Since inception, The Westchester Community Foundation has operated as an affiliate of The New York Community Trust.
As part of our centennial celebrations, we are creating a single, unified organization to more powerfully advocate for our region with one voice.
We will still maintain our physical offices in Westchester with the same dedicated staff who will continue to honor and build upon our relationships with local nonprofits and communities.
You can now find us at: https://www.thenytrust.org/westchester/
The Westchester Index is at westchesterindex.org.
The New York Community Trust. For Westchester. Forever.
Download this story and the full 2022 Fall Newsletter here.
Through the generosity of Nay Wasicsko, students like Mia Williams are sure to contribute to a brighter future in Yonkers.
The late Nicholas Wasicsko was 28 years old when he was elected as the 37th mayor of the City of Yonkers in 1987. At the time, Yonkers was under a consent decree as a result of a lawsuit against the City by the Yonkers NAACP and the U.S. Department of Justice, which challenged segregated housing in the city. As mayor, Nick Wasicsko fought to persuade the City Council, which sought to defy the terms of the decree, to develop a plan for integration instead. Nick Wasicsko’s struggle to move the city he loved forward are documented in the HBO series “Show Me A Hero” and the documentary “Brick-by-Brick, A Civil Rights Story.”
Three months after Nick was found dead from an apparent suicide in 1993, his widow, Nay, established a fund in the Westchester Community Foundation to honor his memory and values. The Nicholas C. Wasicsko Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for college-bound Yonkers residents interested in government, law and/or law enforcement.
Earlier this year Nay met Mia Williams, a recent scholarship recipient who is a sophomore at Howard University. Mia is a graduate of programs provided by Yonkers Partners in Education, which prepares students for college success. At the meeting, Mia shared her college experience with Nay and her interest in pursuing a career in law. Nay shared her passion for providing opportunities for young people and how other scholarship recipients are carrying the legacy of Nicholas Wasicsko into the world.
