In early 1999, the church membership unanimously voted to establish a Community Development Corporation. This vehicle would serve to facilitate a social action ministry and allow for the delivery of more effective services to assist people in meeting their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Three initiatives were established to chart the organization’s direction: educational (a tutorial—after-school program, day care for children, computer leaning center, financial assistance for students); economic development (employment and training programs, business incubation); and social services (adult day care, senior care, affordable housing, benevolence, counseling, love kitchen, food source.)
The FABCDC is bearing much fruit. As a faith-based, tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization whose vision is to enhance the lives of the people in the community, it has received more than four million dollars in funding for its initiatives. To date:
* Six single family homes have been built and purchased;
* Home ownership and financial management classes have been taught to more than 200 households;
* “The Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church’s Village Manor”, a 25-unit senior living facility, has been constructed;
* 9 4 2 Jefferson Street, an 18,000 square-foot mixed use project featuring a mixed office and residential complex (one- and two-bedroom apartments), has been constructed;
* A free income tax preparation service, in partnership with the Mayor’s Nashville Wealth Building Alliance, has served over 200 low-income households;
* The FABC Child Care Center, which opened in 2002, provides nurturing care to over 50 children ages six weeks to four years; and,
* Career Express, an intensive workforce training program and cooperative effort with LeMoyne-Owen College Community Development Corporation and the Tennessee Department of Transportation, has prepared 17 participants to enter the highway construction and other industry-related work.
A few years ago, the Tennesssean wrote this:
“What’s exciting about Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church is they have taken ownership in their neighborhood to address conditions in their community to make it better for all the people there”.