Morningside Heights Seminary Pledges $5M In Community Investment

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — A Morningside Heights seminary will invest $5 million in community groups to address homelessness and displacement in the neighborhood as part of the institution's campus renovation that includes the creation of market-rate housing.

Union Theological Seminary's community investment fund will benefit advocacy groups such as the Morningside Heights Community Coalition and P.A.’L.A.N.T.E. Harlem through funding from Lendlease and L+M Development, according to a press release. The fund will distribute a total of $5 million during a five-year span.

"For over one hundred years, Morningside Heights has been Union’s home, and as we prepare to renew our campus for the next hundred years, we also want to do our part to ensure this community is equally positioned for a bright future," Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary, said in a statement. "That’s why we’re making significant investments to reduce homelessness and displacement and to fight injustice in our community, in every form."

Funds will be distributed in three different areas: Direct investment in the Mornigside Heights community, strategic partnerships with service and advocacy organizations and developing social justice programming.

Of the money distributed by the fund, $700,000 will go directly to P.A.’L.A.N.T.E. Harlem to help with the organization's space needs and expand the group's anti-displacement programs and $400,000 will go directly to the Morningside Heights Community Fund to support social services in the neighborhood.

Union Theological Seminary's campus renovation will bring the institution's facilities up to modern standards. Work includes preservation of existing structures on the Broadway camps, located between West 120th and 122nd streets and accessibility upgrades.

In addition to campus improvements, the project also includes the construction of a mixed-use building featuring classrooms, offices, faculty residences and market-rate housing in partnership with Lendlease and L+M Development.

Photo by Shutterstock