The strongest communities are the ones that can come together to uplift others, and Logan Herring of WRK Group has learned and lived that lesson since coming to Delaware. Serving as the CEO of WRK Group, Herring uses his compassion and drive to support people who, throughout time, have experienced numerous barriers to success due to institutionalized racism. Even before founding WRK Group, Herring worked at various organizations dedicated to assisting those vulnerable populations within communities, showing just how much he truly cares about his fellow neighbors. In January 2021, Herring was named one of the most influential Delawareans due to his efforts to improve the lives of those within his community.
WRK Group consists of three separate projects: REACH Riverside, the Warehouse, and the Kingswood Community Center, each of which has a specific attention. REACH Riverside looks to transform the Riverside Neighborhood by improving the housing, community health, and education. The Warehouse is a center for teens that focuses on recreation, education, arts, career, and health to help them become their most successful selves. Finally, the Kingswood Community Center is looking to be revitalized and turned into a state-of-the-art center with an early learning center that provides children with the education they need. All the organizations within WRK Group give to the community, but Herring notes that particularly with REACH, they are putting forth more effort to listen to those in the community and catering to their specific needs with their help.
“I’m Logan Herring, CEO of the WRK Group, the Warehouse REACH Riverside in Kingswood Community Center. We’re looking to do 600 units of mixed income housing, in Riverside neighborhood, build a state of the art Kingswood Community Center with an enhanced and expanded early learning Academy. And then the last piece of the puzzle is the warehouse where we’re seated right now, which is a 43,000 square foot facility that has a coworking space and collaborative effort of teen serving organizations.
Obviously, everyone is a little bit more conscious of the historic, systemic, structural oppressions, the policies and procedures that have kept people that look like me back for far too long. And what we wanted to do was position ourselves, position our community, where we’re leading in front, where we’re stepping out and giving our youth an opportunity to be heard, to feel empowered. So that’s what we’re doing with this facility.
That’s what we’re doing with the REACH Riverside revitalization effort. We put the community first, we put the community’s needs first and we listen. And we don’t just listen, we bring them into the fold and allow them to, work with us on the solutions.
Delaware has extreme advantages within this purpose built communities model. Everyone here is so close knit and we’re able to mobilize so quickly. So, it’s nothing for us to have the governor, the County executive, the mayor, our state senators, our legislative delegation and Lisa Blunt Rochester here, all at the same time or in and out of the building whenever we need them. And they’re just a phone call away.
It’s exciting to raise a family in Delaware and I hope more people come to Delaware and they can see that as well. It only takes a couple of years to get acclimated, then it’s like, once you’re here for a couple of years, you are automatically a Delawarean ’cause you know everyone already. I’m just really happy to be able to have my son here and for him to have so much love around him, whether it’s family, friends, or people I’ve come to know along the way.”
Without the productive and close community in Delaware, these goals would be much harder to achieve. However, because the people care and want to give their all to their community, it makes getting things done easier; Herring even says how quickly they can get high-ranking government officials in their buildings to make change happen fast. Because of this tight community, Herring is extremely excited to be raising his family in Delaware. The people make the state what it is, creating a welcoming community that can feel like home to anyone. From community initiatives that put the people in focus to supportive individuals who push for change, Delawareans show that there’s real heart in everything they do.