CAPE CHARLES, Va. — As communities across the country mark Juneteenth, the Cape Charles Impact Center is using the holiday weekend to highlight the enduring connection between education, freedom and community investment, while asking supporters to help sustain its work on the Eastern Shore.
In a Juneteenth fundraising appeal, the Impact Center described education as “liberation” and tied its mission to the history of the building it now calls home — the former Cape Charles Elementary School, a historic Washington-Rosenwald school that once served generations of African American students during segregation.
The building, now restored and repurposed, has become a hub for workforce development, entrepreneurship, culinary arts, lifelong learning and cultural programming. Organizers say the center’s modern role reflects the same spirit of opportunity that defined the school in earlier decades.
“The Impact Center was born from a building that once educated generations of African Americans on the Eastern Shore during segregation,” the organization said in its appeal. “Today, those same walls have been carefully restored and reimagined as a living, breathing hub for all of us.”
The center said its programs are designed to bring together residents of all ages and backgrounds, offering space to learn new skills, launch businesses, connect with neighbors and strengthen the broader community. Leaders also emphasized the role local supporters have played in preserving the former school and building the programming now housed there.
The Juneteenth message calls on the public to continue that support through donations, saying contributions help keep the center’s doors open and allow programs to expand.
According to the appeal, funding supports a range of initiatives, including workforce development, business incubation, culinary instruction, lifelong learning opportunities and cultural events intended to serve the Eastern Shore community.
The campaign also frames the effort as a way to preserve the legacy of a site with deep historical significance. Rosenwald schools, built across the South in the early 20th century, played a major role in educating Black children during segregation and remain an important part of African American educational history.
Impact Center organizers say every donation, regardless of size, helps carry that legacy forward while ensuring the building continues to serve as a place of opportunity for future generations.
Residents who want to learn more about the center’s programs or contribute to the Juneteenth campaign can do so through the Impact Center’s website and online donation page.
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