Convening Community: The Impact Center
The New Covenant Worship Center has served Southeast Fort Wayne residents for 17 years, and through these relationships, they learned that many residents’ needs couldn’t be met in their own community.
That’s why they formed the Covenant Community Development Corporation in 2015, and in 2018, opened The Impact Center, a community center and café on East Paulding Road.
Listening to their hearts and hardships, Covenant Community realized that community members needed help with health and wellness, early childhood development, family development, and sports. In each of its focus areas, it exercises partnerships with other organizations providing services in other areas of Fort Wayne, such as MLK Montessori, Cancer Services, World Baseball Academy, and more.
As part of a comprehensive health and wellness initiative, The Impact Center partners with Parkview Health to run a diabetes clinic, arming residents with tools and resources to help them better manage their illnesses. They also recently acquired land to open a community garden, which features 30 beds for residents to learn how to grow their own food. Then, through a partnership with BrightStar, residents can take a healthy foods course and learn to cook nutritious meals.
In 2021, The Impact Center served more than 900 families, and 15,000 people additionally received COVID-19 testing and vaccinations at The Center through a partnership with Community Health Systems and Parkview Health.
“For Fort Wayne to flourish as a city, all of Fort Wayne has to succeed. And Southeast Fort Wayne has been hurting. Our partnerships reflect our whole community coming together to uplift our residents,” said Rev. Luther Whitfield, CEO of Covenant Community Development Corporation.
A first-time grantee, Covenant Community received an 18-month operating support grant through the Thrive Initiative in 2021.