URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
WS RISE partners with the community By Chuck Byrd WS RISE
The goal of WS RISE is to have a plan broadly embraced so that the community can focus on implementation and align any needed resources. To ensure accountability and sustained commitment to planning implementation, WS RISE will convene eight working groups for six sessions to: • Present their plans in a two-day summit; • Facilitate the exchange of information and provide a forum for progress updates; • Shepherd the plan to strengthen existing, Black-led organizations engaged in leading change. The Summit will address the social determinants of a flourishing community. The process will be led by a professional team, The Strategic Partners Collaborative. We will market this initiative to identify community working groups organized by eight subject areas — Education,
Lafayette Jones
Publisher, Urban Call; SMSi-Urban Call Marketing, Inc. President & CEO
The way to solve big problems (even eating an elephant) is one bite at a time.
Health & Wellness, Food Sovereignty, Housing, Criminal Justice, Jobs/Workforce Development, Economic Development, and Civic Engagement. The organization also aims to devise action plans to close the racial gap in each area. WS RISE will capture these detailed plans in a foundational document:
A Blueprint for East Winston. This document will be the heart of the city’s vision to transform Winston-Salem into a picture of an inclusive, thriving community by 2030. To learn more about how you can join WS RISE and impact the community, visit wsrise.org.
8 Factors Impacting Community Success... 4-5
9
Ending Poverty: A Collaborative Approach
We all know that there is a continuing need to improve the health and welfare of Winston-Salem’s underserved communities. That’s why we applaud the excellent work that WSRise and P4P are doing to help meet this need. These organizations have brought together many different individuals and groups with the common goal of raising the standard of living for Winston-Salem citizens. Together they are tackling tasks that range from finding ways to provide better health care to improving business and education opportunities in our lower income communities. That’s progress!
SMSi-Urban Call Marketing, Inc. 51 E. Fourth St. Suite 810 Winston Salem, N.C. 27101 Tel. (336) 759-7477/ FAX: (336) 759-7212 E-mail: SMSiPartners@smsi-net.com
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Urban Call
You’re invited! Connect with WS RISE on Facebook or visit WSRISE.org.
P4P
Champions for the Community
WS RISE
Chuck Byrd
5
SMSi Healthy Living Solutions, Inc. Founder & CEO
Paula McCoy
Inside...
Sandra Miller Jones
For a digital copy of Urban Call, visit http://Issuu.com/SmsiUrbanCallMarketing.com
PAGE 2 URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
The East Winston Collaborative Roundtable The East Winston Collaborative Roundtable is a diverse group of individuals and organizations in Winston Salem’s Forsyth County. They are working to reach a common goal of eliminating racial disparities in the community. The goal is to build a thriving Black community by: • Adapting, creating, or developing public policy. • Influencing people’s behavior. • Influencing
Institutional/Systemic change. • Bringing resources to the Black community. The purpose of a roundtable is to give each participant equal standing in a discussion, enabling them to contribute their perspectives and ideas freely and fully to the conversation. This type of discussion is short, usually lasting one to two hours, and is kept to an agenda by a facilitator. To learn more, visit wsrise.org.
Courtesy of WS RISE
Community members meet during roundtable discussions.
Why RISE in East Winston? The SMSi Companies Corporate Offices 51 E. Fourth St., Suite 1702 Winston Salem, N.C. 27101-4257 Office: (336) 759-7477 Fax: (336) 941-3547
SMSi & Urban Call Community Outreach Office Goler CDC Center 899 North Liberty Street Winston Salem, NC 27101 Office: (336) 759-7477
Issuu.com/Smsiurbancallmarketing.com SegmentedMarketing.org n
SMSi-Urban Call Marketing, Inc. President and CEO; Urban Call Publisher: Lafayette Jones Executive Editor: Alan Cronk Editor: Rose Walsh Production Manager: Jodi S. Sarver Integrated Marketing Manager: Jessica De Valle Hale Digital Services Director: Jimmy Davies, Every.Black
Video Production Manager: Chris Downey, Downey Digital, LLC Photographer/Videographer: Donevan Cherry, CherVeli Media Financial Services: Roslyn Hickman Warehouse, Collation & Shipping Manager: Vincent Harris
SMSi Healthy Living Solutions Inc. SMSi Founding Chair and CEO: Sandra Miller Jones National Project Manager: Constance Baker Harris National Logistics Manager: Camille Allen Director, Financial Services: Roslyn Hickman
