Videos

Until I started looking into this. I had no idea of the extensive history that resides here in Davenport's black history.
But also the merger of the Black History into the White society here in Davenport. It was it really was a different picture painted than what I learned throughout my education in school.

Henry Applewhite was born in 1850. He was born in Georgia. He went to war with his master on the Confederate side as he started the war, but eventually found his way to the Union side.
And why? We may never know. I think we have insight that he was probably forced to fight on the Confederate side. But he soon found his way to fighting for the the Union Army.
You know, it's kind of weird to think that he was fighting to maintain a status that he could not have been well in.

After the war, he came to Davenport and it was around 1878 at that time where he worked as a gardener for the S.F. Smith family. I'll get back to them later.
He was one of the best known colored men of the city at the time.
His death came back in on the 2nd of November in 1899.
At his birthday party, he was too sick to celebrate. And so a host of his friends got together and did not forget his 49th birthday. They brought him many valuable presents. Among them were five silver dollars, presented him by the lady sewing circle of third Baptist Church.
Mr. Applewhite passed away that Saturday, November 4th, at the age of 49 in 1899.
 
His services were held at Third Baptist Church, which he and his wife, Lydia Applewhite, were two of its founding members. Interesting. Before Mr. Applewhite passed away, he had left a request that Reverend Murph of Gettysburg, Illinois, preach his funeral, assisted by G.S. Rollins of the Congregation Church in Davenport and Dr. Letto of Calvary Baptist Church, also of Davenport, two white congregations and other white noted white ministers that they participate in his services.
During the funeral it says that Third Baptist was packed to the brim standing room only.
Among those who are who, they said at that time, would miss him the most would be the honorable S.F. Smith. As Mr. Applewhite had worked very faithfully for 21 years as Houseman and Coachman, and was considered as one of the family rather than a hired man.

His lack of bitterness, I think, is what kind of grabs me when you look at the individuals that he surrounded himself with.
Honorable S.F. Smith, who he worked for for 21 years, a white man who considered Mr. Applewhite as family, that there was no bitterness in Mr. Applewhite towards white people.
It disrupts what we've what we've learned, and I think that is the glory of what we want to be able to do here in Martin Luther King Park is to be able to tell the story from a more accurate lens of history where we are not shying away from the true story and the contributions that all American citizens have had even before they were considered full American citizens.

Knowing these stories, I hope will help us move forward because we're honoring our past with hopes that we will build a better future.

Lindsey Pitts is believed to be Davenport's first black business owner.
Born into slavery in 1841, in the state of Missouri, he worked in slavery up until about age 21.
Then he escapes from his Missouri owner as a young man with the help of the Underground Railroad.
When the Civil War breaks out, he then enlists in the first Iowa colored Infantry, which was believed to be the 60th colored infantry right here in Davenport, a unit he served in throughout the war.

After several years on his own, Mr. Pitts arrived in Davenport back in Davenport in 1878. He was determined to stay. He was a successful businessman.
He operated the saloon for many years, right here at 120 East fifth Street in what was an entertainment district that the local newspapers derogatorily called “Africa Row” or “Dark Town Row.” The 1900s and 1901
Davenport City director notes his saloon was also part cigar stand barber shop and billiard hall.
This area was near the Chicago, the Pacific and the Rock Island Depot.
So that makes this mixed race zone frequented by many, many train passengers as well as locals.
Around 1906, Pitts sold this place and opened a new one, the Exchange Saloon, at 214 East Front Street.
And according to his obituary, Lindsey Pitts was for many years an important African-American political leader in Davenport.

He passed away following a brief illness where he contracted a sickness from attending the funeral of one Jake Busey, at which Lindsey was the pallbearer.

Those were very important times here in this area.
There were free blacks, but then there also slaves working.
And so to have a black man like Lindsey Pitts, who was able to find work and his own work and to be to find this place desirable, to live, I think is is is impressive.

It's Davenport's history. It's not just Davenport’s black history, but this is Davenport's history.
Thomas And Jake Busey.
They become some of Davenport's pioneers here in this area as well.
In terms of when we look at why black families moved to Davenport.

Jake Busey was born on September 17th of 1859, came to this city with his mother in 1864. He graduated from the high school, which we now know as Davenport Central High School on June 23rd of 1877.
He was Davenport High School's are Davenport's second black graduate. He said he owed his education to ex-Mayor J.W. Stewart, who took a deep interest at him and assisted him throughout school.
After graduating from high school, Jake went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he taught night school for six months. He then returned home.
For 21 years after that, he worked as a janitor at the old library building at Sixth and Brady Streets. 
Tom Busey, his brother, was also born in Calhoun, Kentucky. His story is a little different, and after coming to Davenport, he received his education at school number two and after leaving, learned the trade of cook.

