About Us

Mission

To improve the quality of life for all residents of Central Islip. Our emphasis is to increase the economic status of our community by providing services of personal and community growth opportunities.

Goals

We ensure a path to sustainable homeownership, financial literacy education, job skills and stabilize the economic structure. The Council’s focus is Central Islip and its neighboring communities.

Programs

Over the years, the Council has purchased and rehabbed more than 19 homes for resale to lower-income buyers or a rental for low-income tenants; and the constructed 10 new affordable homes for 1st time, lower-income buyers, with 1 home recently sold in 2017. The Council restored the historic 5 acres Heines Homestead in downtown Central Islip for our community. We founded the Central Islip Historic Preservation Society, the Central Islip Islandia Chamber of Commerce, and the Central Islip Main Street Alliance. We coordinate downtown improvement efforts for our community and handle many code enforcement and crime control complaints. Our food pantry serves over 4000 needy people annually. We also implement school programs, youth programs, and community workshops, foreclosure intervention and financial literacy counseling programs, home safety, home buying process, and energy conservation.

 

History

The Central Islip Civic Council was established in 1966 and incorporated as a not for profit agency in 1980. The Central Islip Civic Council began as a coalition of neighborhood civic associations and originally our emphasis was on normal civic concerns such as traffic, zoning, and street lighting. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Council worked closely with the Town of Islip to promote Central Islip and to help market homes that were built and rehabbed by the Town. The Council volunteers worked closely with the Town to make the suburban homesteading plan a big success. In the early 1980s, the Central Islip Civic Council was certified as a Neighborhood Preservation Company under the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal. The funding allowed the Council to be a staffed agency and to greatly expand our housing and community renewal work. It also gave us the ability to secure over one billion dollars in the last 15 years in other grant monies for our Central Islip community. The Central Islip Civic Council has been at the forefront of housing, planning, and revitalization efforts for our community since our incorporation in 1980.

 

OUR DEDICATED TEAM

Directors

Nancy Vargas Johnson – President

Annette Bernard – 1st Vice President

Renee Johnson – 2nd Vice President/Corporate Secretary

Carol Meyers – Treasurer        

Members

William Dungee – Technology Consultant

Renee Giorgini – Attorney

Amy Flores – Mortgage Professional

Amaury Hernandez – Banker

Beverly Rivera – Retired

Josephine Walsh – MSW Case Worker

Jim Willow – Community Business        

Key Staff

Joan Crescitelli – Executive Director

Nancy Manfredonia – Special Projects Coordinator        

Staff

Rhonda Aiello – Property Manager/Intake Coordinator

Estela Barros – Housing Counselor

Reginald Burke – Maintenance

Lola Harvey – Housing Educator

Judy LaVergne – CPA Consultant