"Our programs have been need-driven based on what the community feels are services that are absent from the community." -- Deborah Bell, Director of Community Development
Black Community Developers support and edify the communities we serve through several programs and services. Through our programs, BCD strives to improve the quality of life for low-income, underserved, disadvantaged and at-risk children, youth and families.
BCD provides a comprehensive array of caring services and programs:
Paw Paws' Educational Day Care Center
Youth Initiative Program
Hoover Center/Neighborhood Support Center Substance Abuse Program
BCD Permanent Affordable Housing Program
Jobs Partnership Using Jobs for Life Curriculum
Individual Development Accounts (IDA)
Will's House
Paw Paws' Educational Day Care
Paw Paws' Educational Development Center is a licensed community-based day care that serves 32 children daily, with a maximum capacity of 62. Our children, who range in age from 18 months to four years, generally enter the first grade enter the first grade functioning above grade level. Our goal is to ensure that every child has a safe, comfortable and nurturing environment that embraces their diversity and enables them to feel secure and ready to learn.
We are one of the few child care providers in the State of Arkansas to receive the Quality Care Status from the State of Arkansas and serves as a training model for other providers.
Parents and their children have benefited from affiliate programs offered through the day care, such as parental counseling and tutoring. Call 501.663.9181 for more information.
above: Karen Robinson, Day Care Director, stands by to offer a helping hand when needed.
Our YIP program provides youth with opportunities and support within an exciting learning environment that not only emphasizes making good choices, but also enables them to feel secure and hopeful about their future.
Three program sites serve 60 youth, ages 13 - 18, each day, to provide positive alternatives to at-risk youth, giving them the chance to participate in constructive activities with peers, receive help in times of crisis, and develop healthy relationships with caring adults.
A year-round program, including extended summer program, is available for day and evening activities. A safe haven is provided for youth either at-risk or already involved in gang activity. Intensive case management is available. Staff is available 24/7 for emergencies and support for the entire family. Call 501.661.9464 for more information.
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Hoover Center/Neighborhood Support Center Substance Abuse Program
Our Hoover Center provides individuals addicted to drugs and alcohol with housing and other support services to help ensure a healthy, drug-free and productive transition into self sufficiency.
We are the only department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (ADAP) certified faith-based substance abuse program in Arkansas.
Our program, which served 500 individuals in 2004, focuses on prevention, intervention, treatment and after care to individuals with substance abuse problems. Clients receive assessments, job readiness and life skills training, and referrals for mental health and other health-related issues. Clients can stay in the residential program between 60 and 90 days.
Seventy percent of our clients are employed when they leave the program, and at least 50 percent are reunited with their families. Former clients often return to volunteer their time and share their experiences. Call 501.663.4774 for more information.
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BCD Permanent Affordable Housing Program
Our Housing program provides safe, decent and affordable housing alternatives in 
midtown Little Rock. We serve 20 families and individuals from the midtown community to provide scattered single-family permanent housing. Special preference is given to those participating in the program BCD Homeless Supportive Housing Program. Among the services offered are:
- Assisting qualifying home buyers for payment assistance or principal reduction cost
- Working with finance authorities, banks and lending institutions to pre-qualify home buyers for a mortgage
- Offering home buyers on-site counseling and education.
- Offering pre-loan application services and credit assistance, including obtaining a credit report
- Working with home buyers to assist in the completion of the loan application process
- Providing down payment and closing costs assistance to home buyers
To better serve the program, we have purchased seven residences and have several rental properties. We have submim an application for a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) has been made. This certification status will allow areas of distressed housing conditions to be developed, reconstructed and/or rehabilitated. Call 501.379.1539 for more information.
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Jobs Partnership using Jobs for Life Curriculum
Our Jobs Partnership program helps participants learn basic workplace skills and ethics, advertise those skills, and unite qualified workers with potential employers.
We use a dual curriculum to help participants learn basic workplace skills and ethics, advertise those skills, and unite qualified workers with potential employers. The curriculum, encompassing both Bible Basics and Business Strategies, leads each student through a 12-part series of weekly study on topics that have immediate application at the workplace.
Nationally, 87 percent of the participants who graduate from Jobs Partnership remain in the workplace, and more than 50 percent of graduates continue to be employed. Call 501.379.1536 for more information about our program. Click here for information on the National Jobs Partnership.
above: Coordinator Frankye Stanley welcomes participants to the program.
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Individual Development Accounts Initiatives (IDA)
Our IDA program offers a financial education course, FDIC's Money Smart, to all participants to help them accumulate funds that can be used for one of three allowable assets. Call 501-379-1536 for more information.
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Will's House provides a safe, structured environment for homeless, formerly incarcerated men to help them re- enter society as productive citizens. The facility provides ongoing, permanent housing that enables residents to stay as long as they need the supports and the structure to get them on their feet.
Call 501.663.7221 for more information, or click here.
above: At the grant opening in April of 2004, The Rev. William Robinson talks about the partnerships that made Will's House possible.
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Copyright© 2005 Black Community Developers, Inc. Black Community Developers is a non-profit organization dedicated to the mission of personal and community development. Last Updated: October 12, 2005.