Broadway Street Neighborhood Center
2105 Broadway Street
Send mail to: P.O. Box 2491, Iowa City IA 52244
Tel: 319-354-7989; FAX: 319-341-0006
Internet: ncjc@ncjc.org
The Broadway neighborhood provides affordable housing options for many of Iowa City’s low-income families. There are three large low-income housing complexes as well as 16 units of transitional housing for previously homeless families. In addition, there are several hundred other rental units in the area including over 400 apartments at Lakeside Manor. Much of Johnson County's low-income and subsidized housing is located within walking distance of the Broadway Neighborhood Center.
We began work in the Broadway area in 1988 and, with much support from the community, we built and opened the Broadway Center in 1990. Over the past 12 years, the Center has grown and faced an increasing need for services, as the area has seen an increase in drugs, domestic violence, child abuse reports, and gang activity. The neighborhood saw the exit of major businesses in the area including a grocery store. Only recently has area businesses begun to reappear, due to a concentrated effort by key stakeholders that made a concentrated effort to revitalize this area. Efforts have been made to improve the overall sense of “neighborhood” and establish a place where families can support one another and find the re-establishment of a safe place to raise their children. The Center programs have increased dramatically with efforts made to be a meeting place for the diverse population found in this area. Increasing numbers of families have moved here from inner cities to begin a new life away from the issues facing the communities they came from. There has also been an increase of immigrant families in the Broadway area with the primary immigrant population coming from Mexico.
The Broadway Center is seen as a place for families in the Neighborhood to meet one another, make use of the many programs available, check out books from the library, access to computers, use the phone, take home food items from Table to Table to stretch their limited budgets. Staff provide support in parenting issues, resource and referral, on-site child care, after-school programming, ESL and GED classes, family literacy programs, and a gathering place for family nights and other activities that bring families together in this neighborhood.
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