Neighborhood Centers program participants are richly diverse. Our centers and service areas are located in the most diverse neighborhoods of Johnson County, Iowa. Demographics of the Neighborhood Center clients and service area include the following ethnicities: 1% Asian, 17% African/Middle Eastern, 29% African American, 25% Caucasian, 26% Hispanic, and 2% Multi-racial. To best support this diversity, we hire native Spanish and Arabic speakers in all of our program areas; we hire from the neighborhoods we serve so that children and families see their own faces in our program staff.
The Pheasant Ridge Center is located on the west side of Iowa City, nestled in the middle of the Pheasant Ridge Apartments. The Pheasant Ridge community is extremely diverse with both UI students and IC families living and working together to build a strong community. Currently, the Pheasant Ridge Center site serves a large number of immigrant families living in the neighborhood--primarily families from the Sudan and Jordan. The Pheasant Ridge Center is seen as a place for families in the neighborhood to meet one another, make use of the many programs available, check out books from the library, access computers, use the phone, and take home food items from Table to Table to stretch their limited budgets. Staff provide support in parenting issues, resources and referrals, on-site child care, after-school programming, ELL and GED classes, family literacy programs, job readiness programs, and also host family nights and other activities that bring families together in this neighborhood
The Broadway neighborhood provides affordable housing for many of low-income families living in Iowa city. Housing options in the area include two large low-income housing complexes, 16 units of transitional housing for previously homeless families, as well as several hundred other rental units. Much of the low-income and subsidized housing is located within walking distance of the Broadway Neighborhood Center. Increasing numbers of families have moved here from inner cities to begin a new life away from the issues facing the communities they came from. There has also been an increase in immigrant families in the Broadway area with the primary immigrant population coming from Mexico. The Broadway Center is seen as a place for families in the neighborhood to meet one another, make use of the many programs available, check out books from the library, access computers, use the phone, and take home food items from Table to Table to stretch their limited budgets. Staff provide support in parenting issues, resources and referrals, on-site child care, after-school programming, ELL and GED classes, family literacy programs, job readiness programs, and also host family nights and other activities that bring families together in this neighborhood.
