Monday, November 2, 2026
At a meeting last month, leaders of the Economic Opportunities Commission of Nassau County urged local families to fill vacant slots in the Head Start program, which the EOC is now operating at the former Five Towns Community Center, on Lawrence Avenue in Lawrence.
The commission, which was a product of the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, is dedicated to supporting youth and low-income Nassau County residents with community programs and services, officials wrote on its website. Head Start, a program under the EOC umbrella, promotes children’s success in school as well as their health and well-being.
The informational meeting, on Nov. 21, took place at the Lawrence Avenue building, which, in addition to housing Five Towns Head Start, is the future home of Lawrence Head Start, according to EOC officials.
Eric Poulson, the commission’s chief executive officer; Andre Clark, chief financial officer; MelRose Corley, deputy director of operations; LaVonne Erskine, human resources director; Sylvester Bush, community action program services director; Gina Marie Dimatos, program director of Head Start; and Anita Shiver-Kennedy, Head Start’s deputy executive director, spoke about the organization’s commitment to serving the Five Towns and how best to address the community’s needs.
“We have had some changes in the Five Towns Community Center,” Shiver-Kennedy said, “but we want you know that there is one thing that has been stable here, and the only tenant in this building right now is our Head Start Program.”
The community center’s 100-year lease with the county ended on July 3, and the county assumed control. At a Sept. 30 news conference, County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced that the building would be demolished, and that the county Police Activity League, along with Operation Overwatch, a unit of the county Police Department, would move on to the property, where a new facility will be built. Blakeman said that the Head Start Program would continue as long as the building is standing.
“For many, many years, the Five Towns Community Center operated, but in the last 10 years, we’ve seen the steady decline of the operations here,” Blakeman said in September. “The building had fallen into disrepair, and we felt that we needed to make a change to improve conditions here, and provide a community center that the people can be proud of in this community.”
At the Nov. 21 meeting, Shiver-Kennedy urged families to get involved in the Head Start program, which had 16 openings remaining, serving 76 children total. She added that the program guidelines have changed. In the past, participants had to have incomes that were below poverty guidelines, but Head Start now serves families with incomes over that threshold.
Corley conducted an impromptu survey on paper at the meeting, asking attendees to identify their most pressing concerns in the hope that the EOC can offer its support. Some areas the attendees noted included housing, immigration services, health insurance and employment services.
“We have a 12-person committee” within the EOC, Corley said, “and we are looking at all of these pieces of paper that you give us, then we’re going to consolidate under three major goals. Then we’re going to make sure that our programs are responsive — maybe not for all of them, but to the top three things that you say that matter.”
From there, Corley said, the Five Towns-specific program plan will be submitted to the EOC board of directors in June for its approval, and the plan will be in effect for the next five years.
Sasha Young, founder of Gammy’s Pantry, which formerly operated at the community center, said she was skeptical of the county’s plans for the facility.
“Both times that our county executive has mentioned the EOC program being there, he stated that it’s while the building is there,” Young said. “It’s never mentioned that it will be moved to the new building once the new building has been erected.”
Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Blakeman, had not responded to numerous requests for comment on the status of the property as the Herald went to press.
