Still rebuilding from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, Coney Island residents welcomed a sign of hope for the future when Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens held a groundbreaking ceremony for an early childhood center set to open in 2017.

Located on West 15th St., between Neptune and Mermaid aves., the new 17,000-square foot center will provide services to 75 local preschoolers, ages three-to-five, from moderate- to low-income households. It replaces the Madeleine Jones Head Start Center that was destroyed by the storm.

“Today is so special and meaningful to all of us. It’s a sign of Coney Island rebuilding,” said Msgr. Alfred LoPinto, CEO of Catholic Charities as he stood in rocks and dirt amid the hollowed-out remains of the former center.

Symbol of Resiliency

“This new childcare center will be an important symbol for the neighborhood’s resiliency and will to survive,” he said.

Set to be elevated above the floodplain, the new steel-reinforced facility will have three stories and feature five classrooms, outdoor play areas, a kitchen, multi-purpose room and administrative and utility spaces.

Major funding is being provided by Hurricane Sandy relief grants from the federal Head Start Office, under the direction of the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The new building will be named for Charles F. Murphy, a member of Catholic Charities board of trustees, and senior vice president of New York operations for Turner Construction Company. Raised on Long Island, Murphy now resides in New Jersey. He attended the ceremony with his wife and children and two siblings.

On having the building named for him, Murphy said, “It’s a great honor and very humbling.
“I think of all the great works that Catholic Charities does, and to be part of them being back here in Coney Island rebuilding and bringing back a Head Start program is something very special.”

The new building replaces Catholic Charities’ Madeleine Jones Center, which opened in 1979.

Flooding, sand damage and mold after Hurricane Sandy caused the center to permanently shut down in November, 2012. Area children were bused to another Catholic Charities site in Flatbush until August, 2013.

Since then, many parents opted to place their children with one of Catholic Charities’ home-based childcare providers, explained Desiree Jackson-Fryson, Catholic Charities’ vice president for early childhood services and Head Start director.

More Than Childcare

More than just providing childcare, Jackson-Fryson said Catholic Charities additionally helps families connect “to different resources, health referrals, case management,” as well as housing, disability services and food pantries, if needed.

“We also help them figure out their finances and how to better maintain themselves so we can help them become self-sufficient,” she said.

Among those present at the groundbreaking ceremony were Carolyn Baker, regional manager of the federal Office of Head Start; Diana Reyna, deputy borough president for Brooklyn; and City Councilman Mark Treyger. Father Patrick Keating, Catholic Charities’ chief of staff, offered an opening prayer.

Murphy, along with Catholic Charities representatives and elected officials drove shovels into the dirt for the ceremonial groundbreaking after the formal program. Also holding a shovel were Michelle Cooper and her 4-year-old daughter Deanah Augustin.

A working mom, Cooper relied on the Madeleine Jones Center to provide a safe and educational environment for her children. She knew the quality care it provided because she went to preschool there when her mother worked at the site.

When the hurricane hit, she went without childcare for two weeks before she found one of Catholic Charities home-based childcare centers on West 22nd St. It’s a further distance to travel in the morning, but it meets her needs.

Cooper said the new center will be “a blessing” in the community. “I can’t wait to tell everybody there’s a new school coming.”

And familiar faces will be returning to the community as well. Early childhood instructor Deborah Blowe, who currently works at a Catholic Charities site in Flatbush, looks forward to once again serving the families in her Coney Island neighborhood.

“When Sandy hit, we cried with the parents,” she said. “They were in such despair. They didn’t know what they were going to do.

“That’s why today is such a great accomplishment. It’s letting the community know we are still there for them, and we will be back,” she said.