FIRST CORINTHIAN BAPTIST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
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Mission Statement
(For FCBC Community Development Corporation): The FCBC Community Development Corporation is a catalyst for transformation in Harlem, challenging and empowering individuals to realize their infinite possibilities through: Education and Arts; Economic Empowerment; Health Awareness; and Civic Engagement. (For The Dream Center): To unlock and cultivate the dreams of the Harlem Community through transformative programs centered on Creative Arts, Leadership Development, and Economic Empowerment. The Dream Center is the venture project of the FCBC Community Development Corporation (FCBC CDC) incorporated on August 6, 2012. (For The Hope Center): To provide quality therapeutic services to the Harlem community in an effort to directly impact mental health needs and promote health and wellness. The HOPE Center is the venture project of the FCBC Community Development Corporation (FCBC CDC)
About This Cause
The Dream Center was created as a self-sustainable, multifaceted and transformative hub that unearths unlimited possibilities. TDC inspires, informs and ignites the imaginations of intergenerational visionaries and dreamers across a myriad of genres. TDC’s primary objective in this unique, troubled, yet beautiful community is to assist it in unlearning destructive habits and empowering it to breathe life into itself. This occurs by reactivating the dreamer in all. Harlem needs more imagination, creativity, and visionaries from within to actuate tangible change. The Harlem community possesses a richness of ethnicities and nationalities, each adding character and dimension to this historic area. Current residents of Harlem reflect a diverse mix of cultures including those who identify as: African, African-American, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and a continued influx of European populations. Harlem is still emerging from the crippling crack era of the Mid 80s/early 90s, a scant thirty years ago. Children of families affected are adults today; many of them living below the poverty line, with the mean income of 22% of the population being less than $24,000 per year. This is our public, specifically the 118,000 residents of central Harlem. Moreover, this is the community in which we work and live. Programs are open to all, but target those with difficulty accessing resources. Because of this, the necessity of quality, free programming is paramount. As a multi-generational space, dreamers span the ages of four to 72. 34% of dreamers are ages 19 to 35; 32% are 36-50; 21% are over the age of 50; and 13% are 18 and under. 82% identify as people of color and 83% are women. Culture is based on and driven by the community in which it is situated. According to the census bureau, people who reside within the 10026 zip code are 62% African American, 53% women, 75% English speakers, with the median age of 33.6. Our average dreamer is an English speaking, African American woman between the ages of 19 and 35 using our facility for the first time. This means that the programs we provide are on par and relate to the community we are situated in both culturally and linguistically. Our staff also mimics the look of the Harlem community. We continue to keep programming relevant by refusing to operate in a silo. We are often out in the community at events, community board meetings, schools, etc. hearing the needs of dreamers. Harlem needs more imagination, creativity, and visionaries from within to actuate tangible change. The Dream Center has been providing culturally relevant programs to its community for the past seven years and has enjoyed significant growth. In 2018, 1,123 dreamers participated in programming on top of those serviced through partnerships. Six days a week, TDC houses programming designed for catalytic change with more than 56 original program offerings annually. The residents of Harlem are suffering from a lack of access to technology; the need for computer training; and access to resources that increase entrepreneurship, non-employer business, and business upstart. Age, income, and educational attainment are huge factors in who has exposure to the internet and technology. Effective computer training and education cannot be overstated. The technical training requirements of our community are overwhelming and mirror the needs of other urban populations living below the poverty line. The Dream Center has identified four goals that speak to needs impacting this community: (1) fusing creativity, technology, and education to promote face-to-face collaboration and collective vision; (2) empowering marginalized populations to thrive in this digital and entrepreneurial age; (3) improving the technological and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills of those living below the poverty line; and (4) creating new businesses and entrepreneurs. Why is this necessary? Because technology and entrepreneurship are the future. Consider these stats as stated by the Comptroller’s report on Inequality Education in Manhattan: 27 percent (730,000) of NYC households lack broadband Internet at home. 17 percent (533,000) of NYC households do not have a computer at home. 40 percent of New Yorkers with less than a high school education lack broadband at home. 27 and 26 percent of Black and Hispanic households, respectively, lack broadband at home. While access to technology and computer training are key, an equal area of concern is providing the necessary resources that equip persons in the community with the tools to fuel entrepreneurship. In the current societal context, where small businesses are being etched out by large brick and mortar stores, it is paramount the passion for entrepreneurship does not wane. With many entrepreneurs running non-employer businesses, there is a need to not only gain the necessary competencies to be successful, but also to network and connect with likeminded individuals. With the growing number of entrepreneurs and non-employer businesses, it is vital to provide the community with tools that contribute to their growth. More than ever videos, social media, podcasts, and production are used to spread information and grow business. But the cost of purchasing the equipment needed is exorbitant to most. With the strength that has made The Dream Center what it is today, the choice is an easy one -- help our community meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Our community needs to feel as if they have agency. That agency becomes a drive to dream. That dreaming creates a catalyst to make change in the world. We all possess unlimited possibility. Yet, some have not been given the tools to actualize it into something powerful.