While Kenny Gamble was finding multi-platinum success as a record producer and songwriter, the neighborhood of his youth at 15th & Christian was falling into a cycle of crime, abandoned houses and hopelessness. In 1990, Gamble, with his wife Faatima, moved from the comfortable suburbs back to this neighborhood and began a revitalization project that would turn into Universal Companies - a multimillion-dollar business addressing the most dire needs of the mostly black residents of this community.
Fifteen years later, Universal Companies has built respectable low-income rental units; owner-occupied low-income homes; schools creating responsible and self-sufficient students; plus a business support center fostering locally owned, community based businesses; a health and social services center providing on-site medical, mental-health and substance-abuse help; and a workforce development office that provides vocational training, adult literacy education, career building classes, fatherhood workshops, and after-school/summer youth programs.
Our (optional) guided tour will allow us to view some of these community-building projects. We’ll return to the Cafe for dinner and a discussion on Community Revitalization with Kenny Gamble and Abdur-Rahim Islam, a founding member of Universal Companies and CEO since their 1993 launch.
