Community Link moves services to Ada Jenkins Center 

ADA JENKINS CENTER

Tameka Gunn, CEO of the now-shuttered Community Link, and Harold Rice, CEO of Ada Jenkins Center, which absorbed Community Link’s community programming.

The Ada Jenkins Center is in transition with added programs.

The nonprofit, which partnered with Community Link, which offers homeownership education and resources, took over its services  upon  closing on June 20 after 96 years. Ada Jenkins Center provides access to education programming, health initiatives like a food pantry, economic mobility program, and community engagement.

“Education is one of our pillar programs,” said Ada Jenkins CEO Harold Rice. “Without that we wouldn't even exist.” The education program aims to support youth literacy and helps those who are at risk of being held back a grade.

“We are a part of the Nourish Up food pantry,” Rice said. “What that means is we get a large portion of our donations from nourish up, and then we supplement that with donations from the community, Publix, Harris Teeter, you name it, and we also had our kitchen renovated last year, so it's a fully functional commercial kitchen where we have cooking classes for seniors.” 

The goal of the cooking classes is to teach seniors how to make healthy meals and provide ingredients along with creating a community among seniors who are unaccompanied. The pantry is also set up where customers can shop bodega-style.

The economic mobility services help with rent, mortgage and utility needs. They also provide homeless outreach in Huntersville, Davidson and Cornelius, connecting people with resources and services. The program is expected to expand throughout Mecklenburg County with funding from United Way.

The center also operates nine VITA sites after acquiring seven from Community Link. Rice, who worked with Community Link as a program manager, saw an opportunity for expansion of Ada Jenkins Center. 

“Just alignment where it makes sense,” he said. “There's nothing new to us. We already have a familiarity with these programs.”

With expansion, the center will bring on homeownership education and counseling programs. 

“This program will continue to focus on access to down payment assistance and closing costs for low- and moderate-income families,” Rice said. “We do have families that could potentially be a homeowner, but they just need the extra push and encouragement to persevere and understanding things around debt-to-income ratio and also understanding, quite honestly, that everybody is getting paid around the table based upon that, based upon them.”

The center is in the process of getting necessary certifications and is hopeful to start taking new clients for counseling and asset building workshops by August. There are several ways to get involved with the organization from volunteering to being trained how to prepare taxes. 

“When people drive up [Interstate] 77 coming up through the three towns, especially when they get closer to Davidson, what they pay attention to, more than likely, is the boats that they see in the water,” Rice said. “What they don't really pay attention to are the guardrails keeping their car from going in the water. That's who we are as an organization for these families in the area –  we're the guardrails, and it's important for people to get involved with us, because we don't want our neighbors, our families, our kids, to fall off into the water.”

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