The Early Childhood & Family Hub is starting in Washington Heights.
We are building a first-of-its-kind integrated community center for children ages 0–5 and their caregivers — a free, welcoming space where families can play, learn, connect, and access the support they need, all under one roof.
Washington Heights is resilient and resourceful — but families here navigate genuine structural barriers every day. Language, income, immigration status, and fragmented services make it harder for families to access what their children need during the most critical years of development.
This is a community that has built extraordinary institutions from the ground up, in multiple languages, across generations. The Hub is the next one. By bringing everything under one roof, free and welcoming, it removes the friction that stands between families and the support they deserve.
Every program at the Hub will be developed with — and often co-led by an existing early childhood collaborative member — artists, educators, and community organizations rooted in Washington Heights. Culturally responsive, bilingual, and completely free.
Free play builds gross motor skills, social skills, and the caregiver-child bond.
In partnership with Nido de Esperanza — social workers paired with families from day one through age five.
Creativity and self-expression — led by local artists bringing Washington Heights' visual culture to life.
From Baby & Me to movement classes — music builds language, motor skills, and joy.
Bilingual story hours led by organizations such as Linc — building the love of reading in English and Spanish.
Evaluators on-site to identify and support children who may benefit from additional resources.
Grow, cook, and learn together — the joy of making food from scratch.
A warm café where caregivers find connection and community. A place to breathe, belong, and be seen.
Financial literacy, legal navigation, immigration support, and benefits enrollment — all at the Hub.
Play, art, music, literacy, and early intervention — every program designed to nurture the whole child.
Parenting programs, nutrition, breastfeeding support, and self-sufficiency services.
Peer networks, the Cafe, and cultural programming — a true third space where caregivers find one another.
The Hub is designed to feel like somewhere families want to spend the whole day — warm, beautiful, and built for the full breadth of community life. A true third space.
The Hub has been shaped from its earliest days with input from local families, community collaborators, and experts in early childhood development. A community steering committee has guided the project and will continue to provide oversight as we grow.
A collective of over 25 child-facing agencies in Northern Manhattan, co-led by leading community organizations. UMECC guides the development and programming of the Hub, ensuring deep community alignment at every step.
Working with the most vulnerable babies in their first 1,000 days of life. Nido co-inhabits the Hub space and leads our parenting program — a founding partner and kindred spirit.
Early childhood is the single greatest opportunity to shape a life. The brain develops faster in the first three years than at any other point — and the environment a child grows up in determines how much of that potential is realized.
When families have access to the right support, the right community, and the right space, children thrive. And when children thrive, so do families, neighborhoods, and cities.
The Hub is designed to ensure that the children of Washington Heights — one of the most culturally extraordinary communities in America — have every advantage in that critical window.
"The highest return on investment in education comes from investing in the earliest years of a child's life."— James Heckman, Nobel Laureate in Economics · The Heckman Equation, 2012
This community has the resilience and the determination — now it just needs the resources. The Hub gives it a place to show up, come together, and make sure every child gets the extraordinary start they deserve.
To discuss a gift or request more information, please reach out directly:
Admin@ECFHub.org