About the Nonprofit
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River City Community Development Center (R CITY) exists to bring together the best of our city to build a path for families to walk from cradle to career to the glory of God. We envision a community where youth and families are surrounded with the resources and relationships necessary to succeed in achieving their career goals for the good of all around them.
Launched in 2014, R CITY is an organization with roots in community listening. Its founders were community residents and stakeholders, as well as leaders in other local Humboldt Park and Garfield Park churches and nonprofits for more than a decade before its founding. Programs launched in 2014 with Young Leaders Cohort, a group of local junior high students committed to receiving mentoring, engaging in peer leadership, and designing programs to fit local needs. Out of the input of these young leaders came the subsequent program expansions: Dreambuilders children’s program for grades K-5 and Citybuilders paid apprenticeships for ages 12-18. In 2017, the fledgling apprenticeships became the fully robust Harambee program, as leaders experienced in the youth tuckpointing apprenticeship model came to R CITY to launch their programs. As students graduated from the teen apprenticeship program, Successbuilders apprenticeships were also born to alleviate financial barriers to post-secondary education.
When the pandemic and racial devastation of 2020 swept through the community, R CITY’s vehicles for listening were ready. In 2020, R CITY responded with incentives for remote learning in spring, clothing and pharmacy provisions following widespread looting in summer, and a hosted site for remote learners throughout the following school year--though none of these were funded by government or other significant sources. In 2022, when R CITY received its first government funds, relationships were at the heart of the model. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority funded a deepening of R CITY’s children’s and junior high programs, changing the former large group model to a small group 5:1 mentoring model. This funding also provided for community events, allowing R CITY to welcome families regularly into the space and to hear their voices. In 2023, Cook County’s Justice Advisory Council funded a deepening of the Harambee program, linking teen apprentices with mentors, restorative justice practices, and wraparound victim services for families. Each funded source renewed contracts throughout the longevity of their funding window.
Today, R CITY operates a full kindergarten to career continuum with small group mentoring at every step. Apprenticeships offer training in tuckpointing, HVAC, and children’s program assistance. Last year, these programs served 92 apprentices and paid over $80,000 in stipends. Scholarship recipients are graduating from college each year, and R CITY’s staff is more local and representative than ever before. Under the leadership of graduate and Executive Director Charnesha Collier, programs are thriving, serving 223 youth and 2,330 community event attendees in 2023.
