New Dawn Vallejo Corporation (NDVC) is a community development corporation and was founded and established in 2013, as a charitable tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in California. NDVC was founded by Reverend Danté R. Quick, PhD, and was born out of the civil unrest that spread through cities like Vallejo and Oakland, CA. NDVC began with a vision of becoming a catalyst of true transformation in the city of Vallejo, and throughout Solano County, and works to make this vision a reality.
The mission of New Dawn Vallejo Corporation is to promote revitalization and redevelopment in Solano County, and to empower it’s citizens by stimulating economic, residential, communal and educational resurgence.
SERVICES WE PROVIDE
The first major NDVC event was the Know Your Rights forum, held on October 11, 2014. It was held in response to the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. This community forum was hosted by the National Bar Association, California Association of Black Lawyers, Solano County Black Lawyers Association, Bay Area Black Prosecutors, New Dawn Vallejo Corporation, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Vallejo City Unified School District, Vallejo Faith Organization and North Bay Ministers Union of Vallejo and Vicinity. The forum was extremely successful, with over 600 community members in attendance. More than 150 youth and young adults received information about their fourth amendment rights. The forum also served as the beginning of a closer relationship between communities of color and law enforcement.
Shortly after the Know Your Rights Forum, an Executive Collaborative was formed to begin planning for our summer signature programs: Late Night Basketball and Summer of Success. The NDVC Executive Collaborative consists of the following community partners: Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Vallejo Police Department, Solano County Probation Department, Solano County District Attorney’s Office, Solano County Sheriff’s Department, Solano County Health and Social Services, Vallejo Fire Department and the Vallejo City Unified School District.
As a result of this collaborative planning NDVC’s two signature programs are incredibly successful. Late Night Basketball, also known as, “iballVallejo™” which started in the summer of 2015, serves nearly four-hundred students. A direct result of the relationships built at the “Know Your Rights Forum”, the goal of the program is to reduce conflict, violence, and juvenile crime in Vallejo, by providing a safe and nurturing environment for them, on Friday and Saturday nights. In addition to playing basketball, students participated in educational presentations and were able to sign up for and receive health services.
Summer of Success serves over eighty students, providing them opportunities to improve their academic skills, broaden their horizons, and improve their soft skills. In past summers, students visited the Google campus. Here they learned what it takes to be employed at Google, as well as the many benefits of being an employee. Community members continue to share stories about the positive impact of the programs on the students and the volunteers.
Following these signature programs NDVC was able to begin and maintain the following programs:
dfree® – NDVC first presented the dfree® Financial Freedom Movement in 2014, and has helped hundreds of Solano County residents in their goal to become debt-free. dfree® is designed to educate, motivate and support participants as they work to achieve financial freedom through faith-based guidance, which keeps them focused on their purpose so that they can take action to achieve specific goals that will secure their future. By joining the dfree® movement, participants become part of a community of liked-willed people who support each other and contribute to the greater good.
Summer of Success: Pre-Kindergarten Academy – In Partnership with First 5 Solano, (NDVC) offers a free Summer of Success: Pre-Kindergarten Academy to children entering Transitional-Kindergarten or Kindergarten (ages 4 and up) who lack or have limited prior preschool experience. The program is designed to support school readiness and is based on a trauma-informed model. The goal of the program is to provide high quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood learning sessions for students. Students leaving the 4-week program should be prepared and ready to enter Transitional-Kindergarten or Kindergarten.
CSU Summer Bridge Math Institute – NDVC is proud to offer the California State University – Summer Bridge Math Institute. NDVC, in partnership with the Vallejo City Unified School District, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and the Vallejo Police Department, sponsors this exciting program to incoming 6th-11th grade students. The CSU Summer Bridge Math Institute is a free six-week, intense, and fun course designed to improve students’ math skills in the critical subject of Algebra. The courses are taught in a small class by a certified math instructor and supported by online instruction. The staff is chosen to reflect the needs of students and the unique resources of not only the African-American community , but all underrepresented populations. Every student in the CSU Summer Bridge Math Institute takes a challenging math course that prepares him/her for the upcoming academic year. The CSU Summer Bridge Math Institute at NDVC prepares students for success in college while providing them the opportunity to share in the African American community’s tradition of excellence and accomplishment. The goal of this program is to help prepare students for high school mathematics and college requirements in mathematics. This challenging academic experience will also provide students with a repertoire of skills that allows them to pursue college majors requiring mathematics as well as pre-college advising.
Hallelujah Festival – Every October 31st NDVC hosts a community-wide Hallelujah Festival. The Hallelujah Festival is a free event open to the residents of Vallejo and nearby cities. Food, games, candy, health resources and more are all provided free to the community. We offer this event as an alternative option to “trick-or-treating” and to assist with keeping our children and families safe. At this event we are joined by our community partners: Vallejo Police Department, Solano County Sheriff’s Department, Vallejo Fire Department, Solano County Health and Social Services, and Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.
NDVC looks forward to continuing the positive work it does through its programs offered in the Vallejo community in efforts to improve the lives of Vallejo and Solano County families.
