Our History

The history of La Peninsula Community Organization (La Pen) began in 1964, when the Hunts Point Coordinating Council Inc. (HPCC) was founded by Ms. Daisy Bradshaw, Board president, and Mr. Fred Williams, Board chairman, also known as the “Mama and Papa of Hunts Point’s Head Start.” HPCC operated their first Head Start program at 710 Coster Street, a low-income neighborhood located on a peninsula in Hunts Point. In 1965, during former President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union speech, he declared the “War on Poverty.” He signed a legislative bill to ensure that a Head Start model was designed to help break the cycle of poverty, providing preschool children from low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their educational, social and emotional, health, nutritional, and psychological needs.

In 1981, the South Bronx was plagued by skyrocketing crime rates, arson, unemployment, abandoned buildings, and poverty. With the establishment of the new demands of Head Start Performance Standards, La Peninsula Community Organization Inc. became a spin-off of Hunts Point Coordinating Council Inc. and was awarded its first federal Head Start contract.