Tag Archive for: #fvwopp

TownTalk: FVW Opportunity Focused On Supporting Individuals, Communities To Be Their Best

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Franklin Vance Warren Opportunity provides a multitude of programs throughout its service area that gets right to the heart of its mission of supporting people and helping them make their lives better.

For Dr. Abdul Rasheed, CEO and senior advisor to the FVWOpp board of directors, that’s what it’s all about. Rasheed said a community must leverage its assets in order to excel. “The first thing that we have to do is invest in our assets,” he said on Tuesday’s TownTalk. “Our Number 1 asset is people.”

Rasheed and Roy Brown, FVWOpp’s Media and Communications coordinator, talked about an upcoming podcast and live conversation called “Where Our DOGs At?” whose target audience includes males in the community.

DOG stands for “Dads on Guard,” Rasheed explained, and he said FVW is launching the live conversation and podcast to help men of all ages identify positive norms and principles, creating a “moral compass” to help guide men in their own lives and then translating that to their own families and the larger community.

Several local leaders are scheduled to take part in the program, including Eric Sanchez, founder of Henderson Collegiate, Jamon Glover, Incredible Years Program Coordinator at Vance County Cooperative Extension and Anthony Ragland, owner of Southern Charm event venue in downtown Henderson.

“All of these young men are excellent role models that even an old dog like myself can learn from,” Rasheed said. He and Brown will also participate in the conversations, rounding out the complement of young fathers and community leaders.

FVWOpp will be making announcements on its social media platforms soon about how to participate in the program.

With a $10,000 grant from Triangle North Healthcare Foundation, Rasheed said FVWOpp is going to be able to strengthen its capacity to reach into the community by building positive pathways that allow individuals to survive and thrive.

The theme of the first podcast is safety and gun violence. “We do have a problem here in our area,” Rasheed said. “I think our police are doing the best job they can with the resources they have available to them. We have to rally and support law enforcement in our community,” he said.

Offering young people ways to access workforce development, certificate programs, paths to graduation and mental health resources help young men look to something other than criminal activity, guns and violence.

When Brown was in the Navy, he got to travel extensively and lived in U.S. cities where he saw Black professionals – doctors, lawyers, business people – being successful in places that supported them.

“When I came back home, I thought, ‘why can’t we do that here?’” Brown said. Programs like the Community Services Block Grant that helps individuals pursue certificate programs that help them get better jobs is just one program that FVWOpp works with.

The Section 8 program is another way to support renters secure housing with private property owners by providing a rental subsidy.

A weatherization program helps mostly senior adults and people with disabilities better insulate their homes to keep them warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

These programs, among others offered by FVWOpp help people in the community establish a better quality of life. Helping individuals helps neighborhoods, too, which ripples out into the larger community, Rasheed said.

Partnerships with city and county reap benefits, too. The area’s largest Headstart location is at the former Eaton Johnson campus, with upwards of 100 children getting high-quality instruction in 5-star state certified classrooms.

This Thursday, Oct. 2, at 11 a.m., FVWOpp will welcome Assistant Secretary for Rural Economic Development at the N.C. Dept. of Commerce Reginald Speight to Henderson. This arm of the state government is focused on strengthening rural communities across the state.

Rasheed invites the community to attend this event as a way to establish relationships for positive growth and development for the area.

Visit www.fvwopp.com to learn about all the programs the center offers.

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TownTalk: Franklin-Vance-Warren Launches $3M Jubilee Center Project

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Franklin-Vance-Warren Opportunity, Inc. occupies the red brick building with the low profile up on the hill at 180 S. Beckford Dr. Through its efforts over the course of the last 60 years, FVWOPP has woven itself into the fabric of the communities it serves.

From this location, FVWOPP interacts with the community through a variety of programs that benefit pre-school age children all the way up to senior adults. The building began as Jubilee Hospital, and once served as Henderson City Hall.

By the time Abdul Sm Rasheed joined about five years ago as FVW’s CEO and senior advisor to the board, he said the first thing they had to do was fix the roof.

Community leaders gathered on Aug. 5 to launch a $3 million Jubilee Center renovation and transformation of the property, which includes much more than fixing a leaky roof. And Rasheed said it’s one way to give the facility new life by embracing its history and the role it played locally, statewide and beyond.

“We’re hoping that as we give the Jubilee facility new life,” Rasheed explained, “it will give inspiration, particularly to our young people in our community, and have them see how the future can look.”

“This project really grows out of my love for my community,” he said. “I love my community…I’m a product of this community and not a victim of all the history that some of us may want to point to and embrace. I’d rather embrace the triumphs of our community, and I consider what we are trying to do today with the Jubilee Center is a triumph that we want to announce to the world.”

The artist renderings of the project reflect the idea of bringing new life to the building. It’s not a restoration project, but more of a reimagining. Rasheed said the project isn’t abandoning the history, “but we do want to advance the image, the look, hopefully the inspiration that this facility can bring to all citizens of our community and visitors to our community.”

Roy Brown, Jr. is FVWOPP’s media and communications coordinator, and he said the groundbreaking event “Celebrating Triumphs” is bringing FVWOPP into the 21st century. Longtime programs like Head Start and Section 8 housing are making room for new programs like YouthBuild as some of the services that FVW offers.

“We want to present the public something nice,” Brown said. In addition to the outward transformation, there are plans for the building’s interior to honor numerous African Americans who have had a lasting effect on their communities. “It’s inspirational to look at a building, and the history, and where we came from and where we’re going…to inspire change throughout the whole city.”

The bulk of the funding – $2.7 million came from a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture lending program for small, rural communities.

Another $150,000 came from the Cannon Foundation and the roof repairs a few years ago were made possible by a $150,000 loan from First National Bank.

Rasheed’s 40+ years in the area of community development have cemented for him the need for public/private partnerships in projects like this.

“Public/private is the only way to address our major issues in our communities and neighborhoods,” he said.

The Section 8 housing program is sort of like that public/private partnership. The program subsidizes rents for qualified individuals.

Rasheed said it’s a $3 million initiative that brings dollars into the community for residents “to realize stable, safe housing” and pays landlords directly. “That’s a direct investment into local real estate owners,” he said.

The YouthBuild program provides wraparound services for young people 16-24 years who want to get their GED or trade certificate to make themselves employable. Rasheed said the program has helped 65 or so young people so far.

The Early Head Start and Head Start programs may be familiar to many, providing a preschool education experience before kindergarten. There are close to 500 children in both programs, he added.

With a current annual budget of about $12 million, Rasheed said there are more than 100 employees on the FVW payroll. “It has been bringing capital into this community and investing that capital into people to improve themselves and contribute to the health of the community,” he said.

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