The story of the Busey brothers and how they got here at at different times. So born in slavery in Calloway County, Kentucky, they owe their deliverance from the fetlock and the lash to the strong parental
love of their father and mother.
During the Civil War in the dead of night, their parents hitched up a team on their master’s oxen and without detection loaded it their nine children into the wagon and hauled them to the Union Army camp some ten miles away from where their plantation was.
They were given protection of the troops and when overtaken by the irate master was he he made his way to the union camp that following morning the oxen where return to the slave owner, but he never regained possession of his former slaves.
The family then proceeded to Columbus, Kentucky, where the father was pressed into service in the Union Army. During ten days and nights in a cold and drizzly, rainy evening, the elder Busey, the father, was engaged in throwing embarkments for the union forces, and while so engaged, he contracted pneumonia from which he then died.

When the parents had made their escape, they took with them their nine children. The 10th child who lived on a different plantation and worked was Thomas Busey.
When they got here in Davenport, Mrs. Busey arrived with her nine children. She had $2 to her name. They had to send back to get Thomas some a few years later.
And that's why he came later in life.

And when he gets here, he's probably of age where where he could start working. It says that her her children, they did not shy away of repaying her the debt for the sacrifice that she made, that they got their freedom.

They put her up in a in a in a house. They say that was a comfortable home is what they say that that she lived in. Paid for and furnished by the earnings of Tom and Jake. And that house was located at 616 Eastern Avenue in East Davenport. 

I think the Busey family is a typical what what you would think in terms of runaway slave. The owner comes after them, the Union Army saves the day, and then you have this strong black mother who takes her nine children from Kentucky and lands here in Davenport, Iowa, and then has the gall to send back after the war for her 10th son, Thomas Busey. And they're successful in doing it.
I think the amazing piece is that there's so many stories that we hear of that families were totally destroyed and never even reconnected during slavery and even post-slavery. And so to have this this family that has was able to have this reconnection, I think is amazing.

And we can look back at the Buseies and say there there there was someone that came before me that helped pave the way for what I have access to today.

I don't even know that our program is well known here in this community, although we've been here for probably 80 years, all told.

The River Valley ARC is a residential rehabilitation center for men with addictions, and so it is a six month program and the men come here of their own free will.
Even if the court refers them, they have an option.
Well, will I go somewhere else where the judge sends me, or will I try the Salvation Army?
So they check into this program and they're involved in the whole program, what we call work therapy, because everybody has an assignment during the day, which is really good because the men are not used to necessarily getting up in the morning and going to work.
So they have to get up early, clean up, get dressed, come to breakfast and then we have a morning devotional time and then they go out and do a job here at the center.

And then in the evenings they have their counseling classes, individual counseling and group counseling group activities that would include going to AA meetings and NA meetings outside and inside.
So there's a whole panoply of programs that they're involved in.

Almost every Sunday we're graduating somebody from the program and they're getting reunited with their family.
And just yesterday, we had a man complete the program and go home to his partner in Keokuk.
And she is suffering from I think, third stage cancer.
So he's going to be able to be there as a present and a productive person in that household and is going to bring that family back together.
So I've had the privilege of seeing a lot of families restored.

Men being productive. We have a good alumni group
and they actually come back and support the guys in the program here. I think it's important that the community knows exactly what we're doing so that they can actually support us, too.

And by the way, our only means of support, we don't take cash donations here, just gifts in-kind, which would be clothing, furniture, household goods and such.
We we distribute them out to our thrift stores. We have seven. And the sale of those goes back into this program to support this program, meaning that we don't charge any fees at all for the men while they're here.

If we can get that word out more that what we do is turn that cash immediately back into the program to help men, then I think that would inspire people to donate more often, not of cash, but of gifts in-kind.
Clothing they're getting rid of, furniture and such.

And frankly, this a good time of year around Christmas because they're getting rid of the old and ready to bring in some new.
And so I would hope people would know what we do with the funds that we get in the thrift store. But we think it all goes together towards one goal.
That a man gets his heart right first, and his chances for success are just that much better.

We're not just giving people services or money. We're giving them hope.

