Charlotte Competition
Aetna Voices of Health Competition

Renaissance West Community Initiative (RWCI)

 

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Renaissance West Community Initiative (RWCI)



Renaissance West Community Initiative (RWCI) is ending inter-generational poverty through holistic community revitalization. Our Mission is to promote collaborative community centered on: Quality Housing, Education, Health and Wellness, and Opportunity. In 2012, RWCI was established to revitalize a public housing site into a vibrant village - The Renaissance, which completed construction in 2016 with 334 mixed-income housing units. RWCI is the "Community Quarterback" coordinating resources and partnerships.

On-site quality education is a critical pillar of RWCI. Access to early education is key in ultimately creating economic stability for families. The Howard Levine Child Development Center is the first component of our cradle-to-career education continuum, serving children 6 weeks to 5 years-old. Renaissance West STEAM Academy is a Pre-K-8th grade public school in the neighborhood, which also serves as a community center and is open extended hours for program and out-of-school opportunities.

RWCI is a Purpose Built Community, a model proven to transform areas of concentrated urban poverty into positive sustainable neighborhoods. Our Care Coordinators provide wraparound services to residents as they move toward self-sufficiency, including: financial literacy classes, workforce training, health and wellness programs, and skills development.

Renaissance West Community Initiative (RWCI) tackles upward mobility and poverty through a holistic two-generation approach in a place-based setting. We remove barriers to success for hard-working families, focusing on social determinants of health: economic stability, education, neighborhood environment, preventive healthcare access.

Residents face daily challenges of toxic stress, perpetuating conditions where economic mobility is stifled and poverty repeats itself over generations. Located in a Food/Healthcare Desert, 88% of households are headed by young, single mothers, working towards high school diplomas, and advancing careers. Most of our youngest children had no formal early education and 25% arrive with speech and hearing challenges.

RWCI embraces the "Purpose Built Community" model, providing proven solutions:

Mixed-income housing

  • Strengthen family through housing stability with two-generation approach\;
  • Create environments elevating standard-of-living, while providing affordable housing options.

Cradle-to-career education pipeline

  • Child Development Center: low student-teacher ratios prepare children for kindergarten\;
  • Pre-K through 8th grade STEAM Academy: successfully proven curriculum for children from high poverty neighborhoods incorporates working with families on social/emotional issues\;
  • GED, college prep, workforce development for high school students/adults.

Community health and wellness

  • Life Navigators provide case management, helping families determine services needed and goal-setting\;
  • Improved healthcare access.

  • How do you break the cycle of poverty?
  • How do you help children achieve in school when affected by toxic stress?
  • How do you help low-income citizens achieve self-sufficiency?

Your vote for Renaissance West Community Initiative helps us address these pressing issues in Charlotte through proven solutions:

  • RWCI's Vision: to end inter-generational cycles of poverty through housing stability, quality education, skills-building and workforce development.
  • RWCI's onsite education village provides quality education from birth to eighth grade\; wraparound services help children arrive "school-ready," bringing added resources for children from low-income backgrounds.
  • RWCI fosters successful career pathways: working with local high schools/colleges to ensure students receive additional supports; providing myriad services for adults to improve their skills and increase incomes.

RWCI is a "Purpose Built Community" leading the revitalization of a former public housing site into a holistic mixed-income neighborhood.

We're in the community every day: identifying residents' needs; bringing in partners that provide resources and strengthen families.

More broadly, RWCI creates pathways to economic mobility and achievement, further impacting future generations in Charlotte's west side.

$20,000 helps RWCI make an impact:

Stabilize and strengthen families;

Build holistic community of wellness\;

End poverty in west Charlotte!

Our contact info:

Renaissance West Community Initiative (RWCI)

Phone: 704-335-8227
Email: info@rwci.org
Website address: www.rwci.org