We're $1.5 million away from opening the doors.

After four years of searching, planning, and securing commitments, Muslim Community Network is on the verge of something that seemed impossible just a few years ago: purchasing a permanent home at 866 2nd Avenue in the heart of Manhattan.

This isn't a dream or a feasibility study anymore. The property is identified. MCN has raised $4 million in capital funding. Legal teams are working.  The deal is structured and ready to close.

What stands between us and the finish line is $1.5 million in community-backed funding to cover closing costs, financing, and the essential work of turning an empty space into a functioning Cultural and Education Center.

This is the last mile. And we need you to walk it with us.

What Took Four Years to Build

Since 2021, MCN has been on an exhaustive search for the right space—one that could anchor Muslim community life in Manhattan while serving as a hub for the coalitions, campaigns, and collaborations that advance justice across New York City.

Finding property in Manhattan is hard enough. Finding property that meets the needs of a growing nonprofit, is accessible to the communities we serve, and is financially viable took painstaking work: feasibility studies, site visits, negotiations, partnership conversations, and countless hours navigating city systems to secure capital funding that rarely goes to Muslim-led organizations.

That $4 million in capital funding didn't just appear. It represents years of advocacy, relationship-building and making the case that Muslim communities deserve the same investment in permanent infrastructure that has been extended to other communities throughout the city's history.

Now we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity. And it won't wait.

What 866 2nd Avenue Will Become

This building will be more than MCN's headquarters. It will be a shared home for the movements and communities working to build a more just New York.

A convening space for nonprofit partners working on immigration justice, hate crime prevention, civil rights advocacy, and community safety. Organizations across the city need trusted space to strategize, train organizers, host know-your-rights workshops, and plan coordinated responses to rising hate and policy threats. This center will serve that need.

A Muslim cultural exhibition space where art, history, storytelling, and public programming challenge stereotypes and reflect the extraordinary diversity of Muslim life in America. Too often, Muslim culture is filtered through crisis or misunderstanding. This space will showcase the creativity, intellectual contributions, and everyday beauty of Muslim New York on our own terms.

A home for families and youth where young people can develop leadership skills, participate in civic learning programs, and see themselves reflected in the work of building stronger communities. Where parents can access legal consultations in private, dignified settings. Where neighbors can gather without the constraints of borrowed space or the fear of displacement.

A visible anchor in one of the most influential cities in the world—proof that Muslim communities belong here, contribute here, and are building for the long term.

The space includes meeting rooms, a computer lab, private consultation areas, flexible workshop and event space, and room designed specifically for multigenerational programming. It's built to be used hard, by many people, for many purposes, across many years.

Why This Matters Now

Muslim Community Network was founded in the aftermath of 9/11, when Muslim New Yorkers faced fear, surveillance, and isolation unlike anything most had experienced. For more than two decades, MCN has responded to that mandate: ensuring Muslims have resources, representation, and community when they need it most.

But operating without a permanent home has always limited what's possible. Programs have been coordinated out of shared WeWork offices. Legal clinics happen in spaces that aren't truly private. Youth programs depend on borrowed rooms. Strategy sessions are scheduled around availability rather than urgency.

And the external pressures haven't eased. Hate incidents are rising. Immigrant communities are facing intensified enforcement. Young people are navigating a political climate that questions their belonging. The need for trusted, stable, community-controlled infrastructure has never been greater.

Meanwhile, opportunities to secure affordable space in Manhattan continue to disappear. Organizations that waited, hoping costs would come down or another option would emerge, have been priced out entirely or pushed to the margins.

This moment—this property, this funding alignment, this campaign—will not come again.

Who We Are

Muslim Community Network is a nonprofit with a staff of 10 delivering programs that reach nearly 5,000 people each year across youth development, civic education, legal support, advocacy, and interfaith organizing.

Our team reflects the global diversity of Muslim New York, with lived experience and cultural fluency rooted in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. That diversity shapes how we show up—with language access, cultural respect, and an understanding of what it means to be Muslim in America that can't be learned from a handbook.

For years, we've done this work without a permanent home. Now we're building one—not just for ourselves, but for the generation of organizers, artists, advocates, and young people who will carry this work forward long after we're gone.

Where the $1.5 Million Goes

This campaign funds the final costs required to close on the property and open the center to the community:

• $250,000 – Closing costs
• $773,000 – Financing costs
• $175,000 – Project management
• $300,000 – Outfitting and equipment (furniture, technology, program infrastructure)

Total: $1,500,000

If we exceed our goal, additional funds will support early operating needs and expand community access during the center's first year.

How You Become Part of This

Donate. Any amount moves us closer. Large gifts accelerate momentum. Small gifts build the broad base of support that proves this matters to hundreds of people, not just a few funders.

Share this campaign with 10 people who care about Muslim community, New York City, immigrant justice, or the long-term work of building institutions that endure.

Offer a match. Even $1,000–$10,000 in matching funds creates urgency and inspires others to give now.

Become a campaign ambassador. Commit to raising $500, $1,000, or $5,000 within your own networks. We'll support you with tools, language, and updates.

Make du'a. Keep this project in your prayers and your conversations. Remind people what's at stake and what's possible.

What Happens Next

We are racing toward a closing date. Every week that passes brings us closer to the deadline—and closer to the risk that this opportunity slips away.

Four years of work have brought us here. $4 million in commitments have brought us here. Relationships with elected officials, nonprofit partners, and Muslim communities across the city have brought us here.

Now it's your turn.

This campaign isn't about helping MCN survive another year. It's about securing a permanent home for Muslim leadership, Muslim culture, and Muslim belonging in New York City. It's about making sure that 20 years from now, young people walk into a building that their parents and grandparents helped build—and know they have a place in this city.

Donate today. Share widely. Let's finish what we started.