A Hampton pastor hosted a group of faith leaders and officials from around the Commonwealth this week in what he hopes can serve as a model for other communities.
“We don’t think -– we know — it’s a workable model that can go statewide,” said Rev. Charles Cheek, Kingdom United Fellowship pastor.
The Fellowship first opened the KUF Marketplace Resource Center in early 2023 as a place where organizations and nonprofits that provide services to residents can all be housed together. Cheek had noticed that for all the various social service providers in Hampton, they were often siloed from each other.
“We have no funding stream,” Cheek said. “All of the nonprofits that you see here, ministries, they set up the rooms themselves (and) they initiate the work they do.”
More than a dozen different organizations have space in the center, including tutoring service Newsome-Bailey Project, mental health provider Gordon Wellness and the Hispanic Resource Center of Coastal Virginia. There is also a computer lab, housing resources and domestic violence services.
It was this network that attracted the interest of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice to partner with the center about a year ago.
Lt. Kenneth Foster with the department said an agent told him about the center after meeting Cheek.
“We visited and I was just blown away with everything that was offered to the community,” he said.
Foster said children and teens are connected by the department with ongoing mentorship services as they leave incarceration.
“Once the sentence and all of the obligations to the Department of Juvenile Justice is over with that particular child, then what else is there?” Foster said. “His way of life, or her way of life, has already been established. This offers another way.”
Cheek recalled the story of a young man who was connected with the center after getting out of jail. Over time, Cheek said the man began to build a new outlook on life and work through the pain that led him on his path. He even decided to cover his tattoo of a gang insignia. Cheek said the center paid half the cost.
“In fact, he decided to get his gang insignia (tattoo) covered up,” Cheek said, adding the center paid half the cost.
These successes are what gets Foster enthusiastic about the partnership, and confident the model can be successful around the state.
“And I can say that with confidence because of my beliefs,” he said. “God can’t fail. The only failure is ourselves if we don’t commit to making a change.”
Cheek gave a mix of visitors, both virtual and in-person, a tour of the center and an overview of what they offer.
Elder Benny Johnson from Petersburg’s Rise Up Ministries was already thinking about how something similar could work back home.
“This is what we really need in our community,” he said. “For the young people, I want to just bring this back to them and let them know that there is some help out here.”