Agent Ambassadors: Charlie Bethea, Alvin Borders, Yvette Canty, Constance Baker Harris, Talaya Loyd, Sharon Lyles, Natalie Nicholson, Debra Shore, John Wall
SMSi Community of Networks
The East Winston community is geographically bound by Highway 52 on West 14th Street to North Cameron Avenue and East in Winston-Salem. East Winston’s ethnic ancestry and racial makeup are 75.9% African American and 12.3% Hispanic. Residents in the East Winston neighborhood are lowincome, and this is one of the most impactful contrib-uting factors in this community’s development. It is among the lowest income neighborhoods in America, with 56.3 % of the children living below the federal poverty line. This is a higher rate of childhood poverty compared to 95.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. More East Winston residents use mass transit in this neighborhood to get to and from work compared to 95.7% of all American neighborhoods. The community is the urban core of WinstonSalem and is also defined by median real estate prices that are less expensive than 62.3% of N.C. neighborhoods and 70.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Many of the East Winston
neighborhood residences are well-built structures; constructed between 1970 and 1999. The real estate comprises small (studio to two bedroom) to mediumsized (three or four bed-room) apartment complexes and high-rise apartments. Most residential real estate is renter-occupied, and many of the homes and apartments are empty. East Winston has a 16% vacancy rate higher than 77.4% of other American neighborhoods. This general-ly signals a low demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that a large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. We know the latter is not valid. One interesting and encouraging finding of the East Winston community is that it is an excellent location for college students, according to Neighborhood Scout’s exclusive research. Because of its popularity among college students who already choose to live here, its walkability and its above-average safety, the neighborhood is ideal for prospective or already-enrolled college students. Between semesters and during school breaks, there is
a noticeable change in the activity level of the community. Parents of college-age children can rest easy knowing that this neighborhood has an above-average safety rating. The community is rated among the top 2% of collegefriendly places to live in the state. The work done by WinstonSalem RISE, with its tag line of “Putting Black Folks First…for a Change,” includes more than the groups that make up the residents in East Winston. We regard East Winston as the community we will initially serve. However, many Black people have been marginalized and impacted by racism. They may not physically live in the geographical footprint of East Winston, but they have experienced systemic racism. Our goal is to productively address the scale of racism and inequity in Winston-Salem and its lasting impact on people and institutions to create change. Until we can begin this conversation and initiate change, racism will continue to persist in our city.
PAGE 3
URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
WS RISE Committees have many perspectives WS RISE is made up of many community leaders who serve as Planning members* and Project Team participants**. For more information on these leaders and the organization, visit www.wsrise.org.
Alvin Atkinson * Center for the Study of Economic Mobility – WSSU
Anita S. Neville** CommYUnity Matters
Dr. Williams, Ph.D Author & Editor
Dr. Phyllis Y. Joyner, MPH Ed.D** Educator
Dr. David Peay* Criminal Justice Workgroup Leader Winston Salem State University (Retired)
Tommy Hicks* Community Leader
Paula McCoy* Civic Responsibilities Workgroup Leader Partnership for Prosperity
Randon Pender* Health and Wellness Workgroup Leader Winston Salem Black Chamber of Commerce
William J. Pickens, Sr.** Pickens Consulting
Arleatha Patterson* Partnerhip for Prosperity
Bill McClain* Education Workgroup Leader Guiding Institute for Developmental Education (GIDE)
Dr. William T. Lewis, MSW** Ph.D.Project Team WillHouse Global & Author
Gloria Hairston* Jobs/Workforce Development Be One to Success Staffing, LLC /WSBCC
Margaret Robinson* Community Leader
Mary H. Kendrick** MHK Diversity
Tonya Monteiro* Love Out Loud
Chuck Byrd** Project Team Leader Strategic Partners Collaborative
Carol Davis, JD* S.G. Atkins CDC
James Grace* Housing Workgroup Leader National Community Development Corporation (CDC)
Lakisha D. Jordan** Crown Consultants Group, LLC
Michael Banner* Food Sovereignty Workgroup Leader Island CultureZ, Inc.
