RCLC celebrates first year
Meghan Marin
News Writer
Renalda Robinson would be proud.
It has only been a year, but the community center in the Northeast Neighborhood that bears her name has already done much to foster the kind of neighborhood advocacy that this matriarch of the community worked so hard for.
First opened in February of 2001, the Robinson Community Learning Center was intended to be a place "where the neighboring community and university community could come together and break down the barriers that separate us ... to put names and faces to issues that we would otherwise have talked about as social problems," said Lou Nanni, the University's Vice President of Public Affairs and Communication, and chair of the Center's Oversight Committee.
Initiated by the University's Office of the President, Nanni's former department, the planning committee's primary goal, as noted by current RCLC director Jay Caponigro, was to "weave together what would be a strong center" for the neighborhood community at the location of a vacant University-owned building. According to Nanni, it was important that the University not look beyond its neighbors' needs or "treat them with a benign neglect."
After securing support from a number of local and University departments, the planning committee worked with community members to gain insight into how best to fulfill the needs at hand.
Nanni said the project was a collaborative effort, combining a partnership with the Northeast Neighborhood Council and the University's Center for Social Concerns to "create a community learning center ... for the community."
After six months of listening and learning, the committee, consisting of students, faculty, administrators, and community leaders, put its refined plan into action. Intended to be a beacon for the local neighborhood and not an advertisement for the University, Nanni said, "We felt that it was critical to the neighborhood to the south of us [that we create a place] where we could address their needs, but also show their strengths."
With that in mind, the Center was launched with a number of programs that have only gained momentum over the course of the year, such as exercise classes, an after-school program for local children and adult computer classes.
Nanni credits Caponigro and his staff for the center's success. Caponigro's staff consists of local and university community members, such as Marguerite Taylor, Renalda Robinson's daughter; Americorps volunteers, such as Khadijah Shabazz and Andrea Mechenbier; and local college students.
Through a partnership with the South Bend School Corporation, the RCLC has been able to offer both GED and English as a Second Language classes to adults in the community. The St. Joseph County Library has established the location as a permanent drop-site for books. The St. Joseph Regional Medical Center has provided RCLC members with health screenings and preventative care.
The University itself has taken enormous measures to enrich the opportunities offered to the Northeast Neighborhood.
Providing support for local entrepreneurs, the Mendoza College of Business has launched the RCLC as an incubation center, which makes essential assistance available to those wishing to start their own businesses. The Office of Information Technologies has provided computers for the sought-after classes. The Department of Music has donated a number of keyboards to the center, and now offers piano lessons to roughly 20 children, taught by department staff members and graduate assistants.
The Snite Museum of Art, as well, has demonstrated support for the center. According to Andrea Mechenbier, youth program and volunteer coordinator, the Snite has been really proactive in getting money to help the children involved with the center. Through the grants it has secured, the museum was able to commission a Chicago-area painter to collaborate with RCLC children on their vision of the neighborhood; creating the vibrant mural that can be found on the side of the building.
A second grant has been acquired to do the same with the center's teenage members. In addition, Jackie Welsh, educational curator of the Snite, leads an art program each week for the high-school crowd.
University departments are looking to add new features as well.
The Athletic Department anticipates adding sports activities to the current tutoring program's curriculum. Children would be paired with athletes to create what Caponigro calls, "experiential learning through sports." Caponigro has made it a priority to "create new opportunities for children to learn in different styles," addressing specific learning difficulties that the RCLC's students encounter on a daily basis.
Promoting literacy, for instance, is a principal endeavor that Caponigro hopes to continue.
"We want to make a dent in the low [57 percent] high school graduation rate of South Bend," he said, starting with the Northeast Neighborhood community and eventually filtering out to the rest of the town, a feat that he believes can be accomplished. "With the talent that we have here, we have a real opportunity to make an impact."
Tutoring in general has become a main focus of the Center, with more than 50 students from kindergarten to sixth grade taking advantage of the program. According to Mechenbier, volunteers are the foundation of the program, with more than 250 to date. While both Mechenbier and the children's parents have seen the students' levels of understanding rise over the course of the program, she said. "The relationships between the kids and their tutors is notableÉ it has been the most impressive thing to watch."
RCLC staff members have seen a vast improvement in students' understanding and comprehension of their work, and positive results do not seem to be diminishing. "I think a lot of the programs will grow beyond that 8000 foot space — into the parks, into the streets, into the neighborhood," Nanni said.
Since last February, the Robinson Community Learning Center has seen a lot of growth and participation. Due to the collaboration of University and neighborhood community members, the RCLC has been incredibly successful in establishing itself in the Northeast Neighborhood. The center will celebrate its success with an anniversary celebration Feb. 22.
University President Father Edward Malloy is slated to open the ceremony, with awards being presented to those volunteers and students who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to their work at the Center. At the culmination of the event, Caponigro will present the center's vision for the following year.
"There is nothing greater than having a dream — and being able to come back and see the reality exceeded," Nanni said.
All News Stories for Thursday, February 14, 2002
