Community Center
Community Center (in some cases, also referred to as Social Center), is a special room for entertaining a certain community of people. As a rule, it is a building or a room used for any of the wide range of public leisure activities that are charitable or non-commercial.
Community centers in the USA
Community centers can be designed both for cultural, leisure, and political or social activities in which individuals voluntarily take part, ranging from the simplest tasks of socialization, mutual assistance and the opportunity to spend time in a friendly company – to human rights and other institutions.
There are centers of a different nature: “creative circles”, leisure centers for the elderly or children, university community centers, national-cultural, religious and many other varieties.
On the other hand, there are isolated centers (for example, “by place of residence”) or they can unite many individual small groups (for example, prisoners, refugees and members of other population groups who need the help of society). Often, community centers are based on such private initiatives as cafes and canteens, items of charitable distribution (exchange) of things, public computer clubs and Internet cafes, associations of wall graffiti artists, legalized or informal communities, free accommodation for travelers or homeless people and much more. The nature of these services and tasks is determined by the needs of the community, which creates this community center, and the skills that participants must demonstrate convincingly.
In the USA, community centers are located mainly in large buildings that can host activist meetings, concerts, book fairs, balls and dance performances, art exhibitions. They are common in many cities.
A list of community centers in the USA:
- Bolton Hall
- Centro Cultural de la Raza
- Cubberley Community Center
- Eastside Café
- The Farm
- La Peña Cultural Center
- Soto-Michigan Jewish Community Center
- Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church
- Brown Township Building
- Chester Town Hall
- Circleville Memorial Hall
- Glenford Bank
- Jamestown Opera House
- Jefferson Schoolhouse
- Rombach Place
- South Salem Academy
- Lincoln School
- West Union School
- Westerville Community Center
- Woman’s Building
- The Women’s Building
- Coral Springs Center for the Arts
- Michael-Ann Russel Jewish Community Center
- Old Pleasant City Elementary School
- Rosen Jewish Community Center
- The Brick House
- Milliken Memorial Community House
- Omaha Jewish Community Center
- Abraham Hall
- Baitur Rehman Mosque, Silver Spring
- Denton Armory
- Diyanet Center of America
- Lula G. Scott Community Center
- Wheaton Youth Center
- Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services
- Elk Rapids Township Hall
- Greater Midland Community Centers
- Midland Community Center
- Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association Building