Facilities
In December 1999, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol made an exciting step forward and purchased a brownstone in West Harlem. The building became the heart of our organization and a sanctuary for our members.
Our state-of-the-art technology center is used for tutoring and instructing our members in academic subjects and computer and digital video technology. In addition, the Technology Center is an ideal environment for members to do school work.
In addition to our Technology Center, we have a fully outfitted Mac based Music Studio with over 4,000 records, MPC Player, Digi Design and Protools. In this studio we record music, create podcasts, and develop other audio projects.
Our library is filled with volumes of Black and Latino literature and history, science fiction and fantasy, poetry, biography, and a range of reference materials.
The Club House includes a TV/Video Lounge used for viewing educational films and videos and for recreational “Movie Nights.” The game room is stocked with dozens of board and video games for when our members want to chill out and relax.
The Mind, Body & Spirit Room is where we conduct activities that bring out the essential connection between one’s strength, creativity, critical thinking skills, and overall well-being. We help youth identify and develop their unique strengths and talents through classes such as yoga, arts and crafts, and percussion.
Our kitchen allows us to offer healthy snacks, and on special occasions, full meals, to our members. It is also used to teach nutrition and survival cooking classes.
Our backyard garden adjoins a city-owned GreenThumb garden, and both are landscaped and maintained by our members and staff.
In March 2007, with support from the Ford Foundation, Charles Hayden Foundation, Booth Ferris Foundation, and Amalgamated Bank, we purchased the lot adjacent to our brownstone. This enabled us to expand our facilities and better accommodate our many program activities. Our plan is to build an environmentally green building that wraps around and above our brownstone. This will provide a visual reminder of a space that has special significance to our members and community. The Jonathan Rose Companies and The Whelan Group are our consultants on this capital project.
What brought me to Brotherhood/Sister Sol is that this organization is attempting to find relevant solutions to the desperate situations facing our young people in the community. The services they provide are invaluable. They are a significant island in a vast sea.
I’ve stood on platforms around the world…many occasions that would be…auspicious, important. I have been anointed, I have been blessed and I have been admired, and I am now at my eighty-third year in life. I can honestly say with total recall, that no other event has ever meant this much to me as this evening, this very moment, in my public life.
