About
2013: In partnership with Topeka Public Schools and the Topeka Rescue Mission, CRC became the project head for the Avondale East NET Center Project. We repurposed a retired 1960s school building into a Neighborhood Empowerment & Transformation Center (NET Center). CRC is the manager of this pilot program and sets the stage for the collaborating partners to provide services to the local community and more specifically, to the
Hi-Crest West area.
2017: The Avondale East NET Center is re-branded to the CRC CARE Center in an effort to focus on CRC’s core mission – to connect the resources in our community through Collaboration, Advocacy, Research, & Education. CRC has taken an anchor building within a distressed neighborhood and has successfully repurposed it. CRC CARE Center at Avondale East, a unique collaboration will reduce and mitigate homelessness in Topeka. This collaboration continues to reduce crime within the Hi-Crest neighborhood. Creating a new sense of community within Hi-Crest West will continue to improve the family unit and have decreased the infant mortality rate fostering a new sense of hope for those who live in Hi-Crest West.
The concept of the CARE Center (formerly NET Center) came about from discussions at a morning coffee club which consisted of the executive director of CRC Nancy Johnson, executive director of the Topeka Rescue Mission, Barry Feaker, former Director of Safe Streets, Sally Zellers and Terry Hund, of the Topeka Rescue Mission. This core group, having read the book Toxic Charity, expanded on its concepts with ongoing philosophical discussions on how to impact generational poverty in a new way in hopes of finding a solution to the increasing numbers of people living in poverty, because what society had been doing for the last 40 years was not working.
To break the learned behavior of living off of entitlements being the only long term example in which children living in poverty would observe with their parents using food stamp, living in subsidized HUD housing, picking up clothes from clothing banks and food from various community food pantries, and etc., had become the only way of life they knew.
It takes a concerted step by step effort to change this improvised mindset when that’s all you know. By having these discussions over a couple of years, ultimately developing a pilot program the core group was looking to put their discussions into practice. As they reached this conclusion, along came USD 501Topeka School Board and Dr. Julie Ford with a brick and mortar opportunity to launch such a pilot program. The 501 board didn’t want the former Avondale East elementary school building to turn into another community center. The Board understood this building was the anchor for the 750 homes in the Hi-Crest West neighborhood, one of Topeka’s most critical need neighborhoods, they wanted something more robust and substantial with programing and assistance to start the wind of change in this blighted community.
CRC’s board of directors took a leap of faith in entering into a long term agreement with 501 to take on the management of Avondale East Elementary school and repurpose the building into a neighborhood learning center. Partnering with the Topeka Rescue Mission, the monumental process of transforming the neighborhood began. CRC immediately set about bringing the building up to 21st-century business specs, installing phones, internet, and Wi-Fi that is HIPPA compliant. Tens of thousands of dollars were invested in the building to create a business atmosphere so that other not-for-profit agencies with specialized services for the public would come to Avondale East NET Center (now CRC CARE Center at Avondale East) to help rebuild this community.
Currently, there are 8 not-for-profit tenants offering various programing, education and mentoring to the residents of Hi-Crest West. There are numerous volunteers assisting the agencies representing approximately 20 churches from all over our community.
Community Action
Community Action, Inc., is a locally controlled, private, non-profit organization who is part of America’s poverty fighting network. Community Action Agency carries out its anti-poverty mission by developing partnerships and providing resources that help people and communities thrive.
Fellowship Bible Church (FBC)
FBC strives to transform the lives of those in the community through finding and following Jesus Christ. They offer weekly family dinners on Wednesdays and have started SENT.
Mirror, Inc.
Mirror, Inc., established in 1972, is a not-for-profit, private corporation providing substance abuse, correctional and other community health and human services to people in need. Mirror provides substance abuse treatment including residential services in three Kansas locations, outpatient services in thirteen Kansas locations. In addition, Mirror offers community correctional residential re-entry programs in Wichita and Topeka, Kansas and prevention services across the state of Kansas.
Kansas Association of Community Action Programs (KACAP)
KACAP is the membership association for Community Action Agencies (CAA) in Kansas, and as such we have three primary goals: help our members be strong and more effectively able to pursue their individual missions to end poverty; help Kansas develop a comprehensive model to end poverty, and be the leading advocate in promoting an end to poverty.
SENT
Strengthening and Empowering Neighborhoods Together (SENT) works on community development, improving early childhood education, and having the emotional-mental side of things restored and reconciled in the neighborhood.
Topeka Public Schools Police Department
The vision of the Topeka Public Schools Police Department is to be relevant, ready and responsive to all who attend and work in Topeka Public Schools. The mission of the Topeka Public Schools Police Department is to provide for the safety and security of students, staff, faculty, volunteers, and patrons of Topeka Public Schools. We will work in a proactive manner to locate and identify potential hazards and/or criminal activity.
Parents as Teachers
The Kansas Parents as Teachers Association is a statewide organization to support early childhood education programs in Kansas with a parent education component. The organization provides opportunities for networking, leadership, visibility, training, research, and information to build quality programs throughout Kansas.
Hi-Crest Stats
Population & Age
Population: 6,175
Median age: 36
Household & Housing Stats
Average household size: 10.1 people
Percentage of family households: 59.2%
Percentage of married-couple families: 45.8%
Percentage of married-couple families with children: 25.9%
Percentage of single mother households: 7.9%
Percentage of a detached house: 88.4% of all units
Percentage of a mobile home: 14.6% of all units
Percentage of units with a mortgage: 61.3%
Median rent (2016): $468
The average estimated value of a detached house (2016): $74,171
Education
Less than high school: 38.2%
High school or equivalent: 17.2%
One year or more of college: 16.6%
Associates degree: 5.9%
Bachelor’s degree: 7.9%
Master’s degree: 4.5%
Income & Poverty Stats
Median income (2016): $52,758
Population below poverty level: 24.2%
Source: city-data.com