Jones Visits Spring Valley MLK Center

On Wednesday, U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones (D-NY) visited his hometown of Spring Valley, to deliver $295,000 in funding for the Martin Luther King (MLK) Multi-Purpose Center. The MLK Center provides necessary community programs for adults and older adults, children, and families. For more than 40 years, the MLK Center has supported Rockland residents with programs  that supply  child care, healthcare, employment opportunities, food pantries and nutrition assistance, and general advocacy. The new funding will be used to transform a vacant lot in the village into to a safe and open community green space for children and adults.

Congressman Jones was joined by Lisa Kaess, co-president of the MLK Center Board of Directors, Nathan Mungin III, CEO of the MLK Center, Deborah Smith, co-president of the MLK Center Board of Directors, Tammy Goss, VP of the Spring Valley NAACP, and Rockland County Legislator Toney Earl.

“Public outdoor spaces are essential for community-building, for gathering, for health, for wellness, for staying out of trouble, and for creating a sense of home outside the home. After months of advocating in Congress for funds for community projects in our district, I’m thrilled to deliver this essential funding to help the MLK Center create a much-needed Community Green,” said Congressman Jones. “I know that if my neighborhood in Spring Valley had a Community Green like the MLK Center will create with this funding, I would have been there. By bringing resources back to invest in our community, we can help right the institutional wrongs that have historically stripped Black and Brown communities of resources like this.”

“It is tremendously gratifying to see this project, which dates back to 2016, become a reality. We so appreciate Congressman Jones’ efforts on behalf of the Beloved Community,” said Lisa Kaess, Co-President of the Board of Directors, Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center.

Congressman Jones secured $8.2 million for nine community projects throughout Rockland and Westchester Counties in the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus package passed in March.

  MLK, MLK Center Board, spring valley, U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones