{"id":38700,"date":"2025-11-13T21:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/38700\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T21:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:03:08","slug":"east-harlem-nonprofit-faces-funding-shortfall-after-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/38700\/","title":{"rendered":"East Harlem nonprofit faces funding shortfall after move"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was just a few years ago George Gallego excitedly showed off the gym he spent years building in East Harlem.<\/p>\n

“Having a space that understands your unique needs is extremely important,” he said as he explained how each piece of equipment is accessible to anyone with a disability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

The Axis Project opened a gym in East Harlem in 2023
\n
The gym is accessible to everyone, part of the nonprofit’s efforts to build wellness and fitness for all
\n
The building where the Axis Project leased space is being demolished, and the nonprofit was forced out in October\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Axis Project is a nonprofit that focuses on witness and wellness for all. From the boxing bags to the cycling machines, Gallego explained why everything looked and was built the way it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He understands the struggle firsthand as a paraplegic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It took me almost 10 years to kind of finally accept the world of spinal cord injury,”\u00a0he told NY1 in 2023<\/a>. “It took me that long to love myself.”<\/p>\n

The gym had more than 100 members that would come at least once a week. That is, until last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gallego met NY1 at his East Harlem gym again in late October. But all the equipment was boxed up or wrapped up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d he said, staring at what was left of his gym.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The building is set to be sold and demolished. So Gallego had to be out by Halloween.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI cried for days,\u201d he admitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The space he poured his heart into transforming was gone. And for the nonprofit, it meant starting over, again. His gyms closed during the pandemic as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gallego has found a new space about a half mile away, but that\u2019s just the beginning of the work that lies ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery wall with an X will be demolished,” he said, pointing to a floor plan with X’s seemingly everywhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said there are a ton of new costs: the renovations, the higher rent, the expense moving all the custom-made equipment, reassembling it and footing the bill for members while Axis goes through the monthslong process of re-certifying at the new spot with insurance companies.<\/p>\n

Gallego predicted his expenses could rise by a quarter million dollars in a matter of months \u2014 money the nonprofit does not have, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He raced in the New York City Marathon in November along with seven others, raising money for the Axis Project. They raised close to $50,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, it\u2019s about saving Axis,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he believes they can survive another half year if the costs are as high as he predicts.<\/p>\n

“So just yesterday someone asked me, ‘George, why don\u2019t you just close the doors? Take a break. You\u2019ve been doing this a long time,'” he said. “And we know you\u2019re exhausted. And I can\u2019t. I can\u2019t close the doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he has seen the difference the Axis Project has made in many lives of people in the disability community who use the gym and the nonprofit’s resources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was just a few years ago George Gallego excitedly showed off the gym he spent years building…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[11101,25,3801,75,84,83,9,24,12,63,319,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-38700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-app-sports","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-eric-feldman","11":"tag-manhattan","12":"tag-manhattan-headlines","13":"tag-manhattan-news","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}