More than 50 years ago, at the intersection of Brevard St. and East 3rd in Uptown Charlotte, sat the heart of a community that bustled with homes, businesses and places of worship. Brooklyn, was settled in 1892 when recently emancipated slaves were drawn to the area and began to make it their home and place of work. The community continued to grow in the early 1900’s and became a vibrant African American neighborhood that attracted many of Charlotte’s most dignified black professionals. This community was also home to Charlotte’s only black high school, YMCA and library.
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Grace AME Zion Church was a cornerstone of this community, and still stands proudly today on South Brevard Street in Second Ward. It is one of the few remaining structures still standing since Brooklyn was redeveloped in the 1960’s and much of the previous community was lost.
This year, the Live Love Serve Foundation was introduced to John and Jason Wolf through one of our oldest clients. John and Jason are brothers who have made it their mission to restore some of the historic buildings that were previously part of the Brooklyn community. Jason founded the Brooklyn Collective which is a group of developers who purchased the Grace AME Zion Church and the other buildings around it in an effort to preserve them and return this block to a thriving city center where Charlotte residents can embrace history, culture and camaraderie.
In partnership with CBI Workplace Solutions, the Live Love Serve Foundation committed to supporting the Brooklyn Collective by funding the design of their Second Ward office and donating furniture solutions that would help them be successful in their work and in their mission.
David Longo, Founder & CEO of CBI Workplace Solutions says, “At CBI we believe in leveraging the built environment for the greater good. We completely support the mission of the Brooklyn Collective, and feel very strongly about preserving the history of Charlotte, as it is the city where we built our own business. When we met John and Jason, we wanted to provide support in any way we could, and we were happy to be able to fund the furniture and installation process to ensure their offices represented the important work they were doing.”
CBI and the Live Love Serve Foundation repurposed furniture from one of their corporate clients and helped financially support the relocation to the Brooklyn Collective offices. CBI's project management team measured the space and worked with Jason to select furniture that would support the Collective’s business functions and fit the landscape of the historic building. There were some challenges, as the old building has smaller rooms and narrower doorways, however, we were able to form a strategic installation plan and ensure maximum functionality of the solutions we provided.
Jason Wolf, founder of the Brooklyn Collective says, “I am extremely grateful to CBI and the Live Love Serve Foundation for contributing the delivery and installation of our workplace solutions. This was an impactful contribution in the activation of the Brooklyn Collective’s upward mobility and inclusivity efforts in Charlotte. If it weren’t for you, we would not have been able to upgrade our 13 offices in the historic Mecklenburg Investment Company (“MIC”).”
CBI Workplace Solutions and the Live Love Serve Foundation look forward to continuing to support the Brooklyn Collective’s mission and see all the great work they achieve this year. To learn more about them and the historic buildings of Brooklyn visit www.makeitcharlotte.com.
