COURTESY URBAN LEAGUE OF CENTRAL CAROLINAS

The Urban League of Central Carolinas opened its Digital Innovation Center at East Town Market on Aug. 10. The center continues the organization's job training initiatives by providing certification courses and focused training sessions.

The Urban League of Central Carolinas has expanded its services by opening a new building in east Charlotte.

On Aug 10, the nonprofit conducted the grand opening of its Digital Innovation Center at the East Town Market. The center will continue the league’s mission to provide job training by providing certification courses and monthly focused training sessions.

“Our goal with this new office was to be able to offer the same services to east Charlotte residents,” ULCC president and CEO Teddy McDaniel said.

The non-profit, which helps underrepresented communities achieve social and economic equality, is a national organization that provides free career resources to unrepresented communities. The Central Carolinas branch has been in Charlotte since 1978.

“We want to make sure we're supporting people in building their capacity in areas in ways that are meaningful to them and they know will support them in their families,” chief operating officer Fannie Shaw said. “We want to make sure we're supporting mobility and we take a generational approach in doing that.”

In June 2020, the league began a proposal to expand its services to communities on the east side of Charlotte. This was to meet the expectation of the “Lewis Latimer Plan,” a national initiative to get communities connected.

“The Lewis Latimer plan has been around for about two years. It's been fully written, and it's been out for everyone to follow through,” Shaw said. “When I came on board I said, ‘What are we doing to make sure we're following through in this space?’ and got to work.”

With the help of donors, especially Mecklenburg County, the league raised $500,000 to fund the project. Donors range from Atrium Health to AT&T, who contributed different sums of money to make the project a reality.

“Construction started to happen when we received the green light in November of last year,” Shaw said. “We needed that bolt funding from the county, and they said ‘OK, we will help you with the space.’”

Through DICE, clients will receive free certification in skilled trades such as medical services, coding, Microsoft Office, universal banking/financial and administrative services. Additionally, the center will include a new women-focused program called “Working Women, Thriving Families and Better Communities” that launched last year as a strategic response to the economic impact that COVID-19 had on working women.

Through this program, participants will be eligible to take advantage of childcare and transportation services and participate in national certification courses such as Amazon Web, Microsoft Office, and Safe Serve. Although the program will be available at DICE, other services will be available for people in need of the services.

“Let's turn to each of these Charlotte residents and get engaged in a community where there are a number of working-class folks who need a hand,” McDaniel said.

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