BY DEBBIE PAGE
Iredell Civic Community United (ICCU) has launched its latest Imagine Iredell United project, an effort to raise money and recruit volunteers to refurbish the Chestnut Grove Community Center, which was built in 1926.
The restoration project includes replacing flooring throughout the center, replacement of the septic system, bathroom updates, and new kitchen cabinets as well as providing storage and shelving solutions for meeting and office areas, and resolving drainage issues and refreshing landscaping.
ICCU is looking for financial, in-kind, and materials donations as well as hands-on volunteers to get this project completed. United Way of Iredell County is the fiscal agent for the ICCU organization.
The ICCU’s goal is to raise $30,000 to bring this vision to fruition. With updated restrooms, new offerings such as summer camps, free summer lunch programs, and increased rental opportunities will then be possible at the site of the former Rosenwald School.
As Chesnut Grove Community Center Board Member Dorothy Woodard said at the late January project launch, “Chestnut Grove is not just a building — it’s a cornerstone of history, a beacon of hope, and a space where community connections are built and heritage is preserved.”
“With your support, we can ensure this legacy continues for generations to come. Together, we can honor the vision of our founders, enhance our community, and create a brighter future,” she added.
For decades, Chestnut Grove Elementary was a focal point for education and a symbol of community pride for African-American residents in Iredell County.
The community center is located on the site of the school, which was funded through a collaboration between Booker T. Washington and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, president of the Sears-Roebuck company.
Their combined efforts provided state-of-the-art schools for African-American children across the South that became beacons of hope and progress. They began as single-room facilities with one teacher serving students in first through eighth grades, with the Chestnut Grove site later expanding in 1952 to a new, larger brick building.
The Rosenwald curriculum taught at the schools focused on home economics, academic achievement, and life skills for students’ personal and professional lives.
Even after the school’s closure in 1966, during integration efforts, the Chestnut Grove community rallied to save this community treasure, raising $22,350 to purchase the building at a 1970 auction offered by the Iredell County School Board.
The Chestnut Grove Community Center was then born, ensuring its legacy as a community gathering place and a center for progress and maintaining the community’s heritage. The founding members included Alvin Morrison, Rev. John Spillman, Alberta Davis, and Charles Fox.
The community center is one of three remaining Rosenwald Schools in Iredell County. The facility is thriving and board members want to continue to grow in its mission and services.
Community members host three blood drives yearly, and more than 1,100 units have been collected, impacting more than 3,500 patients over the decades.
The center also holds events promoting health awareness, including breast cancer programs that attract more than 60 attendees annually and prostate cancer awareness programs in partnership with Iredell Memorial Hospital, which provides speakers and screenings.
The center also supports food security by partnering with Mountaire Farms. The center’s members distributed 200 food boxes last year, feeding over 800 people.
The center also promotes literacy through its Little Free Library and serves as a venue for hosting various events, including weddings, family reunions, birthday parties, retirement parties, receptions, funeral repasts, and more. More than 2,200 people attended these celebrations at the center in 2024.
The center also participates in events like Lacing Up for A Cure to raise money to support cancer patients.
Chestnut Grove Community Center operates entirely with volunteers. Every program, event, and improvement is the result of the power of the dedicated volunteers who believe in the importance of preserving this important gathering place.
Center leaders have future plans to partner with the Iredell County Cooperative Extension Service to offer programs that address mental health, better physical health through their Faithful Families Program, and food insecurity and nutrition through teaching people how to grow micro gardens.
LEARN MORE
To follow progress on the Chestnut Grove Community Center project, follow ICCU on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560388769723.
2024 PROJECT
In its inaugural year, ICCU’s 2024 Imagine Iredell project focused on redecorating six resident rooms at My Sisters House domestic violence shelter to make them more comfortable for the residents and their children.
Participating civic groups each adopted a guest room and transformed them into warm, colorful, homelike living quarters for women and children in crisis. They also helped with landscaping, cleanup, organization of storage buildings, and other tasks to help the agency better serve its clients.
The Troutman Ruritan Club redecorated two rooms, with The Rotary Club of Troutman, Iredell County Republican Women, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church social ministry committee, and the Exchange Club of Mooresville/Lake Norman each completing one.
WANT TO HELP?
To donate funds, those interested can visit https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/k7qCBw?vid=1i7ugf online, text ImagineIredell to 71777, or mail a check (with ICCU in memo section) to the United Way of Iredell County, Attention: Linda Wahlberg – ICCU, PO Box 1312, Statesville, NC 28687.
To learn about needed materials donations, contact the ICCU Committee at iredellciviccommunityunited@gmail.com for a list of needed items.
To volunteer to provide hands-on help for the many roles required on the Chestnut Grove project, register on the United Way HIVE volunteer clearinghouse at https://volunteer.uwiredell.org/agency/detail/?agency_id=168673
To volunteer as a group, contact Linda Wahlberg at lwahlberg@uwiredell.org.
ABOUT ICCU
Imagine the concerted talents and efforts of Iredell County service groups, united in their mission to make a high impact difference, taking on the needs on one local agency and transforming its ability to serve and improve the lives of community members. That vision is now a reality with the organization of Iredell Civic Community United, a group of service clubs, churches, corporate volunteers, and other entities dedicated to empowering nonprofits and other organizations, to drive positive change, and to address pressing needs within our communities. By providing support and assistance through this innovative partnership, ICCU can make a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and families. Together, ICCU can build stronger, more resilient communities for generations to come.
IMAGINE IREDELL UNITED
Imagine Iredell United is a comprehensive program developed by ICCU and designed to support nonprofits and other organizations in completing vital projects that will in turn benefit the community.
Through financial assistance, mentorship, skilled volunteer services, in-kind hands-on work, and other resources, the Imagine Iredell United program will help equip nonprofit agencies and groups to better serve their target populations, achieve their goals and make a lasting impact on the population they serve.
In early fall, nonprofit agencies may apply to the program, presenting their needs and breaking them down into segments per the application guidelines. From there, an Imagine Iredell United committee will review applications and select one recipient’s project to complete over the next year.
Project planning with the agency recipient and the sponsoring service groups will be coordinated by the committee, including determining the timeframe for work to be accomplished, the materials needed, and the goals for completion.
Once a nonprofit’s project is chosen and fully assessed, the committee will distribute the project segment details to participating ICCU civic and service groups as well as publicly share the opportunity for others to participate, asking the each group to commit to complete a portion of the total project that fits their talents, abilities, and financial resources.
Group sponsorships can exist in the form of hands-on work done by the group itself (skilled or unskilled), donations of goods needed, funds for purchasing project-based materials, or other assistance as needed in the agency’s project.
Sponsorship and participation by all local ICCU groups is welcomed and encouraged each year but not required.
United Way of Iredell County is serving as ICCU’s fiscal agent. One hundred percent of tax deductible donations to ICCU will go to the Imagine Iredell United project selected each year.
GET INVOLVED!
Civic organizations, churches, corporate or business volunteer groups, student-led community service organizations, service clubs, or other entities interested in becoming a change partner with Iredell Civic Community United can contact ICCU at iredellciviccommunityunited@gmail.com.
Nonprofits and other organizations interested in being selected for the annual Imagine Iredell United project can submit a project proposal during the open application period each fall, announced on the ICCU Facebook page and through local media, outlining their objectives, strategies, estimated costs and suggested timeline for completion.