By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – Omaha's inCOMMON Community Development hopes to have a community center in Midtown open next spring.
inCOMMON has started what Executive Director Christian Gray calls a "social capital campaign." The organization plans to open a community center in the Park Avenue neighborhood.
Gray says community discussions with Park Avenue residents revealed a need for a common place to gather. "A need that was articulated was the struggle residents were having in engaging services available in Omaha, whether it was just an unfamiliarity with how to navigate the system or whether it was an access issue where they couldn't actually get to the services available, but they identified that access to social services was a great need," Gray says.
In addition to social services, the community center will provide job training, tutoring and English as a Second Language programs. Gray says they also hope to offer community-building activities such as cultural events and art shows.
InCOMMON received a ten-thousand dollar grant from the Kiewit Foundation for the community center. The organization has a September 30th deadline to raise the remaining funds.
You can learn more about the community center project and the social capital campaign at www.incommoncd.org.