Founded in 1922 and renamed honoring Dr. King in 1968, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center is a central service provider for at-risk individuals, families, and seniors. An independent nonprofit, the MLK Community Center fights hunger, promotes health, educates young and school-aged kids, supports families, and engages seniors.
We nourish, educate, and support Newport County residents to improve their economic, social, and physical well-being.
We build a strong and inclusive community where all people are empowered to be self-reliant and to live their best quality of life.
Programs encompass three areas:
Agency goals are to:
We are flexible and creative in addressing our clients' needs, providing high-quality, best practice programming.
We treat all people fairly, equitably, and compassionately.
We make decisions responsibly, caring for our resources to ensure the long term best interests of our community and our mission.
We are committed to partnerships to help better serve those in the greatest need and to strengthen us as an organization.
We support our clients to make choices that improve their health and well-being.
We believe a nurturing, educational environment can lift children and adults from poverty and open the door to the community.
We at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center acknowledge that each one of us has an inherent responsibility when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We are committed to creating an environment where all persons affiliated with the Center, particularly those of us who are people of color, within the LGBTQIA+ community and/or with disabilities, are truly seen and treated with the utmost consideration, respect, and compassion.
We as a staff are accountable for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our work, which includes program building and structure; sustaining our relationships with clients, volunteers, donors, and each other; and our commitment to ongoing learning.
We acknowledge our responsibility for evolving our standards and culture as a Center as our journey toward equity is ever-changing.
We are proud to be a BRAVE Space (Belonging, Respect, Alliance, Validity and Equity), a place where the LGBTQIA+ community feels safe, welcome, and validated.
We gained this safe zone certification as part of a pilot group of local agencies working toward this common goal.