Woodson Center (formerly Center for Neighborhood Enterprise)

Founded in 1981, the Woodson Center’s mission is to empower community-based leaders to promote solutions that reduce crime and violence, restore families, revitalize underserved communities, and assist in the creation of economic enterprise. We provide grassroots leaders with training and technical assistance, link them to sources of support and evaluate their experiences for public policy. Current programs include the Community Affiliate Network (CAN), the Voices of Black Mothers United initiative, our free Black History and Excellence K-12 Curriculum, the Joseph Fund, and NLDI Online and Training and Technical Assistance for neighborhood leaders and community and faith-based organizations across the U.S. The Center has provided training to more than 2,600 leaders of community organizations in 39 states. Societal problems addressed by the WC's Community Affiliates Network include: - Community Development missions that ensure issues of the poor are heard and addressed through policy and programs. - Criminal Justice missions that address law concerns, alternatives to incarceration, violence reduction, youth violence reduction, reentry, human trafficking, etc. - Education missions that address literacy concerns including K-12, higher education, community education including early childhood, GED, adult education, workforce development and workforce innovation. - Homelessness missions that address lack of housing among vulnerable populations. - Faith-based Initiatives that work in partnership with communities to improve the overall health, well-being and preservation of children and families. - Entrepreneurship missions that focus on the creation of small business enterprises. - Healthy Futures missions that address unmet health needs of underserved communities. - Veterans/Military missions that address the unmet needs of veterans and their families.