Background: Salisbury, Maryland is a college town, and civic partnerships between Salisbury University and the surrounding community are part of what makes this community unique (Weaver, 2021). The North Camden Neighborhood, just north of SU’s campus, has a population of several hundred people that is especially diverse: migrant families, young families, retirees, college students, and invested homeowners who call this neighborhood their home. In 2020/2021, the City of Salisbury launched the Newton Street Community Center (NSCC) to meet the needs of the surrounding community, especially the youth who live in this neighborhood.
The 2020 Presidential Citizen Scholars at Salisbury University partnered with the City of Salisbury’s Mayor’s Office and Community Development Department to conduct a needs assessment survey in the North Camden Community to determine what programming the community wanted to see featured in the NSCC when it opened. According to Blake et al. (2020), the community expressed that they would benefit the most from a childcare program that supports career prep, reading, writing, and art skills. In other words, the Newton Street Community would like to have more opportunities to connect with one another through new means such as liberal arts-based programs. Figure 1. Newton Street Community Center (Salisbury, Maryland) Additionally, Blake et al. (2020) found that over 53% of the homes within the Newton Street Community has at least one child under the age of 18. This means there are more than enough children who would benefit from all kinds of programming within the Newton Street Community Center.
Scholars:
Music & Mentoring at the NSCC Whitepaper (PDF)