We are not boxed into any particular delivery model. So we can really be what Clinton needs.
And so right now, the demand is for resumes and job skills, finding employment and trying to get over the technological barrier that a lot of people have.
If the only job you ever had was one that never required a resume, you're in uncharted territory.

So I think a part of the process is forming a relationship with this person so that I can help them tell their story.
So being able to spend time with people again is such a key thing that a lot of other agencies can't do.
But we pride ourselves on taking time with people, selling people on their own innate abilities.

How many times do I give people a pep talk every week just to just to help get them back on their feet?
You know, and I can empower somebody to, you know, fill out that resumé knowing, yeah, they have a big gap because maybe they were in prison or maybe they were homeless.
How can we reframe that gap as a real positive?
How can we send them into that interview, Not dreading that question about that gap in their resumé, but being being excited to talk about how they grew and what they learned and why they're a better person for that gap in their resume.

The life center concept for the Salvation Army is about being whatever the community needs. We're not fixed and we're not tied to any particular way that we do what we do.
So we're always asking what does our community need?
And we want to know from people what what they need and we want to meet that need.

So the after school program is a 41 week program that goes throughout the school year, gives them a place to come to.
A lot of the kids, most of them may have been not welcome to other ones because of behavioral issues, but sometimes other places aren't equipped or can't handle that.
And so we say, hey, we can come alongside them, we'll take them.

So our kids are very good, though. They're amazing. We love them. And our youth director, Mary, especially, loves them.
The parents work a lot, especially if it's coming from a more low income area or they have job hours that don't reflect the normal 9 to 5 job hours.
They need time in that afternoon to be able to work at home and prepare for whatever.
And so we provide them with the time to both have fun to decompress from school

and then after that time do their homework so that way they don't fall behind.
Here, we allow them to have fun. We allow them to spend time with friends, make new friends, be social, allow them to do their homework, and be able to assist in reading, spelling difficulties, math.

The kids are excited to come here. They love coming here.
They often ask their parents and say, Mom, dad, when can I go back? When can we go back after school?

The way we meet that need is the support of the community.
The community is what drives us. Everything that we get is from the community, from the food, from the support through donations or red kettle season that comes to the community, from corporations, donating from individuals, donating and volunteering their time to support us.
And so we meet the need with the help of the community.

It's to see them light up when they are improving and things that they were struggling with.
I count that as success and to see the smiles on their faces is really the true marker of success.

We see a lot of middle class families who are working hard to provide for their families.
But housing expenses are going up, food is going up, everything's going up.
And so trying to meet make ends meet is still difficult and families still need help.

During our week, we have over 200 people coming in to get bread and pastries that are donated by Hy-Vee and to shop our food pantry.
So they come in. We have volunteers who work in our food pantry, help the clients shop and take food home to their families.
And then we also do a coat drive every year and give away coats for free to the community, to kids.
And so far, we've given away over 350 coats.
A little girl came in and we gave her a winter coat and she was so excited and she put this coat on and she was dancing around our lobby because she was so excited that she got a new winter coat.

We could not serve the amount of people that we serve without our volunteers.
This operation would not work without our volunteers.
They come in each week and we have people who go and pick up the bread and drop it off to us.
We have people who bring in donations of food or financial donations to purchase food for our pantries or provide coats.
And then we have our regular volunteers who come in and help these clients apply for our food pantry and shop in the food pantry.
And without them, this would not work.

The need here in the community in Moline is real.
There's people coming in every day looking for housing because they're facing homelessness or food because their kids didn't eat dinner last night or coats because they can't afford a coat for their kids.
And so we are here to try to help them make ends meet.

When you're in crisis and you don't have anywhere to go or you're living in your car, all you think about is how I'm going to make it through that day.

With shelters, a lot of people think as you know, they're not doing anything, they're not working, they're drunks or, you know, addicts.
That's what they think of homeless people.
But these are families with children that literally have nowhere to go.
They are working. They are trying. They're trying their best to be able to get out of that situation.
And they can't do it because they can't afford their housing.

We have currently right now almost 50 families in shelter and that's just the families. 
So you're looking over 100 and some people that are in shelter right now and we have about 30 to 40 more families that are waiting to come in a shelter that will be hopefully getting them this week and next week.

People are in crisis. Live day to day for our job as the Salvation Army is to teach them to look into the future.
And so that you do have that savings, you do have that support with someone that a lot of them don't have the support from family.
And so they rely on us as case managers to be able to support them in there and to be able to teach them that, yes, you need a fix today, but you also need to look for the future because you don't know what's going to happen.

