Our Community Initiatives

At Center for Community Advocacy, we are dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals in our community through various outreach programs and services. We invite you to explore our initiatives and join us in making a difference.

Career Exploration Club

CCA’s Career Exploration begins with introducing
students to the world of journalism and architecture
Most schools don’t give Middle School Students a chance to think much about their future job or career choices until high school. For the average White kid perhaps no big deal, after all, they are much more likely to interact with a family member or neighbor with a professional career. But, for the average Black child such contact is much less likely.
The Career Exploration Club bridges that gap. Guest
professionals will provide hands on activities allowing what might appear abstract to young minds, an eye opening experience. Sparking self-reflection, students will be challenged to identify their interests, skills, life goals and values. Students will leave with a newfound confidence and vision for what their future can look like.
The career exploration club will be a part of our Saturday
School initiative.

Kuumba Theater

The Workshop is designed to increase the expressiveness of young participants through instrument classes, voice, speech dialects and acting. The project brings significance to young people in fun and creative classes and new friendships.
We utilize poetry and lyric writing as a vehicle to explore the mechanics of literal and figurative language/communication. Students will learn how to analyze popular forms, challenging the students to create their own poetry/songs, making the dynamics of language
more relatable to them at a functional level.
With our recording program we explore technology and tradition teaching music history and African drumming- then allow them to express, edit and document themselves via the recording process.
We connect the dots between the science, technology and culture. Our goal is to not only strengthen students’ scholastic achievement through art and culture, but also to give them the tools to be more discerning and analytical in their digestion of the art and culture they
are exposed to on a daily basis.
The biggest news in our effort to establish this Children’s Theater Workshop is that we will incorporate as the Kuumba Theater & Arts Workshop giving new life to the late Val Gray Ward’s creation, The Kuumba Theater.

Female Veterans Housing Program

There are 50,000 homeless women Veterans living on the streets across the United States. To make this tragedy an even worse calamity, many of these women have children in tow. For the sacrifices they and their families have made, this is an unacceptable state.

While there has been some improvement Government office of Accountability report disclosing that 60% of VA Grant Per Diem housing assistance providers serving homeless female veterans did not house children. And, of the few that did accept children, restrictions around age or the number of children and gender served as barriers for mothers not wanting to be separated from their children.

CCA has taken on the challenge to make more appropriate housing available. To that end, CCA is near completing renovation of a 2-flat greystone property that will offer transitional and permanent housing for homeless female veterans with children.

In addition for plans for our next rehab project, CCA already has renderings for new construction of a 6-unit apartment building to house homeless female vets.