Touting self-sufficiency, Ben Carson adds west Charlotte nonprofit to federal program
HUD Secretary Ben Carson visited Charlotte on Thursday to designate a west Charlotte nonprofit a member of his administration’s economic self-sufficiency program.
Renaissance West Community Initiative has been designated an EnVision Center, a signature program of Carson’s tenure at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The nonprofit works with residents of the mixed-income residents at Renaissance West, nearby apartments and an elementary school on site.
Such centers are typically located in or near subsidized housing and provide services such as job training and financial literacy to encourage economic mobility.
Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who ran for president in 2016, said the goal is to interrupt generational poverty.
“Quite frankly the federal government has never really pushed that,” he said during a roundtable discussion announcing the move. “It’s been more, ‘there, there, poor little thing, we’ll take care of you.’ ” Carson noted his own history growing up poor and his mother’s emphasis on education.
Thursday’s announcement doesn’t bring any additional federal funding or staff to the existing Charlotte program. Carson said that’s intentional.
“If it comes with federal dollars (as) a federal government program associated with an administration, then the next thing you know the next administration wants to get rid of it,” he said. “We want something that’s permanent.”
Economic mobility has been a central issue for Charlotte government and philanthropic leaders after a Harvard/UC-Berkeley study ranked the city 50th out of 50 big cities for a child’s chances of rising out of poverty as an adult.
A resulting local report found that inequalities in education and job opportunities, lack of affordable housing, as well as a long history of government-created or -sanctioned housing and school segregation, are key reasons for these disparities in Charlotte.
The EnVision program has faced criticism by early adopters for its slow start and bureaucratic confusion, according to a report by NBC News. Critics said the program, which often comes with little or no additional federal investment, essentially renames efforts already in existence.
In Charlotte, the Renaissance West Community Initiative already works with residents for job training, education and health programs.
Mack McDonald, CEO of the initiative, likened the new federal designation to a “seal of approval” from the federal government and hopes it will open doors to additional community investment. He said the goals of the program, including improving residents’ health, education and employment, align with their existing programs.
Discussions to enter the EnVision program began in January, McDonald said. Carson toured the same west Charlotte community and announced plans to roll back Obama-era regulations meant to decrease segregation, a move widely condemned by fair-housing advocates.
Charlotte’s is the 46th EnVision Center and the second in North Carolina, joining Hickory.
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