Rose Hill Community Center
The Rose Hill Community Center (RHCC) is a private, not-for-profit community agency (501c3). We have been in existence for over 30 years. Our mission is simple; we provide and support programs that build strong individuals, families and ultimately communities. We meet this goal by providing a wide range of services that help individuals and families to prosper.
There are a variety of programs available at RHCC which cater to a diverse population with a wide spectrum of social issues. Programs offerings include recreation, operation of a community pool, exercise program, karate program, food closet and emergency assistance. In addition, many types of educational programs are also available, through a Head Start program, a youth drug prevention program, a Boys and Girls Club and a calendar of general educational workshops ranging from health issues to gardening. RHCC also manages two active senior centers. We also house probation and parole officers, elder services, and First State Community Action; a statewide agency whose programs promote family stability at many levels. In addition, in line with our neighborhood stabilization program, RHCC has an active partnership with the New Castle County Department of Community Development and Housing to acquire and rehab vacant properties. For the past 19 years, RHCC has provided a science based substance abuse prevention program that educates youth and their families about illicit substances. The award winning program available at RHCC is known as All Stars. Another program focusing on positive activities for youth is the Boys and Girls Club. This program provides a daily safe haven for area youth. Our support of Narcotics Anonymous is another important part of our services to help those dealing with addiction. Recently we welcomed another new program focusing on health issues, Each One Teach One. This service provides education on sexually transmitted diseases and performs HIV testing. A new program, Solutions on-call Services (SOS) offers home health care placement assistance for area residents. Another area of focus is maximizing the use of our facility. RHCC serves as a site for any community resident or local organization to utilize the facility for an approved purpose. We provide a safe well maintained building. We accomplish this through our caring competent staff that ensures the building and grounds meet required federal and state licensing requirements. An additional program area is providing training and technical assistance to area civic associations. The aim of this effort is to help area civic associations access information designed to assist them with helping their communities grow. Our goal of promoting education is demonstrated through our support of a flourishing Headstart program that has been at RHCC for over 29 years. Headstart is a free preschool program for 3 to 5 year old children of low income families. Through our senior centers, we offer a calendar of educational opportunities such as workshops on various health topics, Medicare, Medicaid, fraud awareness, defensive driving, bible study, retirement living, etc. These sessions are publicized and are free to any adult area resident. Our seniors look forward to coming to the center and enjoy our many activities. RHCC also provides bus pick up service for the seniors.
To promote a healthy and fit lifestyle, we offer our residents free aerobics and karate classes for youth and adults. We also have a free, well equipped fitness program for use by local residents. We support a weekly food closet that serves as a safety net for a continually growing number of economically disadvantaged families. As a way of enhancing cultural arts we offer line dance classes. Another tool to actualize this goal is our sponsorship of trips to various locations locally and throughout the country. Local trips visit places such as Lancaster, Dover, Wildwood, Atlantic City, and Washington, DC. Other longer trips have taken many area residents to Quebec, New Orleans, and New York. As part of an overall neighborhood stabilization plan, RHCC has aggressively sought and acquired homes for rehab and sale in the community of Simonds Gardens. To date we have acquired 10 homes, rehabbed 9 and turned them over to low income homeowners. The difference between this initiative and that of other local housing developers is that we specifically targeted homes that most would not desire because the rehab cost would exceed the potential to make a profit. We did it despite the financial loss because our goal was to promote homeownership and improve neighborhood values and appearance. We are also quite pleased to advise there has been no turnover of the homes to date. Several years back, RHCC welcomed First State Community Action (FSCA) to our building. One important component of FSCA’s goal is to provide direct service in terms of financial assistance and counseling services to needy families. RHCC has played a silent role in this agency’s success due to the extremely low rent charged for this program. We feel their service is important and in our way we are helping them maintain a presence in our community. Continuing throughout the year, RHCC sponsors monthly events that may correspond to a holiday, an informational seminar workshop, or one time special events. Recently, we hosted a very well received Halloween activity for children and a family fun night. Other activities include Thanksgiving food basket giveaways, Black History workshop, and seminars on health topics, (breast cancer, Alzheimer, etc.). Lastly, another important service is our management of the Surratte Park pool. Due to economies of efficiency, it is less expensive for RHCC than for the owner, New Castle County, to manage this community pool. With some grant funding provided by the county, RHCC stepped up to the plate so this community asset was not abandoned. We have been successfully running the pool for 8 seasons.
New Castle, DE 19720