The CommUNITY 2000-North Carolina program is guided by a Regional Working Group that is creating a comprehensive plan to link both urban and rural communities in a collaborative effort to resolve tensions occurring around the integration of newly arrived immigrants. CommUNITY 2000 will draw upon the vast resources of the Triangle region, a six county metropolitan area with three major cities, nine universities, and a network of community organizations and foundations to create innovative, wide-ranging pro-active approaches to resolving tensions that involve all sectors of the community.
Through a Regional CommUNITY 2000 Summit, the project will establish a regional context and offer technical assistance for community tensions reduction initiatives in the Triangle Region. Attendees will discuss local community tensions and identify strategies to overcome them. Local leaders will build connections and gain support from each other as they work together to collaboratively seek solutions to the problems they all face in their communities. This summit will be developed in collaboration with the Leadership Conference Education Fund's Partners Against Hate project, a youth hate crime prevention and education initiative.
Program Highlights
CommUNITY 2000's North Carolina initiative is focused in the Triangle-region of the state. The following cities have been targeted for outreach and program development: Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh, Siler City.
In Durham, the focus is on gang activity in the public schools.
In Greensboro, the focus is on hate crimes in the residential neighborhoods of Greater Glenwood and Ole Asheboro.
In Raleigh, the focus is on building community unity in the southeastern part of the city. A strategy to address community tensions by uniting leaders from the burgeoning Hispanic community with African American leaders (most Southeast Raleigh neighborhoods are historically black) and integrating the two groups into each other's social network is in place.
In Siler City, the focus is to put in place a working group of city leaders to discuss rising tensions between white, black, and Hispanic communities.
In addition to the target cities, CommUNITY 2000 North Carolina plans to work with the Black Caucus from the North Carolina General Assembly, the NAACP and state Hispanic leaders to organize a series of dialogues to discuss shared concerns and tensions between the two communities.
Menu of Strategies
CommUNITY 2000 strategies have been specifically crafted to provide individuals and organizations with a variety of options adaptable to their particular circumstances.
Below are some of the ways CommUNITY 2000 has worked to reduce, respond to, and reconcile community tensions.
This Menu of Strategies can serve as both a resource and a guide for anyone looking for ways to create more harmonious neighborhoods.
Capacity Building
In North Carolina, the RWG has now expanded from an initial group of five to include representatives from the following organizations: Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, College Park/Idlewild Community Progress Inc., El Pueblo, Inc., FaithAction, NC NAACP, NC Human Relations Commission, NC Fair Housing Center, Self-Help, and UNC-TV. CommUNITY 2000 is providing technical assistance and materials to RWG member organizations, including technical assistance (through NetCorps, a local consultant retained for the project) designed to enhance their strategic use of technology to fulfill project and organizational goals.
Strengthening Existing Networks
CommUNITY 2000 NC has successfully implemented a series of meetings to increase the base of response team members and improve the level of organized communication between community groups. CommUNITY 2000 has also been instrumental in strengthening the NC Hate Violence Information Network, which is run through the NC Human Relations Commission, and in adding a housing component to the network.
