Adam Barnard, Partners for Youth Opportunities program director, prepares for his next meeting in the PYO space at ReCity. (Staff photo by Yusuf Shah)
These days, turning an old space into a useful environment is the story of Durham.
It has happened to the Golden Belt Building (home to the VOICE), which once produced tobacco products, and the Community Family Life and Recreation Center at Lyon Park, which once was an African-American school on the West End.
Rob Shields plays ping-pong in ReCity’s “auditorium,” showing that you can have fun in a workplace environment. He said that he wants to establish togetherness and community in the workplace. (Staff photo by Bruce Wilkerson)
Similarly, ReCity Network, a new shared space for connections of Durham-based businesses, churches and nonprofit organizations, took the old building at 112 Broadway St. and is transforming it into a center of collaboration.
The building was once used by a business that tracked and organized receipts and billings for people, said Tucker Stevens, director of operations at ReCity. Now the building has another purpose.
It is Durham’s first “mission incubator space.”
“This place is all about relationships,” said Rob Shields, executive director. “It’s about rewriting the story of Durham.”
ReCity is a nonprofit organization with a mission of empowering Durham and its community circles to work more closely with each other and to stop “reinventing the wheel” –particularly when it comes to work with youth.
“ReCity is about restoring opportunity for Durham’s disconnected youth through relationships,” said Shields. “To see that done effectively requires community-wide collaboration, where like-minded organizations come together and share ideas, resources and goals.”
“ReCity helps connect these excellent organizations to each other to accomplish more together than any single organization can do individually. ”
Located in Suite B and now starting its second full month, ReCity has 23 organizations, many youth related, setting up inside its walls. These include recognizable names like nonprofits Partners for Youth Opportunity and DurhamCares, advocacy and support programs like ProjectBuild and StepUp Durham as well as businesses like Agape Lawn Company and Durham Upholstery. Faith-based organizations like The Summit Church has also set up operations at the space.
The new location has cubicles, a break room, stage/auditorium area with musical equipment, a coffee bar and a conference room — all for the use of the organizations working there.
Shields said each organization uses ReCity’s space to further their mission and to increase their ability to work with other groups with complementing strengths.
“It’s like Thanksgiving dinner,” he said. “When everyone is cooking their signature dish, our young people have better access to the resources they need to pursue their goals.”
Stevens said ReCity emerged as a response to Durham Mayor Bill Bell’s charge to improve coordination and collaboration between the 400 youth programs in the city. The issue of youth disconnection has been studied and researched thoroughly for years and the way forward, said Shields, was made clear through projects like IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge from 2012.
“ReCity is attempting to address the issue by putting these ideas into action people can see and, hopefully, turn a maze of resources into a ladder young people can climb,” added Stevens.
Funding for ReCity’s start and building came from The Summit Church. Nonprofit leaders interested in renting office, co-working, meeting and event space can typically get access starting at $100 per month.
Reynolds Chapman, the new executive director for DurhamCares, said he is a new face on the block when it comes to this business. Here, he is on the first day of his new job. (Staff photo by Bruce Wilkerson)
Reynolds Chapman is the new executive director of DurhamCares had only been on the job “six hours” before the VOICE caught him for an interview.
He said he is excited for the opportunity to collaborate.
“ReCity and DurhamCares share the same goals in bringing this kind of synergy to Durham and Durham residents,” he said.
Chapman said that his hope is that ReCity continues to grow and form new relationships and connections among the city’s stakeholders.
Shields has a similar expectation.
He said right now the “chasm of opportunity” is growing wider and that there really are two Durhams living side-by-side.
“Our hope is that through collaborations like ReCity Network, every young person in Durham will be connected to opportunities that match their gifts and passions, which will result in a thriving, connected and just city where everyone flourishes together, ” Shields said.
“Ten years from now, our hope is to see the rising tide of economic opportunity in Durham lifts all boats.”
To learn more about ReCity or inquire about space, contact Rob Shields at rob@recitynetwork.org or 919-368-2513.
Other ReCity partners currently include: DurhamConnects, The Go To Crew, Grace Park Church, The Helius Foundation, Kramden Institude, REAL Durham, Second Chance Outreach, The Summit Church, Triangle Literacy Council, United of the Greater Triangle, and The Volunteer Center.
Audrey L. Woods Woods says:
How can i get my son in to this program?