Youth Center in Northern California Uses CDFI Financing to Build Expanded Campus
Client: RYSE Commons
Client Location: Richmond, CA
CDFI: Community Vision
CDFI Service Area: CA
- Financing and technical assistance, with support from the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and Google.org Grant Program
Since opening in 2008, RYSE youth center in Richmond, CA, has served nearly 10,000 young people, primarily youth of color. It has grown into a local anchor institution, offering a place rooted in social justice, where youth learn, grow, and respond to community needs. Recently the organization opened RYSE Commons, a modern 45,000-square-foot campus featuring a remodeling of the organization’s current building and the development of an adjacent facility located on a formerly empty lot. Community Vision provided a $2.7 million loan to bridge RYSE’s capital campaign, allowing the project to begin before the nonprofit received all donations.
Each young person involved with RYSE is considered a “member” of the nonprofit, which cultivates a sense of belonging and ownership. All programs and services offered arise from the needs, desires, and ideas of youth members and span the areas of health and wellness, education, restorative justice, media arts and technology, youth organizing and civic engagement, and more. The new RYSE Commons campus will increase youth programming and partnerships by 30 percent and serve as a dynamic place for personal development, play, expression, incubating ideas, performance, art, launching businesses, exploring tech, and more.
“Working with Community Vision felt like a true partnership. They were not just offering financing; they provided support and guidance throughout the process,” says Dan Reilly, director of innovation for the RYSE Youth Center.