A Gathering of the Ways – A Source of Community Involvement

A Gathering of the Ways is a nonprofit organization that seeks to educate, enhance and enrich the lives of individuals living in the Richmond community.

By Randy Davis

Edward Robinson Jr. and Raymond Tedamy founded A Gathering of the Ways in 2005 as a nonprofit organization to create several community service programs.

It has since met its goal and is currently sponsoring three distinct programs: a Nexus program, a community clean-up program, and a community library.

When Robinson, 52, was asked which program he is most proud of thus far, he became pensive.

“Our library,” he said smiling, “It’s a culmination of all the work and efforts of all of our members.”

AGW’s Library

At present, the AGW Library, located on the second floor of the Gathering of the Ways house at 2316 T Street in Church Hill, contains books, art work and religious and cultural icons from around the world.

Its texts include scriptures from the world’s major religions as well as books on culture, sociology, psychology and foreign languages. There is even a book on the Beatles.

The library has a desk, laptop computer and wireless Internet which is also available to patrons.

Aaron Kunk, 23, a VCU graduate student in the School of Education, is a student intern at the AGW house. Kunk is the library’s curator and librarian.

“Helping renovate houses, that’s more on the economic side,” Kunk said referring to AGW’s Nexus program which deals which community housing, “And here at the library is more on the art and culture side,”

Kunk joined the organization because he wanted to become more involved in the community, he said.

Because of his busy student schedule, the library’s operating hours are limited and open only for specific projects.

Kunk said the library is open to the entire Richmond community, particularly elementary and college students.

Kunk plans to create an after school reading program for elementary school-age students. He also hopes the library will be an extra resource for college students who are involved in religious studies, intercultural and international studies programs.

The library will also be home to another community program, AGW’s lecture series.

“We don’t want to leave anyone out,” Kunk said.

AGW’s Lecture Series

The purpose of the lecture series, said Robinson, is to expose individuals in the Richmond Community to issues and topics that they might not have ever thought about. Besides the library, Robinson points to AGW’s lecture series as an excellent community resource.

Past lecturers included: Syngman Rhee, the first Korean moderator of Presbyterian Churches USA, Cliff Edwards, professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at VCU, and Jerome Jones, a Richmond artist who is gaining national acclaim for his diverse artwork.

The Nexus Program

The Nexus program ia AGW’s final component.  The goal of the Nexus Program is to help low-income tenets move from being renters to becoming homeowners. The program also provides ”rap around” services once stable housing obtained.

“The Nexus Program has recognized that in order for a person to be healthy and in order for a person to have long term housing and stability they need to also have a supporting structure,” said Tedamy, AGW’s executive director, “and the Nexus program has conceptualized what that structure is going to look like.”

Rap around services include helping participants with financial literacy, job training skills, obtaining affordable health care, educational support, and in some cases, psychological support.

AGW’s board members consist of several licensed social workers and a real estate agent/broker, all of whom are aware of the housing needs of the community. Hence, Tedamy and fellow board members are crafting the program to identify the population they want to work with.

The Nexus program has partnered with Richmond Housing Opportunities Inc. which renovates and owns houses in the Church Hill area.

Several low-income residents now rent many of the newly renovated houses, none of them however, are buying the homes, said Robinson.
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Data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act

According to the VA 2008 data collected by HMDA, only 10 percent of African-Americans who earned incomes of $25,000 or less actually applied for housing-related loans. This is the low-income group targeted by the Nexus program.  (Click on Chart)

This brings up two interesting questions: how important is homeownership to African-Americans who earn $25,000 or less, and is home ownership a priority for them? Hence, in order for AGW’s Nexus program to meet its goal of helping individuals move from being renters to becoming homeowners, it must first educate them in the benefits of home ownership.

The data also showed that 47 percent of home-related loan applications submitted by African-Americans were denied.  In comparison to White-Americans, who had a 25 percent loan denial rate, denial of housing-related loans to African-Americans was almost double that of White-Americans. (Click on Chart)

 

In conclusion, an analysis of the data reveal two important challenges facing the Nexus program:
1. Convincing low-income earners to seek home ownership.
2. Helping potential low-income homeowners prepare for the application process to increase the chances of their loans being approved.
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AGW’s Adopted Community Clean-up Program

In support of its Nexus program, AGW has adopted the area in Church Hill where many of the renovations are taking place. Once a month, community volunteers go into the adopted neighborhoods and pick up trash, clear debris, and remove abandoned furniture. This community effort encompasses AGW’s community clean-up program.

The City of Richmond provides the bags for cleanup, the picker-uppers (instruments used to pick up trash) and sends a truck to remove big piles of debris or furniture when requested by the organization, said Robinson.

AGW’s ultimate goal, Robinson said “is to make sure that this community is well respected and being developed from the inside out rather then from the outside in.”

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Nerd Box

 The data for this report came from the HMDA and was released in 2008.

The data was analyzed using both Microsoft Access and Excel.

The charts were created using Many Eyes
www.many-eyes.com

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