The Hoskins neighborhood hosted a big party a couple weeks ago to celebrate the purchase of 32 rental homes by the West Side Community Land Trust. Community leaders, nonprofit heads, a bank executive and county commissioners released confetti in front of a colorful mural.
The affordable homes will be preserved with the help of a $6 million grant from Mecklenburg County and $1 million from Fifth Third Bank. For Julia Knox, a 50-year resident, it’s proof that the neighborhood just west of the Brookshire Freeway and Interstate 85 is finally getting the attention it deserves.
“People just don't listen. They hear you, but they don't listen,” Knox said. “For so long, we had no voice, nobody to speak up and to do the things that needed to be done to get to this place.”
What does it take for a neighborhood to get noticed by big funders and city officials deciding where to target spending? Determination, a good Rolodex, and access to the right people and programs.
‘You got to want to do the work and you just keep pressing’
Knox’s daughter, Beverly Knox (Davis), has been instrumental in the effort as the founder of the Historic Hoskins Coalition Group, a collection of five neighborhoods.
A few days after the celebration, Knox (Davis) laid a new welcome mat on the front porch of a small home her group just purchased to use as a hub.
“Lots and lots of boxes,” Knox (Davis) laughed as she surveyed the front room.
The hub will provide space for small gatherings, storage and a computer lab for neighbors.
“It’s a blessing from me just going to lunch with someone and talking about what our needs were,” Knox (Davis) said. “He said, ‘How can I help?’ And that's how this all came about.”
That may sound easy, but arriving at that moment took years of making connections, learning how to write grants and persistence.
“You got to want to do the work and once it sticks, nobody can take that from you. And you just keep pressing,” Knox (Davis) said.
Now she says she has amazing mentors, but 16 years ago as she started A Brighter Day Ministries, Knox (Davis) was just learning the ropes. She grew up in Hoskins and now lives a few miles away in a neighborhood along Beatties Ford Road.
Hoskins and neighboring Thomasboro were originally made up of mostly white residents, but as Black families moved in decades ago stores and services left. The median household income is now about $38,000 and violent crime is nearly three times that of the county as a whole.
Knox (Davis) felt God was calling her to help, but her expertise was in information technology, not running a nonprofit.
“I figured out quickly I'm going to have to do this on my own, and go to all of these different events, pick up on whatever I can pick up on, and then go take the classes, get educated,” said Knox (Davis).
A Brighter Day Ministries first focused on kids — Bible studies, a reading program, cooking classes, field trips. It was mostly run out of the home Knox (Davis) grew up in and where her mom still lives. She coordinated it as a single mom, holding down a full-time job. The kids would tell her about needs their parents wouldn’t — water turned off, an empty fridge.
Knox (Davis) would turn to friends, coworkers, and social media for help. She remembers one appeal.
“It’s a young mom, she's got three kids and she works two jobs and it's hard. So I just need everybody to help me,” Knox (Davis) said.
The mother ended up with about $200 and a bunch of groceries.
Eventually, Hoskins’ concerns brought Knox (Davis) to a community meeting for City Council District Two. She was upset that it took someone doing research for the group to find out about the meeting, and she relayed that to city council member Malcolm Graham.
“I was not kind, and I came with 15 questions right off the top. And they were like, ‘Whoa, who is this lady?’” Knox (Davis) recounted.
Graham told her he’d set up a separate meeting with her.
“Oh, you are. Absolutely, you are,” Knox (Davis) replied.
City officials suggested Hoskins form a coalition. And they did. The neighborhoods making up Hoskins and Thomasboro had associations in the past and some strong leaders too, but a 2002 city planning report noted the groups didn’t work together.‘Charlotte is a big city, but a small city in the nonprofit world’
DreamKey Partners, formerly the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, brought together Charlotte community leaders so they could learn from each other over the course of a year. They spoke at a recent summit, and were announced as the Community Learning Institute’s 2022 Dream Team.
The Historic Hoskins Coalition Group was part of the panel. And so was the North End Community Coalition, an organization that has become a powerful force in the rapidly changing area north of uptown.
“Charlotte is a big city, but a small city, especially in the nonprofit world and in the community organizing space,” Melissa Gaston, the head of the North End coalition, told those gathered. “Everybody kind of knows everybody, or knows about everybody, what's going on. So it's really important to work together.”
Leaders talked about the challenges of approaching what one called “the nonprofit philanthropic industrial complex.” Afterward, one Black leader said it’s telling that it helps to bring a white colleague along for an ask.
Those funding requests can be daunting, especially for grassroots groups. Freedom Communities, a nonprofit working in neighborhoods along Freedom Drive, was a big help to Knox (Davis) in navigating some of that.
“When I met her, I was just super excited because I do think she represents the type of community leadership that's really needed to move forward,” said Hannah Beavers, the director of Freedom Communities.
They met through the United Way of Greater Charlotte. The organization has shifted its approach to focus on specific neighborhoods and giving them resources to call the shots.
“How much money does it cost to create this impact? That's kind of the big question,” Beavers said. “I think when you can help people think like that, it becomes much easier to attract funding for what you're trying to accomplish.”
Investment and whispers in Hoskins
Hoskins is seeing some changes. Despite falling just outside two of the city’s designated low-income Corridors of Opportunity, it has landed some big investments. There’s the land trust purchase and a warehouse is being renovated into a grocery store and teaching kitchen, partly with city and county grants. Entrance signs to the different neighborhoods are going up.
That all sounds good to Greta McConnell, but she feels out of the loop. She grew up in Hoskins and looks out for her mother who still lives there.
“What’s happening now is whispering and talking because nobody knows. And if we would just all get on the same page, I think it’d be great," McConnell said.
There’s been some skepticism about the coalition and one neighborhood decided to part ways with the group. But the coalition is forging ahead and a United Way grant is helping with engaging the community.
As for Knox (Davis), she used the party announcing the land trust purchase to continue to spread the word about the Hoskins neighborhood to those who can help it thrive. She approached the county manager — who already knew her name.
“I am so glad you know my name and you know who I am,” Knox (Davis) said. “I'm so glad because you're getting ready to get a letter from me.”
