Life of Victory in Christ Ministries CDC
Church in the Streets
Not a church. The Church.
Bringing Healing, Hope & Health Directly To Your NeighborhoodOur Mission
What Is Church in the Streets?
Church in the Streets is not the work of a church — it is the work of the Church.
It is the Body of Christ in action, bringing together believers and organizations across our community, regardless of denomination or affiliation, to demonstrate what the Body of Christ looks like as a city on a hilltop. Faith communities, nonprofits, health institutions, businesses, and neighborhood organizations all have a place at this table — the table of community well-being.
We work across 10 Pillars of Community Well-Being — everything it takes for a neighborhood to truly thrive:
The Vision
An Integrative, Systemic Approach to Community Well-Being
Church in the Streets is a health-based, faith-rooted community initiative that brings coordination, cooperation, and collaboration together. It is not about one church. It is about the Church — the whole Body of Christ, expressed through every person, every organization, and every institution willing to show up for their neighbor.
The Why
Why Church in the Streets?
Because the Church was never meant to stay inside its walls.
Across our communities, tens of thousands of residents carry spiritual wounds, social isolation, and unmet needs that no single institution can address alone. The Church has the trust, the presence, and the mandate — but it has often been siloed from the systems that could multiply its impact.
Church in the Streets creates a public space where faith communities step outside their buildings and into the neighborhoods where people live. Not to proselytize — but to be present. To listen. To serve. To walk alongside. And through that oneness — our love, our servant-hearted presence, our shared commitment to the mind of Christ — to allow God's love to be seen, so that Christ draws all people unto himself.
We believe that when faith communities show up in the public square — alongside health providers, civic organizations, and neighbors — something shifts. Trust deepens. Collaboration becomes possible. Community becomes real.
"Church in the Streets is not an event. It is a public theology of presence — faith made visible in the streets, the parks, and the corners of communities that need to see and feel that they are not forgotten."
The Why
Why Church in the Streets — The Community Development Model
Five Levels of Community Health Investment
Beyond giving a fish — building a community that owns the pond.
Organizations show up, deliver services, and people receive them. Essential, valued, and necessary — but dependent on organizational funding cycles. When an org loses funding, the service disappears.
Residents learn to access, navigate, and advocate for services on their own. Workshops, trainings, soft skills, leadership development — people become self-sufficient navigators of their own health and community.
Residents become decision-makers about what happens in their community. They don't just receive — they help design what services look like, who delivers them, and when.
The infrastructure is built so community health continues regardless of which organizations have funding this year. Collective action teams, paid neighborhood consultants, policy advocacy rooted in resident data.
The gavel is passed. The mantle is distributed. The vision lives in the community itself — not in any single organization, leader, or funding cycle. This is the legacy model.
The Succession Spine
At every level, we are simultaneously asking: Who is next?
Community Progression Stages
Communities don't move in a straight line — they move across all dimensions simultaneously.
Note: A community can be Safe in housing but Unsafe in mental health. CITS works across all six stages, in all ten dimensions of community well-being, simultaneously.
The SEF Framework
The internal progression every community member walks through.
A resident attends their first Church in the Streets activation. They learn what resources are available. They make one connection. They start to believe that their community's health is something they can act on.
A resident joins a working group. They learn to navigate systems, manage conflict, follow through on commitments, and sustain engagement over time even when it gets hard.
A resident becomes a Neighborhood Consultant. They design the next activation. They recruit the next partner. They write the policy recommendation. They hold the gavel.
The Approach
This Is Not An Event.
Church in the Streets is a faith-rooted community engagement methodology — a structured, iterative approach to building collective action in neighborhoods that have historically been underserved by systems designed elsewhere, for someone else.
A Public Theology of Presence
A Public Theology of Presence
Church in the Streets is faith-rooted, cross-sector, and presence-based — built to last beyond any single event.
Built on the conviction that the Church is a force for neighborhood transformation — present, trusted, and called.
We step outside our buildings into parks, corners, and lots — where people actually live.
Faith, health, civic, education, and business partners working together — no silos, no wrong door.
Neighbor Up listening shapes every activation. Residents help design what we bring.
Each activation is a learning cycle. Relationships compound year-round, not just on event days.
We build the infrastructure so community well-being continues beyond any single organization or funding cycle.
The Reframe
What People See vs. What's Actually Happening
What People See
A community gathering on a city street. