ReCity Network provides Coworking Space for organizations that build shared Impact in Durham.
Shared space and Shared impact
— Our Network is made up of almost 100 local leaders from over 40 organizations: each leveraging their strengths towards the common goal of "whole community health.
95%
Number of ReCity partners that believe their community partnerships have strengthened since joining the network.
12,000
The square footage converted in 2018 into more usable shared coworking space, making room for eight or more organizations to join ReCity.
ReCity’s Philosophy of Community Engagement
ReCity is actively seeking partners who share the following core values:
1. Justice that Restores - pursuing just practices for individuals, communities, and systems.`
A working definition for justice is “to give people their due”. One side of that is negative - when people do something wrong, they need to be stopped. The other side is positive - to lift up and care for those who have been marginalized. Justice is both retributive and restorative. It is also both individual and social.
2. Power of Proximity - creating empathy, sparking innovation and collaboration.
Proximity between people creates empathy, helping us understand the experiences of those who suffer from inequality and injustice. Proximity between organizations serving the community helps sparks innovation and collective impact.
3. Developing Leaders - equipping leaders most proximate to injustice who have the best solutions to address those injustices.
Healthy leaders make healthy organizations and healthier communities. Our vision is to see thriving communities filled with strong leaders who love their neighbors, using their own resources and assets to lead organizations and institutions that bring sustainable health to our communities.
“We must get “proximate” to suffering and understand the nuanced experiences of those who suffer from and experience inequality. If you are willing to get closer to people who are suffering, you will find the power to change the world.”
- Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy
“Proximity is a pathway through which we learn the kind of things we need to know to make healthier communities.”
4. Serving the Whole Person - serving people and communities holistically.
People and communities are complex, and so are the issues they face. Because of this, we must engage the whole person by addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs as well as the systemic and structural barriers that prevent flourishing. Building on the existing strengths within the community, everyone serves their “signature dish” to accomplish more working together than we can apart.
5. Fairness & Impartiality Towards All - ensuring a just future by giving as much consideration to one group as another.
Just communities are ones where everyone is empowered to co-author its story. Charities can often create a sense of dependency that diminishes dignity and reinforces paternalism or a sense that brokenness only exists amongst the marginalized. Real transformation happens when the privileged share their power and the marginalized are then empowered to help themselves.
6. Empowering Communities - freeing people from the constraints of marginalization and privilege.
ReCity’s philosophy of community engagement is based on Jesus’ example in John 4 where he met the woman at Jacob’s Well. In the story, Jesus uses a common, central gathering place to engage with a woman around her holistic needs. Through Jesus’ ability to communicate with truth and grace the entire village was transformed. ReCity is creating the gathering space that is bringing a diverse cross-section of our community together and presenting opportunities to address people’s needs holistically. It is our hope that through these connections - which are mutually beneficial and rooted in justice - authentic relationships are developed, barriers to flourishing are addressed, and communities are transformed.