We currently right now have 11 families in our transitional housing program where we work with where they work with a case manager to work on some goals that they need to work on.
You know, some a lot of them have evictions, recent evictions, maybe a little bit of a criminal background, different things like that that housing is difficult for them right now.
If anybody has a recent eviction, housing is pretty much impossible at this point.
So transitional housing gives them for this program.

It's up to three years of putting those evictions back, working with a case manager on how to save money, increase their income if they need to.
Whatever goals they want to, to be able to become successful and be able to get their own housing after this is over.

We pay with the grant their rent, and but they also have to save money so that when they do leave us, they have that money for that deposit, first month's rent, second month's rent and whatever they need to move in and to get themselves set up.
So the extra things that we give them is to basically set them up for their their housing, whether they're going into our housing program or into their own home.
We want them to be able to have those basic needs that they need because a lot of people are coming from shelters.
So they only have like some clothes or a couple of things.
So buying the towels, buying the dishes, buying microwaves, getting food, those things cost extra money that they don't have.
And so we like to set them up with those basic things that they have so they can focus on saving them money.

You know, working on budgets, working with the case manager and those things, they don't have to worry about when they're moving in.
You know, when you see people coming to a shelter, they're down in there have had no luck. They just have lost hope.
And so when you work with them as a case manager and you're seeing kind of that hope of like, oh, I can work this job, or oh, now we got childcare, childcare set up.
So now I can maybe now they're in school, so now I can work and seeing the pieces come together for them and the confidence that they have based on them not having to worry about where they're going each night and that their kids can go to school every day and then bringing them into a housing program.
You see the sense of relief, you see the sense of happiness. You see that they have accomplished goals.
It may not be big goals that people think, but the little goals of just getting my kid signed up for childcare, taking them to school, getting them to school, different things like that, that they
when they weren't doing or to save money.

And that is a big it's a reward of of those people that you see and the kids of space that like I'm going into my own place.
We've been moving some of these people into our traditional how these units and the look on their faces when they go in and the kids as faces of having a bed instead of sleeping in their car, that they actually have a bed that they now have bedding for because we provided it for them and they have a place that's warm and they can call their home and they don't have to say, I'm living in my car, I'm living in my house.
It's their house.

Thank you.
Bell ringing for me, it's really about knowing that we're going to do the most good with the money and we're giving it back to the community.
We're going to, you know, provide families with housing and provide them with food and toys throughout the year, and things that they need to become successful going along and partnering along with those people that are in need.

You want to ring the bell?
Can you ring it?
Can you ring it?

My name is Patricia Dywiak, and I've been volunteering with the Salvation Army for about seven years now.
I just enjoy helping and giving back to the community and giving back to others and hearing the stories of others and how it's impacted their life and changed their lives.

I think it's like the familiarity, right?
Like it's something natural.
They hear the bells and they think, Oh, you know, here's here's a way we can personally give back.
It's very well known around the country and around the world, actually.
So it's very much part of Christmas.
I think it is very special.

You know, you get people coming up telling you about how the Salvation Army has impacted their lives and the different situations where they might have needed food or toys for their children one winter and they didn't have anywhere to turn.
And then they came to the Salvation Army and their needs were met.
Some families have come up and talked about how they needed help with shelter and things like that and told us their stories and how a Salvation Army was allowed to come aside them and help them get assistance.
So it's really nice to hear. So it makes standing in the cold really worth it.

I kept bouncing off the bottom and, you know, just going from job to job.
Trying to start my business was not easy. Over the years, I didn't have any credit at all.
I only was able to buy the equipment that I was able to pay cash for.
I had a decent relationship with my banker, but I came in and asked about getting some bigger equipment and another a newer truck.
And they denied me pretty quickly.
And said I didn't have any credit whatsoever.
I was like, "Well, what else can we do?"
She was like, "Well, I'm sorry, but my hands are tied. You know, this is I put it into the system and the system takes it back, says you're denied."
So it didn't help me grow and it didn't, you know, they weren't giving me a chance.
And it was just extremely frustrating.
I came in to Ascentra with a referral and sat down with Eric.

He came in and was one of the first members I probably actually sat with, like on my own and everything.
Which is kind of crazy to think about, you know, five years later.
And of course, as being a new account officer, I'm sitting there like, what's the problem? I'm like, let's take a look at your credit.
You know, that's really where it's got to start.