Michael Suggs* Jobs/Workforce Development Workgroup Leader Goler Community Development Corporation
L. Aynn Daniels, M.Ed., PMP** Certified Project Manager
Not Pictured:
Lafayette G. Jones** Sandra Stinson* William Dickens* Latrina Winford* Marquita Wisley* SMSi & Urban Call Publications Life Changes Coaching Wise Consulting Community Leader Economic Development Workgroup Leader Triangle American Descendants of Slavery, ADOS & Consulting
PAGE 4 URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
New group will help all of Winston-Salem rise By John Railey
WSSU’S CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ECONOMIC MOBILITY (CSEM)
After two decades of striving, WinstonSalem is finally making a strong comeback. The Innovation Quarter in the heart of downtown, that biotech bedrock, is thriving and makes national news. That’s good, but almost within a stone’s throw of the quarter, abject poverty remains in East Winston, cut off by redlining, then U.S. 52. For years, city John Railey is the CSEM Writer leaders have in Residence and given lip service former Winstonto East Winston Salem Journal revitalization plans Opinion Page Editor. that have, for the most part, fizzled, often because they did not involve the most important players, the residents of East Winston. Finally, a new group is changing that. Winston-Salem RISE (wsrise.org) began in June 2020, the brainchild of local leaders Paula McCoy, the executive director of the Partnership for Prosperity, and Bill McClain, the executive director of GIDE, and others. “This is not a top-down led organization,” McCoy said. “This is grassroots-up.” WS RISE has enlisted the support of many, including Winston-Salem State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Mobility, which shares WS RISE’s emphasis on breaking down the barriers to wealth-building in East Winston and reversing generations of poverty. With a slogan of “Putting Black lives first … for a change,” WS RISE has a vision statement of “A just community that provides full access to opportunities & prosperity for all its citizens” and a mission statement of developing and partnering “with community-led initiatives
Winston-Salem RISE is a grassroots organization to build community.
that eradicate all racial disparities for Black people.” The group has been very intentional about its work, with Chuck Byrd, the CEO of Strategic Business Collaborative, serving as the project director and bringing his professional staff with him on the work. Sandra and Lafayette Jones and their 40-year-old national companies, SMSi Healthy Living Soltions and Urban Call Marketing, have provided a wealth of strategic planning and marketing services. WS RISE, composed of 20 community groups with “lived experiences,” convenes eight working groups for eight key issues: education, health and wellness, food security, housing, criminal justice, jobs and workforce development, economic development, and civic engagement. “We’re getting there on our plans,” Byrd said. The groups will craft action plans to
close the racial gap on each issue and present their ideas at a two-day summit, open to the public this spring. The summit will aim to put those ideas to work through widespread involvement, including aligning resources. That’s crucial, for too often in Winston-Salem, nonprofits have inefficiently duplicated their efforts and competed over grant money as needs mount and the challenges of those eight key issues linger, only aggravated by the pandemic. It’s lunacy that a city known nationwide for its biotech advances has many residents lacking access to quality health care or even adequate public transportation to get to doctors, grocery stores, work, and college. These are just a few of the inequities WS RISE aims to correct. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy we celebrate this weekend, recognized how interconnected we really are, once saying,
“Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” The summit will define what’s needed for East Winston to finally flourish, as much of the rest of the city is currently doing. Members of the group say a foundational document, “WS RISE, A Blueprint for East Winston,” will “be the heart of the city’s vision to transform Winston-Salem by the year 2030 into a picture of an inclusive, thriving community.” The vision is ambitious as all get out, visionary, and perhaps even wildly optimistic. But it is sorely needed. And with the organization, talent, and grassroots strength WS RISE brings, it can succeed. Byrd said: “We’re going to do this like you eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”
URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
PAGE 5
WS RISE wows with new website The mission of Winston Salem RISE is to develop and partner with community-led initiatives that eradicate all racial disparities for Black people. RISE is a community collaboration committed to activating the efforts of local stakeholders in the triad community and restoring Winston-Salem to a place where racial disparities do not exist. The organization designed a new website to inform the community of its upcoming developments and statistics related to the city to move forward in this endeavor. The website is chock full of data resources from articles to maps and infographics, and books to help you see the big picture in Winston Salem. Viewers can also learn about the organization's upcoming summit and community efforts. The summit event will facilitate the exchange of information, provide a forum for progress updates, and shepherd the plan to strengthen existing Black-led organizations engaged in leading change. To accomplish this, WS RISE will hone in on eight social determinants of a flourishing community Education, Health & Wellness, Food Sovereignty, Housing, Criminal Justice, Jobs/Workforce Development, Economic
Learn more about WS RISE Courtesy of Opine Media
Development, and Civic Engagement. You'll be able to learn a bit about each group on the WS RISE website. WS RISE will convene those eight working groups for six sessions to present their plans in this two-day summit to ensure accountability and sustained commitment to the planned implementation. The organization also aims to devise action plans to close the racial gap in each area. The process will be led by a professional team, The Strategic Partners Collaborative. To learn more about WS RISE, its working groups and more, visit www.wsrise.org.
Join a WS RISE Equity Workgroup You’re Invited! Connect with WS RISE on Facebook or visit WSRISE.org
The Vision of Winston-Salem Rise (WS RISE): To create a just community that provides full access to opportunities and prosperity for all its citizens. The Mission of WS RISE: To develop and partner with community-led initiatives that eradicate all racial disparities for Black people. Overarching Goal: As a Black-led organization, WS RISE will play a convening role in the movement for racial justice in East Winston by working to reduce disparities in eight areas: Civic Responsibility, Criminal Justice, Economic Development, Education, Food Security, Housing, Health and Wellness, Jobs/ Workforce Development and the intersections of Transportation, Access to the Internet, and Child Care. Our Plan • Invite community organizations, leaders, residents, and institutional representatives to six community workgroup sessions that focus on these eight disparities. • Culminate the WS RISE Summit sessions to develop an East Winston Blueprint for eradicating disparities in these eight areas. • Align the eight community workgroups with agencies and institutions to implement changes in the Winston-Salem Black community. • Monitor and lead in the programming and implementation of the blueprint to create the changes set forth. East Winston-Salem’ Blueprint for Success Putting Black People First for a Change We would value your participation in our efforts and invite your participation in various areas of the program, including: The East Winston Collaborative Roundtable. This panel includes a diverse group of individuals and organizations in Winston Salem (Forsyth County) working together to reach a common goal: eliminating racial disparities. Workgroup sessions for organizations focusing on the community. Sessions will focus on the eight disparities affecting East Winston. The Future Summit. This event will address the social determinants of a flourishing community, provide an analysis and summary of the workgroup sessions, and organize an execution plan.
8
PAGE 6 URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
Factors Impacting
Community Success Jobs/Workforce Development/ Income
Education
Housing
Health & Wellness
Children who are not reading on grade level are more likely to have poor education, health and employment outcomes later in life.
Homeownership has the dual benefits of improved housing stability and asset development/ wealth creation.
Infant health is often a leading indicator of not only the overall health of children, but also of a community’s health.
Third Grade Students Reading on Grade Level (2018-2019)
Residents Living in Owned Homes (2019)
Percent of Births with Low Householder Median Birthweight (2015-2019) Income (2019)
In Forsyth County, almost twice as many White residents live in households who own their homes compared to Black residents in 2019.
About twice as many White children in Forsyth County are reading on grade level in the third grade compared to Black and Hispanic/Latino children.
Source: American Community Survey, Census Bureau
Source: N.C. Department of Public Instruction
Forsyth County North Carolina United States
In Forsyth County, three times as many Black childbirths and almost twice as many Hispanic/ Latino childbirths are low birth weight compared to White childbirths.
Source: North Carolina Center for Health Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics *Average for 2017-2019 where Forsyth County and North Carolina is an average for 2015-2019.
Black Hispanic/ White Latino
Black
Hispanic/ Latino
White
Black
Hispanic/ Latino
Stable employment and an income that covers the cost of basic living expenses are critical factors that impact the overall quality of life and well-being.
In Forsyth County, the median household income of White householders is almost double the median household income of Black and Hispanic/Latino householders in 2019. Source: American Community Survey, Census Bureau
White
Black
Hispanic/ Latino
White
37%
35%
74%
37%
52%
75%
18%
10%
6%
$29,509
$38,183
$67,773
41%
43%
70%
46%
49%
75%
15%
7%
7%
$41,177
$46,933
$65,244
—
—
—
44%
51%
74%
14%
8%
7%
$43,862 $55,658
$71,664
PAGE 7
URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
g
To reduce racial disparities in the East Winston Black community, Winston Salem RISE (WS Rise), Forsyth Futures and SMSi Healthy Living Solutions, Inc. studied eight social determinants impacting community success. Among those factors were education, housing, health and wellness, citizen responsibility, criminal justice, food security, economic development and jobs, workforce development, and income. Other factors can intersect with these determinants, including the effects of having children enrolled in nursery or preschool and a lack of access to the internet and personal transportation.
s
According to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, conducted from 2015 to 2019, the national standard and county numbers demonstrate that 10% of White people enroll their children into nurseries or preschool, compared to 7% in the Black community. We see a similar disparity regarding internet access, whereas 20% of Black residents have no access, compared to 8% of White residents. Transportation also demonstrated an inequity between Black residents, 13% of whom had no personal vehicle, compared to 2% White residents.
Citizen Responsibility
Criminal Justice
Food Sovereignty
Economic Development
Communities with higher levels of civic participation have a greater sense of community, lower levels of crime, and residents who are healthier and happier.
Incarceration can harm employment prospects, increase poverty, and result in behavior problems in children.
Food sovereignty is linked to health issues and cognitive, psychological, and behavioral challenges.
Business ownership and the value of businesses are essential drivers of wealth creation and assets.
