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The Redfern Houses Community Center in Far Rockaway was rescued for the second time in less than six months last Tuesday after a last minute state grant ensured funding through the end of the year.

The $65,000 grant came as the center was once again slated to close in October. It was reopened with a similar grant in May after a spike in violence at the Redfern Houses. The center was among several run by the New York City Housing Authority that was slated to close despite a 400 percent increase in murder rates there over the last year, according to the New York City Police Department.

“This is just one of the most underserved areas in the City,” Gabrielle Kurlander, president of the All Stars Project, said.

The All Stars, a non profit group promoting the performing arts in poor communities, has helped foster positive growth in the Far Rockaway community for more than two decades.

“We don’t provide the very basic services in terms of infrastructure of the community, somewhere safe where young people can go. For us to come in and enrich kids’ lives, which is what we’re all about, there needs to be that,” Kurlander said of the center. “Otherwise you just have a level of poverty and devastation that just should not be.”

Their stake in the success of the Redfern center became personal in May, when one of their members, Brandon Bethea, 15, was fatally shot outside the Redfern Houses.

So when news came that funding for the center had once again run out, the All Stars and members of the community organized a 36-hour vigil outside City Hall to prevent its closure.

Twenty-seven hours into the vigil, State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) was able to secure the new grant.

“In this period of fiscal uncertainty, we must continue to work to ensure successful programs like Redfern continue to receive support,” Smith said in a statement.

Major crimes in Redfern Houses decreased by 50 percent since the center was reopened, between June 1 and Sept. 28, compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD statistics.

“Even in the face of the fiscal crisis that has gripped our nation and state, we still need to make worthwhile investments in our local communities. The funding that has been identified to keep the Redfern Houses Community Center program open is critical for the Rockaway Peninsula at a time when the area has been shaken by violence,” Governor David A. Paterson said.

The $65,000 grant is enough to fund the center through the end of December. But the center’s ultimate fate still remains in question with a looming budget deficit and no announcements from the NYCHA to fund the center next year.

For now, Redfern residents and community activists are just happy the center isn’t closed.

“I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say it’s basically a life and death issue for these children,” Kurlander said. “You’re straight out going to save lives.”