Mayor Angelo Martinelli authorized Nepperhan Community Center, Inc. to lease, occupy andoperate one of the City of Yonkers buildings known as 342 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, NY (formerly an A&P supermarket, but prese11tly known as•The Neppeman Community Center”). The director of Nepperhan Community Center,Inc., at that time, was Mary Gaines.
Some time in the late 1!190’s, MaryGaines began to prepare James Bostic (also known as Jim Bostic) to be her successor as the director of Nepperhan Community Center, Inc. And, in the early 2000’s Jim Bostic tookover as director of Neppe,han Community Center, Inc.
During the tenure of Jim Bostic as the director of Nepperhan Community Center, Inc., the organization reached great milestones. There was mid-night basketball, afterschool programs, football programs, a choir, karate, counseling, tutoring, homework help, a computer center (to name a few); and the Nepperhan Community Center made available for a host of community events andcelebrations- including the annual Dr.
Martin Luther King Day celebration.
During his time as the corporate director, Jim Bostic secured millions of dollars in grant funding for the agency andmade the corporation one of the largest single employers of Yonkersresidents. However, the corporation also endured tough financial timesunder the leadership of Jim Bostic -when there was not enough cash flow even to meet ongoing expenses.
The Fall of Nepperhan Community Center Inc.
In the beginning of 2020, the board of directors for Neppeman Community Center, Inc. learned that the organization hadincurred great debtsin excess of a million dollars. As bestthe board of directors could determine, Jim Bostic and his financial office- George Devins had mismanaged the organization’slargest grant; and, asa result of that mismanagement of grant funding, the corporation’s largest grant was substantially reduced by millions of dollars; however, Nepperhan Community Center, Inc. was still required to meet the goals of that large grant funding.
After that, Jim Bostic incurred enormous debts for the corporation, while attempting to meet the substantial programmatic goals of the agency’s largest grant. And, shortly thereafter, the covid-19 pandemic occurred and manyother funding sources for Neppert,an Community Center, Inc. were suspended during this time (which wasalso the case for most other nonprofits during this time).
Theboard of direct.ors, as constituted at that time, expressed extreme displeasure at finding out, after the fact, how bad Nepperhan Community Center, Inc.’s finances really were. Theboard of directors attempted to conduct an informal audit of corporate finances – while giving Jim Bostic a chance to try andeliminate the organization’s great debt.
However, in 2021, the board of directors, conduded that there would be no realistic way to recover from the overwhelming financial debt incurred by Nepperhan Community Center, Inc. under the tenure of Jim Bostic. Accordingly, the board voted to terminate JimBostic as the organization’sdirector – forcing him to retire.
After Jim Bostic was ousted from the organization, the board of directors discovered that Nepperllan Community Center, lnc.’s finances were much worse than Jim Bostic previously revealed. Forexample, after JimBostic’retired”, theboard of directors discovered that theorganization was indebted to the City of Yonkers, in excess of
$100,000.00 for unpaid electric bills; and, the organization was indebted to a laundry list of creditors – many of whom were former employees.
Financially destroyed, in the aftermath of Jim Bostic and the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization could not even generate sufficient income to cover the cost of keeping open the doorsof the Nepperhan Community Center. This ledto corporate debt rising even higher.
Attempting to make a plan to save the Nepperhan Community Center (the building) as a resource for the community, the board of directors consulted witha variety of experts. After those consultations, the board of directors conduded that the only real option was to abandon Neppert,an Community Center,Inc.and form a new nonprofit to continue serving the community.
How Did the Board ofDirectors Allow this toHappen?
One of the main functions of a board of directors of a nonprofit corporation is to oversee corporate officers who manage the day-to-day activities of the o,ganization.
At all times, the board of directors heldquarterly meetings andeven adcfrtional special/emergencymeetings when appropriate.
At all times the board of directors listened to updates from it’sdirector JimBostic and his financial officer, George Devins.
At all timesJim Bostic and George Devins presented the board of directors witt, corporate financial reports tending to show that the organization was solvent – until suddenly, one day,the boardreceived a report from Jim Bostic and George Devins demonstrating that the corporation was indebted to creditors in excess of onemillion dollars.
At no time did the board of directors discover how bad the corporate finances really were until it was too late to do anything about it
Who were the Board of Directors for Nepperhan Community Center, Inc.?
At all times, the board of directors was properly constituted with 5-10 volunteer directors from the Yonkers community.
In any given year, just like many other board of directors, Nepperflan Community Center, Inc. would be populated with some old members and some new members. Over the years, in any given year, board members may have resigned for various reasons, while other board members were added to make sure the board of directors remained properly constituted.
For example, the board of directors that exlsted in 2020, when Jim Bostic revealed some of the truth about how bad finances were, is completely different from the Board of Directors that existed in 2024. During those four years, there wasa 98% turnover – nearly all of the 2020 board members resigned, littleby little; and those board vacancies were replaced littleby little with new board members over time.
However, presently, there are no longer any board members of Nepperhan Community Center, Inc. – as the organization is effectively defunct_
What will happen to theNeppeman Community Center?
Vanous members of the Black and Latino communities here in Yookers have formed a new nonprofit corporation: Neppef’han CUiturai Center, Inc.
This new nonprofit strives to follow in the steps of Mary Gaines and the original intent of the·01d• Nepperhan C.ommunity Center andupliftthose people in Yonkers who need the most help.
This organization is new and will need to partner with other nonprofits to serve the community. But, one day, hopefully in the near future, the organization will be strong enough to stand alone and fill thevoid created by the loss of Nepperhan Community Center, Inc.
Until then, the City of Yonkers will have to rely on the promises made by Mayor Mike Spano – who has promised to renovate the Nepperhan C.ommunity Center and keep it open and available asa resource to the surrounding community.
