Please join us in thanking City Center for their recent contribution of $10,000, in support of the RCI Village program. We appreciate their partnership in this important work! Please take a moment to read our recent press release below.
RIPPLE COMMUNITY INC. RECEIVES GRANT FROM CITY CENTER INVESTMENT CORP. FOR $10,000
Allentown, PA. (March 15, 2019) – Ripple Community Inc. is pleased to announce that it has received a $10,000 grant from City Center Investment Corp., the real estate development company helping to revitalize downtown Allentown, Pa. These funds will support the RCI Village, a community-supported affordable housing program.
The RCI Village provides permanent rental housing for very low-income, formerly homeless, and socially disadvantaged residents of Allentown. It is modeled after the successful Jubilee Housing program in Washington, DC and located at the former Stephens Funeral Home property near Linden and 14th Streets. The RCI Village program provides high quality long-term rental housing, then supports residents to succeed in their new homes for years to come by providing individualized staff support, connections to services that address common causes of homelessness and housing instability, and community building opportunities, all of which contribute to a healthy, stable life.
Dr. Sherri Brokopp Binder, Executive Director of RCI, says, “We’ve come to think about housing for low-income residents in terms of temporary solutions, like emergency shelters and short-term or transitional housing. Those services are critical in a city the size of Allentown, but the only real solution to homeless and housing instability is permanent housing. We are grateful to City Center for their recognition of this need and for their partnership in our affordable housing efforts.”
“One of the goals of City Center’s Building Community initiative is to address ensuring that our most vulnerable neighbors remain integrated into our community, even as the city changes and grows,” said City Center President J.B. Reilly. “We’re pleased to support Ripple Community’s transformative approach, which goes beyond housing to offer people a source of community, stability and belonging.”
###
About Ripple Community Inc.
Ripple Community Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2015 and based in Allentown, PA. Its mission is to nurture community and connection in Allentown by fostering a sense of community among our neighbors who have traditionally been marginalized and by cultivating connections across social boundaries. Beyond the RCI Village housing initiative, RCI operates a day center, called the Community Building Center, that provides a safe and welcoming daytime space where Allentown residents who are socially isolated or marginalized due to poverty, homelessness, mental illness, abuse, trauma, or related challenges can build relationships and find critical social supports. Ripple Community Inc. emerged from Ripple Church, an urban Anabaptist faith community. For more information, visit www.ripplecommunityinc.org.