See inside new $65 million northeast Charlotte community center named for Ella Scarborough
Mecklenburg County leaders celebrated the grand opening Wednesday of the Ella B. Scarborough Community Resource Center, a new kind of community center meant to serve as a one-stop shop for residents in need.
It’s the second such center to open in Charlotte — after the Valerie C. Woodard Community Resource Center on Freedom Drive — and three more centers are planned for east, southwest and west Charlotte. County commissioners earlier this year named the center for Scarborough, a longtime Mecklenburg County commissioner who was also the first Black woman to run for Charlotte mayor and U.S. Senate in North Carolina. She died in 2022 at 75 years old.
The center is located at 430 Stitt Road, off Eastway Drive in northeast Charlotte. It contains offices for county agencies and community groups that help address housing, food insecurity, health and more.
Mecklenburg County approved $64.5 million to fund the design and construction of the center, according to county spokeswoman Pamela Escobar.
“If you can’t get it done here, you can’t get it done,” deputy county manager Anthony Trotman said.
County, community partner services available
Services available at the center include Medicaid, care management for at-risk children and high-risk pregnancies, family planning and an immunization clinic. Families can also get information about Meck Pre-K, food and nutrition services, WIC, adoption and foster programs and Child Support Services.
There are offices for MeckSuccess, Unified Workforce Development, Work First Employment Services and Veterans Services.
People who need help with their home’s property taxes can get a discount through the county’s HOMES Program. There are also energy assistance services and help for people experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness.
Non-government groups with offices in the center, include:
Atrium Health
Common Wealth Charlotte financial counseling
The center also has a food pantry in partnership with Loaves & Fishes, where families can get a two-day food supply and a referral for a seven-day supply.
Health care offices have exam rooms and labs, and the center also has visitation rooms for families working out custody agreements.
Other services available include a community room that can be reserved by groups such as neighborhood associations for meetings and a computer lab.
Intentional design for comfort and convenience
Those who come to the center will be immediately greeted by a service provider who will help them through the electronic sign-in process at a kiosk. They’ll then be given a number and wait to be called in a waiting area Trotman said was designed to be “trauma informed.”
There’s no standing in line. Instead, couches fill up an open room with a wall of windows. Soft music plays, and TV screens show the assigned numbers of people waiting.
There’s also a “Kid’s Corner,” where children can wait with toys and books while their parents or guardians have their appointments. Every child who visits will get a free book through a partnership with Promising Pages.
Rooms occupied by different services are called “neighborhoods” and labeled with letters to help ensure privacy.
The county looked for areas of “high need for dense populations” when looking for sites for the center, Trotman said.
The location off Eastway Drive is also located next to Atrium Health NorthPark Family Medicine complex, where residents in need of more health care can get referrals, Trotman said. A walking bridge is planned to connect the center to the Eastway Regional Recreation Center, located behind the community resource center.
Residents can start the application process for some programs online at dcr.mecknc.gov/crc/ebs, but must visit the center to make an appointment.
For more information, call 980-314-8400.
