Trane Technology Supports New Initiative at the Ada Jenkins Center

January 31, 2023

The Ada Jenkins Center is excited to announce it’s joining forces with the Trane Technologies Foundation to provide community education around food choices, improving personal nutrition and health. As part of its Healthy Initiatives program, Trane Technologies has awarded two years of funding to support the Ada Jenkins Center’s Sustaining a Healthy Lifestyle program, specifically for local seniors and children.

“We can’t begin to say ‘thanks’ enough to our longtime friends at Trane Technologies,” says Harold E. Rice, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of the Ada Jenkins Center. “They go above-and-beyond, whether volunteering here on campus, recruiting Trane team members for Ada Jenkins Center fundraising events, or providing generous grant funding for our programs.”

The North Mecklenburg area of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville is among the most underserved areas of the county. Nearly 1 in 20 people earn incomes of less than the Federal Poverty Level, and have limited access to social service programs available in Charlotte. (For example, there is a gap in the human service spectrum in feeding senior citizens. one that has been present for more than 10 years, since the Senior Nutrition Program closed.)

COVID disproportionately affected senior citizens, many of whom live on fixed incomes hovering at or below the poverty level. Transportation is a regular obstacle, as is physical health and mobility. The growing costs and ability to access healthy foods are leading to increased rates of physical health problems related to diet.

At the same time, children are completely dependent upon the adults around them to provide them the basic needs of life: food, clothing, shelter. The children in Ada Jenkins Center’s LEARN Works afterschool program have been identified as in particular need related to their lifestyle and family earnings. Lack of safe housing, a steady supply of food, transportation, and adult support at home all contribute to low academic performance. Many of these children live in single parent households or with aging grandparents. For each one, food reliability is often questionable.

“This program is a perfect extension of our community impact work, which leverages our resources as a climate company to fill critical gaps in communities around the world, access to healthy food being chief among them. Filling bellies with good, nutritious food is imperative to community sustainability and as a neighbor in the Davidson community, our team is looking forward to building a meaningful relationship in this work,” says Deidra Parrish Williams, Director of Citizenship, Community Engagement and the Trane Technologies Foundation.

Ada Jenkins Center’s Sustaining a Healthy Lifestyle program will include nutrition classes and demonstrations for people age 55 and older, as well as classes for children—and their parents—with health issues and/or other socioeconomic issues that make food security questionable within the household. Participants in each class will receive a meal kit “to-go,” filled with ingredients to make healthier meals at home. Additional support for this program is provided by Mecklenburg County and the Town of Davidson.
During its last program year, the Ada Jenkins Center served nearly 1,200 people at its food pantry, and hundreds more through its programs to help people create lasting solutions for economic stability. The Center operates primarily on generous donations and grants from partners such as Trane. Adds Rice: “We are better able to serve our clients, thanks to Trane’s support.”

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The Ada Jenkins Center has stood in Davidson for more than 80 years as a hub for education and community services in northern Mecklenburg County. With services including a free medical clinic, free dental clinic, food pantry, workforce development, child and adult education, and social work case management, we help people in our community create lasting solutions for economic stability.  Last year, we served more than 2,600 individuals and families in Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville. To learn more:  www.adajenkins.org.

Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator that provides efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes and transportation through its strategic brands Trane® and Thermo King®, and a portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services. For more on Trane Technologies, visit www.tranetechnologies.com.