WFTCC - About Our History

About Our History
West Farms Career Center Building

Phipps CDC was founded in 1972 to provide services to residents of Phipps Houses, New York's oldest not-for-profit housing developer. Responding to the needs of the local community, we expanded our focus and created services and programs that now include early childhood and youth development, ESL, basic education and technology, and employment and social services.

In 1996, Phipps CDC created the West Farms Career Center with the Board of Education of New York City. Located in a NYC Housing Authority building, the West Farms Career Center grew rapidly into a vibrant community center serving out-of-school youth and unemployed adults with GED classes, career counseling, and job placement services.

Understanding that the road from West Farms to college and career is not well defined we have created three interrelated centers of activity that work together to provide structured opportunity to Bronx residents.

Educational programs include basic literacy, GED, ESL, and Bridge to College Programs.
Technology programs provide instruction in classes ranging from computer basics to office programs and new media applications.
Employment services help people assess and polish their skills, investigate the job market, and find work.

Congressman Jose Serrano asks student about the new computers at the original West Farms Career Center

Our achievements did not go unnoticed. Based on our accomplishments and well-articulated plans we received, through the auspices of Congressman Jose Serrano, two $1 million appropriations from the US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), which allowed us to dramatically expand both the scope and scale of our services.

After moving to a new site across the street in 2003, the center became known as the West Farms Technology & Career Center. The original location of the West Farms Career Center was renamed as the West Farms Community Education Center where our College Bridge, Teen, and GED programs are located.

In both our institutional growth and our daily interactions with the people we serve, we remain committed to Henry Phipps' original vision, "to build and sustain enduring communities."