Charleston Promise Neighborhood works in The Neck in a collaborative relationship with members of the communities it serves. CPN staff know that they cannot serve the Neighborhood without the wisdom and insights of its neighbors.
From its inception, CPN has empaneled a Community Engagement Council (CEC), a cross-section of adult community residents, to advise its work. CPN seeks input on its programs and initiatives, and offers resources and trainings that community residents might need to transform the area in which they live and work.
Individuals who live (and/or work) in CPN’s geographic footprint and represent varying educational and socio-economic levels comprise Charleston Promise Neighborhood’s new Community Engagement Council.
This dynamic new group includes entrepreneurs, college students, social services representatives, nonprofit and religious leaders, hospitality workers, and community volunteers.
During the 2018-19 programming year, the CEC plans to implement the following initiatives/activities:
- Host an event and panel forum to discuss, inform, and engage CPN residents and families of gentrification and its impact in the community. This multi-part series, with follow-up smaller workshop discussions will:
- Engage various for-profit and non-profit partners (e.g. City of Charleston Housing, employment programs, teen pregnancy support organizations, Palmetto Community Action partners, Planned Parenthood, sororities and fraternities, voter education organizations); and
- Identify local experts and bring together community leaders; and
- Inform and engage community residents and stakeholders in the mission of CPN through community engagement by providing activities, events, and opportunities to bring residents and stakeholders together to transform within a generation. (Consensus from the meeting attendees); and
- Create a strategic plan for implementation of community engagement within the CPN neighborhood.
