Nonprofit Partnership Spotlight: REACH Riverside

In Wilmington, Delaware, families in the Riverside neighborhood are seeing decades of disinvestment give way to renewed opportunity. Imani Village, a mixed-income housing redevelopment built in partnership with REACH Riverside (managing partner for The WRK Group, including The Warehouse and Kingswood Community Center), is the first phase of a broader effort to connect early learning, workforce development, and community programming, bringing opportunity directly into the neighborhood where families live.

Pennrose looks for nonprofit partners who understand their communities from the inside out: organizations built around housing, health, education, and economic opportunities working together, not in isolation. REACH Riverside embodies that approach, with deep roots in the community and a long-term commitment to the families who call the neighborhood home.

As part of our Nonprofit Partnership Spotlight series, we sat down with Logan Herring from The WRK Group team to learn more about what this partnership means for Wilmington families.

Tell us about your organization. What is your mission, and how does it come to life through the work you do every day?

The WRK Group — The Warehouse, REACH Riverside, and Kingswood Community Center — exists because we understand intimately that a ZIP code determines one's future. Our mission is to empower the community to reach its full potential by building a cradle‑to‑career pipeline that strengthens families, grows economic mobility, and restores the promise of Riverside.

That mission shows up in very practical ways: high‑quality early learning, world‑class teen programming, workforce pathways that connect young people and adults to real jobs, and a redevelopment strategy that replaces decades of disinvestment with opportunity. Every day, our team works alongside residents to create a neighborhood where people don’t have to leave to reach their full potential.

REACH Riverside is rooted in the belief that where someone lives shapes their opportunities and outcomes. How does that perspective inform your approach to community development?

We take a place‑based approach because the challenges and the solutions are deeply local. When a neighborhood has faced concentrated poverty for generations, you can’t fix one piece of the puzzle — you have to rebuild the entire ecosystem.

As a member of the national network, Purpose Built Communities, the holistic approach means investing in housing, education, health, and economic vitality at the same time, and doing it with residents at the center of every decision. We’re not trying to “save” a neighborhood; we’re working with the community to build the conditions where families can thrive. The belief that 'place matters' keeps us focused, disciplined, and accountable to the people who call Riverside home.

What does the partnership around Imani Village mean for the residents and families you serve? Can you share an example of the impact you've seen or hope to see as this redevelopment takes shape?

Imani Village represents stability, dignity, and momentum. For families who have lived through aging housing stock, limited economic opportunity, and decades of underinvestment, this redevelopment is more than new buildings — it’s a signal that their neighborhood is worthy of long‑term commitment. Imani stands for hope, and it takes a village to raise a child. The meaning is literally in its name.

We’re already seeing the impact in the way residents talk and take care of the neighborhood and each other. We see yard signs for graduations, friendly holiday decoration competitions, and adults starting afterschool programs in the community rooms. The Village is really coming together in ways we couldn't have imagined.

What are your priorities and goals for the year ahead? How do you hope your work will benefit the community you serve?

This year is all about increasing access and scale. Not only do we have over 400 units of mixed-income housing in the cue, but we are also opening a new 81,000 ft² Kingswood Community Center in late 2026 to expand early learning capacity, increase access to health amenities and resources, and provide additional capacity for programs and services.

We’re also constructing a plan to strategically scale our efforts across the city and potentially the state in the future. The work we have been doing for almost a decade is now being recognized as a national best practice, attracting resources that will allow us to extend our impact beyond Riverside.

For those looking to make a difference in their communities, how could they support your organization and its mission?

There are three powerful ways to support this work:

·         Invest — Philanthropic and corporate partners make it possible for us to scale programs and accelerate redevelopment.

·         Engage — Volunteer, mentor, or bring your expertise to our youth and adult workforce programs.

·         Amplify — Tour with us, share our story, and help others understand what’s possible when a community gets the right resources at the right time.

Most importantly, believe in neighborhoods like Riverside. When people choose to stand with communities that have been overlooked, transformation becomes possible, and it becomes a tide that lifts all boats. To learn more, visit www.wrkgroup.org.