A Conversation with Mike Bové, NIA Founder & President

Mike Bove pictured speaking at the NIA Owl’s Head Halloween Festival in 2019.

It all began in 1980. NIA’s creator and Board President, Michael A. Bové, was working in the community services division of the DSNY when one fateful day a mysterious stranger knocked on his door. The man turned out to be Monsignor Piombini and he was looking for help at the local Saint Rosalia Regina-Pacis Parish. Rather than simply responding to the Monsignor’s request to volunteer for a few hours at the church, the encounter unexpectedly resulted in the beginning of something much bigger.

At the time, the church had been vandalized, windows were broken, and the neighboring public school and playground were repeatedly defaced. But these were symptoms of a larger need; the community was struggling.

Remembering those early days, Mike recalls, “Things were getting very run down. Everywhere, the garbage was piled up along the avenues. No businesses wanted to be here. 14th Avenue was full of abandoned buildings and empty lots. I saw what was possible from my work in other neighborhoods and thought, why is nobody doing anything in our community here?”

With a vision of rehabilitating and revitalizing the neighborhood he loved, Mike and original NIA board members including Joseph Aievoli, Mario Costantino, Joseph Iervasi, and Nicolas Prata, along with Lucille Renaldi, began the work of unifying those in the area to pull together the resources they needed to improve the quality of life for all in the community.

Coverage of the NIA incorporation in the Home Reporter and Sunset News in 1981.

“No businesses wanted to be here. 14th Avenue was full of abandoned buildings and empty lots. I saw what was possible from my work in other neighborhoods and thought, why is nobody doing anything in our community here?”

Mike’s experiences as a community liaison for the Department of Sanitation, planted the seeds for the organization that became NIA Community Services Network. “If it wasn’t for Sanitation, I wouldn’t have had the moxie to say I can do it.” Through his work with the DSNY, Mike worked extensively with the Flatbush Development Corp., the Church Avenue Merchants Association, and others to bring resources into Flatbush during the late 1970s. He took what he learned from these experiences and applied it to helping rebuild his own community. 

But change didn’t happen overnight. The organization started out with neighborhood clean-ups, food distribution, and making efforts to get businesses to come back to the avenue. The first big undertaking was a large-scale clean-up project along 14th Avenue. Volunteers tackled the area between 61st and 65th Streets, including the train bridge and abandoned lots. With help from those in the Sanitation Department, Police Department’s Community Affairs division, and the Housing Preservation Department, trash was cleared, graffiti was cleaned-up, and metal signs with beautiful murals were installed to bring new vibrancy to 14th Avenue and its abandoned buildings. This area was an important starting point for NIA, because it encompassed the outer edges of three different community boards, 10, 11, and 12, as well as St. Rosalia’s Church. It was Mike’s goal not only for the community to benefit in the short-term from the clean-up, but to bring the three community boards together and highlight the needs of this neighborhood as a priority moving forward.

NIA neighborhood clean-up

Community kids come together for Earth Day back when NIA stood for “Neighborhood Improvement Association.”

“More than 100 people came out for that first clean-up and we never looked back,” Mike says. Next, through a series of food distributions, NIA worked with those in the community to help feed nearly 1,000 seniors and families in need. In 1981, NIA first incorporated as the “St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis Neighborhood Improvement Association,” a name that paid homage to the church where it all began. Despite the name, it was important to Mike that NIA was not a religious entity, but rather a community organization open to all, dedicated to supporting the whole community.

The growth took many years, but NIA’s efforts paid off. Businesses began to return to the area and buildings that once stood empty had new life. Streetlights, sidewalks, and other infrastructure improvements that the NIA petitioned for were responded to and the neighborhood began to thrive again. 

By the early 1990s, NIA was beginning a new chapter. Mary Anne Cino joined the organization and over the course of the following decade NIA's scope of services began to expand, new layers were added to the organization's structure, youth and family counseling services grew, and NIA's first after-school programs were launched. Additional members of the leadership team, including Rosa Casella and Phyllis Smeragliuolo and others that followed, helped to further solidify the direction the organization would take throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, expanding to support additional neighborhoods across Brooklyn.

“More than 100 people came out for that first clean-up and we never looked back”

From L to R: Executive Director Rosa Casella, Human Resources Specialist Franca Bove (Retired), CEO Mary Anne Cino & Assistant Executive Director Phyllis Smeragliuolo

Grand opening of NIA’s central office located at 6614 11th Avenue in Brooklyn.

“I would love to say I had a plan from the beginning of where it would all go. I had no plan, just people helping people who had heart and a love for the community.”

In 2009, NIA renewed its 501c3 status and updated the name to “NIA Community Services Network” to reflect the growing impact of the organization. Since then, NIA has experienced another new wave of development. Scaling up to nearly ten times the size it was just a decade ago, NIA now employs a workforce of over 800. Partnering with over 40 New York City public schools, NIA impacts thousands of lives daily through youth programs, family guidance services, community events, social services assistance, and senior support programs. Through all these years, the founding members have remained dedicated to NIA and its mission to strengthen and empower children, families, and communities.

When reflecting on the past 40 years, Mike says “I feel most proud of what we’ve accomplished together when I talk to the individuals we’ve helped and advised over the years.” He notes that hearing from someone whose life has been positively impacted by NIA means so much more than any recognition or awards the organization has ever received. "It’s not a job, it’s a movement." Helping people is a way of life, not just for Mike, but for hundreds of staff who have dedicated their careers to helping others through their work at NIA. "I would love to say I had a plan from the beginning of where it would all go. I had no plan, just people helping people who had heart and a love for the community."

NIA COVID-19 Care Package Giveaway in 2020

As we look forward to the future, NIA remains committed to addressing immediate and long-term needs of the communities we serve. Mike expresses his gratitude to see so many dedicated people who have devoted their skills and strengths to helping the organization continue to grow and adapt, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the organization continues to evolve, Mike feels proud, "To see NIA bringing more and more people together, staying true to the heartfelt nature of the organization. It’s truly a wonderful experience." 

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