Community Forum: “Reading Housing Authority’s Oakbrook Homes Center for Community Services”

From Berks County Community Foundation

Berks County Community Foundation presents a community forum entitled “Reading Housing Authority’s Oakbrook Homes Center for Community Services” on Tuesday, Nov. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., via Zoom.

Oakbrook Homes Center for Community Services hopes to connect residents and neighbors of Oakbrook Homes to important services that will empower them to be more self-sufficient.

To help bridge the gap between the community and public housing, this project engaged a number of community partners, including Oakbrook Resident Council, United Way of Berks County, Opportunity House, Centro Hispano, El Encanto Grocery, Berks Community Health Center, and Helping Harvest.

The center will provide education and training for workforce development, English-language learning, higher education, access to social service providers, and programming for youth and older adults.

There are 530 residential units in the Oakbrook Housing Development, home to over 1,500 residents. Over 90% of the residents are considered ethnically diverse and financially at-risk; over 75% earn less than the area’s median household income; many residents are single parents.

As Stacey Keppen, the Executive Director of the Reading Housing  Authority, recently remarked, “Despite being the largest community in our public housing stock, Oakbrook Homes has long been both physically and socially adrift from the broader network of services in the Greater Reading area.”

Join the Berks County Community Foundation for their next Community Forum Program to learn more about the Oakbrook Community Center and its goal to support and empower our community.

Register here. There is no fee to attend; individuals who register, however, will receive a recording of the forum once the event has concluded.

Questions? Email Berks County Community Foundation Senior Fellow Dave Myers at davem@bccf.org.

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Source: bctv