He said, Well, I can help you get started first with a $500 credit card.
And, you know, he got approval from it very quickly and we got the card in the mail within a couple of days.
And that just kind of just kind of started rolling forward quickly.

For for anyone coming in, it's really just about identifying what is your true purpose and what is your main objective.
And that's how I can then work to get them there.
So it's not for them to figure out how credit scores work.
It's not for them to figure out how to raise and lower the score.
That's where I come in.

Eric also was a big help with telling me how I can do what I can do to build my credit quickly and fast and getting my credit score up quickly.

So it's never "no." It's always, I can't do this, but I can do this. So I never give a member and "no." It's never your declined, sorry about your luck.
It's "I can't do this, but we can do this."

Well we went from no credit to I have one of the highest credit scores that I can probably get anything almost now.
When I came to Ascentra, I had... I had one truck and a small little pressure washer I could put in the back of it to we have six trucks and seven employees and six pieces of equipment. So we've grown tremendously.

It kinda gives me chills. I mean, even as we're talking now, like it's still I kind of get chills just thinking about cause to know that even back five years ago, my main focus was to help him in that moment and just to see that, I mean, it just gives you the warm, you know, warm fuzzies and stuff and it just makes you happy to see that not only the company that you're with shares your same values, but your values are helping those around you.
Sometimes just the smallest little, you know, change really leads to really big things.
And that's that's just what we're all about.

I just needed somebody to give me a chance.

I told them that we weren't looking for a place to rent. We were looking for a home.
And so I think that Azubuike has found a home.

The reason we chose to call ourselves Azubuike African-American Council for the Arts is the name actually has a meaning.
And the meaning is "the past is our strength."
And so we thought that that was a good name for the type of organization that we were trying to establish here in the Quad Cities.
The goal is to enrich our community and to provide different opportunities, especially for African-American youth that don't get these enrichment opportunities.
And a lot of programing has been kind of cut down in schools because of budgetary demands and just streamlining curriculum and things like that.
So arts and especially information about African-American culture and history doesn't get the highlight in public schools that maybe it should at least what we think it should.
So that is why we started Azubuike. For the art class, the kids come in and we have a different assignment.
It just depends. Sometimes the assignments or the projects that we are working on take more than one session.
And they know that, you know, art is something that that you take your time with.
So anyone that comes to our programing, it is free of charge. And we want to be able to keep it that way and to just be a service and a resource to the community.
Because if you go into a marginalized community, I mean, how do you charge people?
We believe that if you give young people a form of expression in self-expression, and being able to capture their realities, I think that you've given them a voice, you've given them a platform that they can show what they're feeling and thinking and communicate with others.
This is where our film program comes in. The only thing that most of the kids that come through here at first know about filmmaking, the African-American ones, is the acting.
Well, they know the actors. They might know a few of the directors, but they are not looking at the people who write the scripts, the screenplays, and things like that.
They don't look at the technical people and know that there's a whole crew behind them.
So we try to let them know the different types of professions that they can get just from the arts that we expose in here.
And I think that artists have always been at the forefront of social change. So we feel as artists that we have the same responsibility.
Art is not just art for art's sake.
It has to reflect what's going on with our community, what's happening in the world today.
That's how we feel we fit into the overall theme of being a resource in this in the Lincoln Resource Center, and also trying to do as much as we can to uplift our community and to deal with things head on that impact the African-American community more specifically. We see the community is getting whatever skills and expertize that we have to offer and then taking it and then like, let it spread, take it, go teach somebody else,
go help someone else learn this.
So we want it to spread like that. And we'd like for any of the expertize that they learn here that they can take back to their families, their friends, their schools, their churches, and start doing it there.

