OPA-LOCKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION INC
Bettering South Florida, one Community at a Time
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Opa-locka is a community of challenges and opportunities. According to the 2010 census, 30% of the families in Opa-locka live below the poverty level, and almost 50% of households with children are living in poverty. Unemployment hovers at 12%, more than double the figure nationally. Median household incomes within Opa-locka are estimated to be $22,214, which is in contrast to the $41,533 median household income for the Miami-Dade County area. Ninety-one percent of the students in the City of Opa-locka qualify for free/reduced lunch In 2015. Opa-locka had the highest rate of violent crime for any city in the United States. Educational attainment is low - less than 9% of the city’s population aged 25 or older has a Bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 26% of the County and 29% of the nation. OLCDC is working to address these issues through comprehensive, holistic services that are offered to the community.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Real Estate & Housing
Since the mid-1980’s OLCDC has successfully completed several projects in the areas of economic development and affordable housing. OLCDC has worked with private developers, businesses, community organizations and government agencies to build affordable housing, revitalize businesses, and improve the overall quality of life in Opa-locka and neighborhood cities.
Arts & Culture
OLCDC, with the support of several foundations, private and public organizations over the past seven years, started an arts initiative to help revitalize the Opa-locka area by bringing arts programming and creative opportunities to the local community. We are guided by the principle that the arts, culture, and creative industries are not luxuries; they are an integral, connective tissue to engaging, understanding, building, defining, and promoting our communities, particularly those with underrepresented voices. Our goals are to: 1) infuse the arts and culture into the daily fabric of life in the communities in which we work through quality, affordable, and accessible opportunities to participate; 2) to be a model for other community development corporations embedding the arts, culture, and equity into the growth and transformation of our communities, as well as the individuals who compose them; 3) to nurture and promote the artistic and creative practices of emerging, mid-career, local, and/or minority artists through dynamic and provoking programming and projects; and 4) to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through the arts.
Entrepreneurship
The Community Fund of North Miami-Dade (CFNMD) was established as a non-profit in 2002, by its parent organization, the Opa-locka Community Development Corporation (OLCDC). OLCDC is a 501(c) (3) non-profit established in 1980 with a mission to transform under-resourced communities into vibrant, desirable, engaged neighborhoods by improving access to health, education, employment, art, safety and affordable housing. Services include a wide array of programs in economic development, health and education, housing counseling and development, the arts and creative industry, and civic engagement and planning.
As a leader in the Miami-Dade community, we work to provide access to capital and technical assiatance to small business in the target areas of opa lock, liberity city and miami gardens. Our goal is to create partnerships with institutions who can assist in facilitating access to capital to minority and LMI business owners, and with your support,create a long lasting impact. As of today, our technical assistance programs have severed over 35 different minority business owners with one-on-one training on various business topics and have hosted a variety of free monthly workshops on topic to help business thrive.
Family Services
The purpose of the Family Services department is to continue to build the community’s social and economic infrastructure by helping families become self-reliant, healthy and successful. Our program serves as the hub for social service support in the Cities of Opa-locka, Miami Gardens, and North Miami, where we work in collaboration of a group of social service agencies comprised of over 40 service providers.
Our department consists of over 7 programs to meet the needs of every individual's needs in the family unit.
Civic Engagement
OLCDC has led several comprehensive community planning processes in partnership with community members, national experts, and local government. The goal is to engage residents into a final transformation which will result into a revitalized and vibrant community of choice where residents can identify priorities and as a team, and develop strategies to improve living assets, streets, parks, and innovated projects to positively impact into the residents' environment while enhancing their sense of pride and ownership over their community.
Financial Empowerment
Our goal is to improve financial behaviors of low-income families within our community by empowering them with the knowledge and skillsets to improve their financial wealth in order to become homeowners, save for college education, become business owners, or retain long-term employment.
Innovative Enterprises
OLCDC recognizes the persistent needs of under-resourced communities and with one unique concept, The THRIVE Innovation District ("THRIVE"), we are addressing several of them. Instead of merely providing finite resources to combat problems of poverty and deficient education, we are providing a comprehensive educational experience and equipping individuals with the skills and opportunities for entrepreneurship. We are doing this through the following elements:
* Urban Farm
* Commercial Kitchen
* Market Cafe'
* Restaurant
* Technology Hub
* Makerspace
* Work Space
* Educational Facility
* Artistic Expression Facility
When completed, our THRIVE Innovation District will result in increased employment rates, healthier eating options, farming opportunities, unique educational experiences and exposure to fine arts, all within one accessible location.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of diversity training courses conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Financial Empowerment
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our organization transforms communities and families. We connect minority small business owners with access to capital and technical assistance; help to make families financially empowered connected to homeownership; bring arts and culture to the North-Dade community; bring needed health services to the community; connect youth to afterschool and summer programs in coding, arts, music and dance; confront the food desert in Opa-locka by creating a farm with fresh produce and making it available to families; make families whole by connecting them to therapy, anger management, academic tutoring, emergency assistance funds, and emergency housing. We aim to bring needed services to the people of northwest Miami-Dade County.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategies to make this happen include providing excellent services and valuable tools to the community in the areas of education, health, financial empowerment, entrepreneurship, arts and culture, family services, real estate and housing, and innovative enterprises. We provide afterschool and summer classes to middle and high school students in web, game and app design, robotics, and mathematics. We create solutions to some of the community’s most difficult issues, including combating the food desert in Opa-locka by building a farm and selling the produce at a low price to community members.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The OLCDC has a 38-year history of providing services to the community, and a staff the majority of whom come from this community. Many of our staff have terminal degrees, including J.D.s and PhDs, and others have master’s degrees in related fields. In addition to soliciting feedback from the community, we bring in national experts in community planning and placemaking.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have served approximately 4,000 constituents a year in 2018; of those, 40 purchased a new home through our one on one counseling and first time homeowners workshops; 887 were counseled on home ownership; 80 received financial empowerment workshops; 5 minority owned small businesses were loaned $115,000 in capital; 200 small business owners learned a new skill; 10,400 sq ft of farm was created in Opa-locka, with 200 volunteers participating and 35 pounds of produce harvested; 450 students were trained in app, game and website design; and 200 families received therapy, tutoring, emergency assistance, and other services to help make their families whole. Our next steps include opening a Tech Hire Center where hundreds of young people will get trained in tech, life skills, and soft skills, and will be placed in jobs. This will expand on the coding classes we offer to middle and high school students.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
OPA-LOCKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION INC
Board of directorsas of 06/11/2023
Nashid Sabir
Nashid Law
Term: 1984 - 2020
Ian Abrams
Golin Harris
Quinn Smith
GST Law
Milton Felton
Academy Inspections
Fred Funeus
Public Health Trust
Ulysses Harvard
AFLAC
John Little
Retired, formerly with Legal Services
Marveasha Primonato
Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust
Alex Rhodes
Grant Thorton
Melissa Hunter Davis
Sugar Cane Magazine
Owen May
MG Global Partners
Wendy Francois
Akerman Senterfitt Law Firm
Wilbert Tee Holloway
Retired, Formerly with AT&T
Linda Julien
City of North Miami
Jennifer Newton
Greenberg Traurig
Eugene Simmons
Professional Bank
Charlotte Lowe
EF International Language Campus
Michael Andrew Shifrin
Bressler Amery & Ross
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes