Dwayne Green
Welcome to the Charleston Promise Neighborhood Blog! This communication tool is designed to help us keep in touch with friends, partners, and supporters as we build our organization and reach out to the community.
The Charleston Promise Neighborhood is a nonprofit organization designed to transform the area of the peninsula that straddles Charleston and North Charleston. We hope to impact more than 4,000 children who live in this 5.6 mile area, by making it indistinguishable from the surrounding areas within a generation.
We plan to do this by identifying the best nonprofit organizations, programs and services which serve this area (or who are interested in serving this area), and supporting their expansion until all families within the area are served.
The model is based on the successful Harlem Children’s Zone, created by Geoffrey Canada in New York City. We have already garnered commitments for support from the cities of Charleston and North Charleston, the County of Charleston, the Charleston County School District, educational partners such as the Medical University of South Carolina, the College of Charleston and the Citadel, and community organizations including Trident United Way, the Coastal Community Foundation, Metanoia, and Wings for Kids. We have also partnered with Blackbaud to help us design our information systems, so this is truly a cross-sector initiative. We have applied for a federal grant specifically designed to support this type of comprehensive system integration, and during our start-up phase we are building the organizational structure to help make us successful.
These first few months will be important as we engage the community and LISTEN. We look forward to keeping you informed on our progress, and invite you to subscribe to our blog. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to keeping in touch!
Dwayne Green, CEO
