In September of 2014, Neighborhood Women’s Collective, Inc. obtained its incorporation and later achieved its 501 (c)3 status in 2015. The NWC Thrift & Vintage Store/Community Engagement Center opened at 2494 Frederick Douglass Boulevard in 2016.  This was our permanent multi-use space where workshops were held, entrepreneurial skills practiced, creativity nurtured and job training acquired. Neighborhood Women’s Collective Thrift and Vintage Store closed permanently on July 31, 2020, due to stringent COVID 19 protocols, member illnesses, and financial hardships. As we closed our doors, we held curbside sales in which we provided the community with merchandise at vastly reduced prices. At the end of the month, we donated the majority of our inventory to various shelters in Harlem.  Additionally, we distributed thousands of masks as we continued to encourage education and self-sufficiency through our curbside book giveaway of more than 300 books. 

Although we have continued to offer online workshops and donate clothing to address acute needs, we recognized that we had to revise our strategy to restore pre-Covid levels of programming and further our impact.  In support of this imperative to pivot as an organization, NWC appointed an Advisory Committee whose mandate was to re-imagine NWC’s approach to fulfilling its mission in this new hybrid, virtual and in-person world. The Advisory Committee conducted an analysis of the current state of NWC and developed a strategic plan.