Electoral Participation in 2018 Election
Prison Incarceration Rates per 100,000 Residents (2015)
Percent of Residents Receiving Food Stamps (2019)
In Forsyth County, fewer Black residents participated in the 2018 election at 48% compared to 56% of White residents.
In Forsyth County, the rate of prison incarceration of Black residents is more than five times the rate for White residents.
In Forsyth County, about three times as many Black residents and two times as many Hispanic/Latino residents are receiving food stamps compared to White residents in 2019.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice
Source: North Carolina Board of Elections Pew Research Center
Business Value by Owner (2012) In Forsyth County, White business owners have an average business value that is ten times the average business value of businesses with Black business owners. Source: Survey of Business Owners, Census
Source: American Community Survey, Census Bureau
Black
Hispanic/ Latino
White
Black
Hispanic/ Latino
White
Black
Hispanic/ Latino
White
3
48%
—
56%
1,526
522
279
27%
20%
8%
$48,052 $111,805 $490,645
4
48%
35%
56%
1,305
333
331
28%
16%
8%
$57,038 $148,676 $577,675
4
51%
40%
58%
—
—
—
26%
19%
8%
$73,266 $155,806 $641,742
Black
Hispanic/ Latino
White
© WS RISE, Forsyth Futures, SMSi Healthy Living Solutions, Inc.
PAGE 8 URBAN CALL — HEALTHY LIVING EVERY DAY!
Youth (In)Justice: 1,909 children are arrested each day in the U.S. [Black] children continue to be criminalized at alarming rates, and disparities have persisted. Many children—particularly children in poverty...children with disabilities; children with mental health and substance abuse challenges; children subjected to neglect, abuse, or other violence; children in foster care; and LGBTQ children—are pushed out of their schools and homes into the juvenile...or adult criminal [legal] systems. In 2019, 696,620 children were arrested in the U.S. During the 2015-2016 school year alone. Over 61,000 school arrests and 230,000 referrals to law enforcement were overrepresented, mainly by students with disabilities, Black students, and Indigenous students. The prioritization of police over mental health professionals
in schools often leads to the criminalization of typical adolescent behavior and fuels the school-to-prison pipeline. Today, 14 million students attend schools with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker. We Demand Change in Winston-Salem Lit City, a youth community organization group, joins the chorus of people, communities, and grassroots organizations of our city demanding deep change. We want schools to be springboards to flourishing, not pipelines to prison. We want Black youth to have all the economic, relational, and material resources necessary for their development! Youth demonstrate during a Black Lives Matter protest.
You’re invited!
Glossary of Terms Committee: A body of persons delegated to consider, investigate, take action on, or report on some matter.
WS Rise Planning Committee for programming, designing, marketing and facilitating the Workgroup Sessions and Summit.
Collaboration: The act of working together, especially on a goal or shared project.
Workgroup Sessions: Individuals who meet to address a critical public issue (8 social determinants of racial disparities) in a democratic, collaborative way. Participants examine the issue from many points of view and identify areas of common ground.
WS RISE Planning Committee: The governing and oversight body making policies and charting directions, similar to a board of directors, composed of up to 20 Black-led organizations and community leaders. WS RISE Executive Committee: The committee within the organization which has the authority to make decisions and ensures they are carried out.
Social-Determinants: The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels and are primarily responsible for inequities.
WS RISE Project Team: The Strategic Partners Collaborative, a consulting group, contracted by the
Food Sovereignty: The ability of communities to determne the quantity and quality of the food
they consume by controlling how their food is produced and distributed. Sustainability: Enough – for all – forever! – African Delegate to Johannesburg (Rio+10) Racial Disparity: An unequal outcome one racial group experiences as compared to the outcome for another racial group**. Summit: A two-day assembly that encourages round-table discussions, that empowers its participants (with lived experiences and decisionmakers) who seek ideal goals, and solutions. **CSSP (2019). “Key Equity Terms and Concepts: A Glossary for Shared Understanding.” Washington, DC: Center for the Study of Social Policy. Available at: https://cssp.org/wp-content/ uploads/2019/09/Key-Equity-Terms-and-Conceptsvol1.pdf
Connect with WS RISE on Facebook or visit WSRISE.org.
Funding is Key The friends of WSRISE are financial supporters of the organization. WS RISE Planning Committee (all members) Don and Robin Flow Chuck and Cheryl Byrd WSSU Center for the Study of Economic Mobility Hanes Foundation Lafayette and Sandra Miller Jones, SMSi Companies The Twenty Twin City Development Foundation Winston Salem Foundation SG Atkins CDC