Orange County NC Website
Campbell,  Caldwell  and  others  now  use  the  community  center  as  a  place  to   <br />implement  programs  to  help  the  homeless  or  hungry,  to  clean  up  the  neighborhood   <br />and  to  care  for  children  in  the  area.   <br />   <br />Campbell  said  they  have  since  implemented  summer  enrichment  camps,  toy  drives,   <br />cooking  classes,  movie  nights,  a  food  bank  that  serves  up  to  65  families  each  week   <br />and  more.  There’s  also  a  community  garden  run  by  Peppers  that  provides   <br />opportunities  for  field  trips  for  children  and  brings  plants  and  crops  to  the  area.   <br />“Our  goal  is  to  unify  our  society,  and  through  social  engagement,  we  have  been  able   <br />to  do  that,”  Campbell  said.  “We  provide  those  services,  but  we  also  provide  spaces   <br />for  people  to  have  community  meetings  and  it’s  always  a  safe  haven  for  the  kids  to   <br />hang  out.”   <br />   <br />Almost  all  of  the  people  involved  with  the  center  are  volunteers,  which  allows  RENA   <br />leaders  to  offer  services  at  a  low  price  —  only  $25  each  month  for  children  to  have   <br />in-­‐depth  tutoring  after  school  every  day.  The  center  also  often  provides  free   <br />breakfast  for  children  on  their  way  to  school  or  before  the  summer  camp  starts.   <br />“It’s  hard  to  teach  a  child  something  if  they’re  struggling  with  hunger,”  Campbell   <br />said.  “If  a  culture  is  good  health-­‐wise,  they’re  gonna  be  good  mentally,  and  they’re   <br />gonna  be  strong.”   <br />   <br />In  late  2016,  the  Orange  County  government  authorized  funding  for  municipal   <br />sewer  line  construction  to  reach  the  Rogers  Road  community.  The  construction  of   <br />almost  four  miles  of  sewer  lines  is  anticipated  to  begin  this  summer,  the  Town  of   <br />Chapel  Hill  website  reports.   <br />   <br />Judy  Johnson,  the  principal  planner  in  the  Planning  and  Sustainability  Department   <br />within  the  Town  of  Chapel  Hill,  said  bids  have  been  received  by  the  Orange  Water   <br />and  Sewer  Authority,  and  a  tentative  groundbreaking  ceremony  is  set  for  June  20.   <br />She  said  the  town  worked  with  both  RENA  and  the  Jackson  Center,  an  organization   <br />made  to  preserve  the  historically  black  communities  in  the  area,  to  come  up  with  a   <br />plan  for  the  sewage  system.   <br />   <br />“They  both  held  instrumental  roles  in  assisting  the  three  jurisdictions  in  acquiring   <br />the  necessary  sewer  easements,”  Johnson  said.