Love Girls Magazine is a loving network of support for young women in the Quad Cities.
And when they participate in Love Girls Magazine, they have opportunities for leadership and learning and all things related to media.
So that could be podcasting, graphic design, writing, public speaking, so that they actually leave Love Girls magazine with marketable skills and actually having a network of people that they've met that they can access for opportunities.
And that's, that's one of the huge things with the population we work with is access.
And the Lincoln Center provides us access because without the space we wouldn't be able to afford to have an on site location for the magazine.
We looked at it as an educational project, but what we've discovered is that, you know, you're never too young to lead.
We're opening doors for opportunity for young women.
And, you know, we've been around long enough, ten years, that we've been able to see the fruits of our labor.
We have young women who are working for TV stations, for newspapers and are using their leadership skills now that they've graduated from college.
You know, a lot of people say that self-esteem doesn't really matter, but it's not true.
It makes a difference in your leaders for tomorrow.
You know, we are an African-American led organization because my daughter is African-American and I am. And when young women see her in that leadership role, they're like, there's somebody who looks like me.
And so they want to be a part of that.
But we've never said that our doors aren't open to other populations.
And so certainly we serve a large number of African-American girls, of Asian girls, of Hispanic girls and of white girls as well.
But, yes, it's a huge number because representation matters.
You know, you see someone who looks like you, you're like, I can do that, too.
I was just recently talking with one of our podcast hosts, and she said that she was drawn to the magazine.
She came to the media arts camp. She said she'd always been a quiet person, very shy, and she wanted to really come out of her shell.
And she said, you know, "The thing it gave me was purpose."
She said, "I really struggled with knowing that I'm valued, that knowing that I measure up, that I'm good enough or that there's something special about me that's worthwhile." And she said, "That's what the magazine gave me." She said, "It gives me a sense of purpose and it changed my life." And that's really exciting to hear because, you know, that's that wasn't necessarily the vision, but that has now become our mission to give young women a sense of purpose, to give them a voice.

When programs are culturally relevant or you see someone that looks like you, so you know that they understand what you're going through versus telling you how to make your life better, that it's received better.
So specifically for the Lincoln Center, we want programing that not only helps with the basic needs, but also taps into some of those more specific needs as it relates to being an African-American

We're a family. We're family. We all we all like these guys here. How long you guys been here? About a year? A year and a half? Almost two?
See how fast that goes, man?
Pena's is a mainstay in our community and they've produced some world champions. They have.
But at the same time, I think what they offer the kids in our community is hope and stability.
My dad started it as a promise to my oldest brother in 19 and we've been going out for 54 years and it's for the kids.
He would always say it's for the kids. And now I understand what he means.

I think Pat, being in the Lincoln Center being here for the kids, being here longer than we've been here 0even is really a statement on what he means to our community and what he means to the kids that are here in our community.
You know, we have a lot of things going on in the black community as far as trouble. It provides a place for black children or younger
black youth to come and get away, give them something to look forward to instead of being in the streets.
I think what more importantly they're getting is the comfort of knowing that there's someone that cares about them.

That's one of the big things I like to see is that we're a big family. That's one of the main things that I like to see.
Everybody takes time to work with each other, make sure we're all we're all up to par for our fights.
Make sure everybody's in shape. Mainly because we're like a family. So it's a good connection. It's all love in here. All love here. 

I can tell you a lot about Cops and Kids. I love Cops and Kids. I'm so excited about the program.
I ride around with books in my car. So anytime I have the opportunity to interact with kids this past summer, anytime I'd see a lemonade stand or some kids playing basketball or something especially younger ones,
I'd go out with them and I just I'd offer them a book instead of the lemonade and just create that positive environment, a positive interaction with with the community, with the kids specifically.

We're accomplishing two goals. The first goal was positive interaction with law enforcement so that it's not always them coming to the house on a negative mission, but to have positive interaction and talk with them.
But then the second one was promoting literacy. I think that we have to put the conversation about literacy in with the same conversation we have where we say kids need stable housing.
Kids need food. Kids need to know how to read. It's an awesome concept, and I'm glad we're doing something like this.
I think it's definitely needed. Just being intentional.
In our community, specifically in the Quad Cities pre-pandemic, the numbers of black third graders reading at third grade reading proficiency was at 42%.
So over half of our kids weren't reading at third grade reading proficiency.
Post-pandemic, I just saw the numbers, this dropped all the way to 11%, are only reading at Third-Grade reading level.
And so bringing a program like cops and kids here, we accomplish not just the goal of positive interaction with police, but putting a focus on literacy.

There's a lot that we do, whether it's chasing the bad guys or investigating the heinous crimes.
But at the end of the day, when I get to interact with the kids at community events and see the smiles on their faces interacting with me positively, it's it's it's what I look for.

