The Center for Neighborhood Enterprise was founded in 1981 to help the residents of low-income neighborhoods address the problems of their communities. CNE provides effective community and faith-based organizations with training and technical assistance, links them to sources of support, and evaluates their experiences for public policy. The Center has provided training to more than 2,000 leaders of community organizations in 39 states. Funds contributed to CNE’s programs have been used to leverage many times their amount for the Center’s grassroots affiliate organizations.

Societal problems addressed by CNE’s grassroots network include youth violence, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, homelessness, joblessness, family dissolution, poor education, and deteriorating neighborhoods. Because civil order is fundamental to economic revitalization, CNE has a major focus on youth violence intervention and prevention. The Center’s Violence-Free Zone initiative is significantly reducing youth violence in 27 schools nationwide—with VFZ sites in Antelope Valley, CA (2); Atlanta (3); Baltimore (1); Dallas (10); Milwaukee (7); Washington, DC (2), and Prince George’s County, MD (2).

The strategies developed through the firsthand experience of grassroots leaders working in the trenches have proved to be adaptable models that have had nationwide impact. Major national initiatives rooted in the work of the Center include resident management of public housing; Violence-Free Zone solutions to youth violence; empowerment of neighborhood leaders in Indianapolis and Milwaukee; and a national focus on community-based programs to address societal problems through Charitable Choice and other public policy initiatives.

Extensive News Coverage of CNE Violence-Free Zone

Honors 15 Students for Behavior, Academic Achievement in Challenging Circumstances

VFZ Getting Good Results in Antelope Valley, CA

Milwaukee VFZ Schools Show Double Digit Reductions in Violence for Second Quarter

CNE's Woodson is 2008 Bradley Prize Awardee

CNE Announces New Round of Technical Assistance for DC Faith-Based and Community Organizations

Triumphs of Joseph Released in Paperback

Robert L. Woodson, Sr. founded the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise in 1981. The name was streamlined in early 2006 to Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. Often referred to as the godfather of the movement to empower neighborhood-based organizations, Bob Woodson's social activism dates back to the 1960's, when as a young civil rights activist, he developed and coordinated national and local community development programs.

Biography