I guess the easier question is what is it not about, right? Because we have so much going on under our roof. We were committed from the beginning on making this the hub for the African-American community and anything that the community needed, whether it be resources, services, programs, events. It was going to happen here at the Lincoln Center. That's what we were determined to do.
And so we committed to filling this space up with black owned businesses, nonprofits and organizations. So we started out small and like I said, work with what we had. But in a year, we have progressed. So much things that are happening now I was not expecting to happen for two or three years. So we just adapt and adjust and keep going with the momentum that we have.
Pena's Boxing Club has existed in our community for over 60 years, and so they have a whole downstairs. And every day he gets about 40 kids down there Azubuike was the first artist that we had come in and take over a space and really make it her own. And then since then, we've had two more artists come
We have theater production and acting classes, afterschool programing, a community garden ministry who during the winter they plant your seedlings in greenhouses, and then in the spring they go out and plant them around the community. Our YAP program will be housed in here. We also have our Blessing Box, which is a nonprofit that collects household items that go out to families through the food pantry.
We have a couple of artists that do like the sip and paint and maternity bellies and skincare and cosmetics, LOVE Girls Magazine is in here. They do a lot of mentoring to young girls in our community with writing and photography and podcasting. We have two fitness studios and a photography studio. We have an event planner in here and we have two dance programs.
We have our plans for a food pantry We have our plans. That will happen sooner than later for our business center and a community meeting room. We have partnerships with Palmer and with Genesis for a walk in clinics and outreach clinics. Right here in the building. We have a library that will give out free books so that we can start attacking those literacy numbers that are affecting the black community.
We have programs that work with effective black parenting and business acceleration to help everyone get better. I want our businesses to get to the point where they've outgrown this space, because then that means we've done our job here at the Lincoln Center and that they do move on so that we can get other businesses in here and start that same process with them.
So at any given day, we have approximately a hundred kids that are in the building, whether they're at the boxing club, whether they're at dance practice or training for basketball or at the after school program. What we're doing here at the Lincoln Center is no excuses. If you need board members to diversify your board, we have a board training and leadership development course.
If you have kids, if you have a position to open for kids, we have a hundred kids in here that we can get jobs for Our mission is so simple, but is so impactful at the same time to empower and educate our youth, our families and our community.
We aren't always at the table. We're not. And that's just a fact. And so I if I couldn't place us at the table, then we were just going to get our own table and make our own plans and create for our own people. The reality is in the Quad Cities, the black community is only 11% of the population.
So a lot of times in class, on a team, in a store, you're going to be the only black person. And that gets exhausting at times. So if us opening our doors at least gives them a moment to breathe a moment to just be a moment to not feel like you're being judged just because of the color of your skin, then we've done our job.
We're in central Davenport, where within a mile radius, there's no grocery store, there's no convenience store, there's no gas station, there's no ATM machine. There's no medical facilities. There is nothing in this neighborhood. So we knew because of where we are located that we have to be a resource for the people that live right here, that if they walk in through that door and they need food, they need health care, they need tutoring assistance, they need help filling out a job application.
They need clothes. That we have to be able to provide those things for this neighborhood. I was stopped in the middle of a tour one time, and the person said, so is this just for black people? No, it's not just for black people. When we get 100 kids in here, they're white, they're black, they're Mexican, they're everything. Just know what the focus is when you walk in the door and the focus is on the black community.
But at the same time, I'm a big proponent of education and engagement creates understanding I talk to these kids and they have the same dreams and the same goals as anybody else. But at the same time, their circumstances, adults could not deal with a lot of the things that they have to deal with. Our goal is to create this home for our youth that they can go from basketball practice to the boxing club, that they can go from art class to dance class, that they can take an acting class because we are creating that space where anyone can walk through the doors, but we want to make sure they understand.
The focus is on educating and empowering our youth, our families and our community. And if we can do that, we make for a greater Quad Cities at the end of the day. We wouldn't be talking about it if it wasn't a need, right? We are in a crisis right now. There's no other way to put it. The black community is in a crisis right now, and nothing changes if nothing changes.
So we have to approach it differently. The community has to approach it differently. Good things should not just happen to a certain segment of people. Good things happen to everybody. And there are achievement gaps, there are academic gaps, but that comes from lack of opportunity. That opportunity is not always there for people of color. Whether it's intentional or unintentional, whether it's systemic or just on chance it's just not always there.
There was a great light shined on the two Americas after George Floyd. There's a black America and then there's America. And things that were happening in Chicago in Atlanta, in Minnesota, were actually happening right here in the Quad Cities. So we had to get comfortable being uncomfortable and having these difficult conversations about the challenges that our black community is facing right here in the Quad Cities. When it comes to education, when it comes to income, when it comes to health when it comes to wealth building, nothing was being done on this level. Things that were happening here in the Quad Cities, grants for buildings and grants for programs, and these things were being thought about, created and funded without one black person sitting at the table giving their input on what they felt should be within our region. You know, we're not asking for anything more.
We're asking for just what we should have, which is a safe space for our kids and our families and our community to feel like they have a space here in the Quad Cities. So with the Lincoln Center, I think that this was an opportunity to start bringing the black community together and saying, Okay, we have this space we we have a mission, let's work together. If you give us a chance, we will definitely make a difference. Not just in the black community in starting to change that narrative and working towards tearing down the systemic issues that have been going on for years here in our community and start building that community back up. But by doing that, then the Quad Cities becomes that welcome, inclusive and diverse community.
So come through these doors, understand why this is a black founded, black led organization. Understand why we have black businesses, organizations and nonprofits in here. Understand why we are so focused on helping the black community. And once you understand that because you've engaged with us, because you've learned things while you're in here, then it makes you more understanding and more willing to help the cause.

At first I was scared. I'm not gonna lie.
I thought maybe since my credit was bad, I wouldn’t get a chance.

In her situation, she only needed a small amount.
So we started with a small amount.
And we've been able to take baby steps.

I was talking to Carrie.
I told her I didn't have very good credit.
And she said, Well, starting off with a small loan to help build up your credit.

Her situation. Being a single mom with kids and kind of living paycheck to paycheck, we're not just looking at credit.
It's the relationship.

I feel like that I improved my credit.
I improved my finances.
My next goal is to come down here and see if I can get a loan for a house.

It's fun, kind of getting creative and being able to help.

I just needed help building my credit.

I came in with a hard situation.
It was a stuck cycle that these check cashing places kind of had me sucked in.

Dawn's debt versus her income was pretty high by herself.
So I had to go higher up and really push the story, and we made the loan.

And it wasn't a quick yes now, but it was a “we're going to help you out any way we can.” 

That's what we do. We don't just look at a credit score. We don't just look at the credit report.
We hear a story and we work to help.

It was a wonderful, wonderful experience. What Jennifer did for me.

The day that we got Dawn's loan finalized, I don't know who was happier.
I just needed to get away from payday lenders.

I can't really understand why my rate would be that different.
Seems like something isn't right.

When I first met Alana, I realized that she was paying outrageous interest rates.

The car was 18% and my personal loan was 21%.

When I was able to show her how much money it would save for her, she was blown away.
I knew right from the get go that we could bring those down significantly and cut those into about a third of what she was paying.

Lindsey pulled my information and was able to combine those loans, and then my payment is $100 less per month.

For Alana, she was used to just where she was at.

She kind of thought that's how things were.

To feel like I was being taken advantage of at another financial institution and then to come here and be treated well.
It makes a big difference.
I just needed someone to give me a loan.

There are now more people without enough food than ever before in history.
This holiday Ascentra wants to bring attention to a sharp rise in food insecurity that is affecting many throughout our region due to COVID-19.
A phenomenon that experts are calling a hunger pandemic. 
To help with the fight against hunger and as part of "Season of Caring" social initiative,
Ascentra wants to highlight the work of the River Bend Foodbank.
Five years ago, we distributed 7.3 million meals. Now in the best year we have distributed over 20 million meals.
And it's up even more since COVID.
The River Bend Foodbank leads the community-wide effort to end hunger, by collecting and distributing food to hunger relief charities in 23 counties.
Pre-COVID there were 105,000 people without enough food, and Post-COVID that has jumped to almost 160,000 people.
Food insecurity is up by over 50% since COVID.
The foodbank provides free and convenient access to healthy foods. 
People who have never needed help from the foodbank or a pantry before don't know what to do.
And what we're telling those folks is if you need food, please come see us.
That's why we're here.  Don't hesitate or think it's for someone else.  Don't think it's not at the end of the rope yet.
If you need help, please come see us.
With a projected recession, continued unemployment and spikes in coronavirus cases,
Higher demand for food will likely continue into 2021.
This is going to be a marathon not a sprint. 
While the foodbank has distributed 45% more food than just last year, we are also having to balance response to the immediate need against sustaining that response over time because this is not going to be over any time quickly.
It takes three things to make this work: food, time and money.
If you know of some place that is throwing away food, please let us know.
If you are able to volunteer, we have thousands of volunteers and need help with that.
And of course it takes finances to make this work.
Together we can solve hunger.
Get more information on this hunger pandemic and learn how you can help at ascentra.org/caring.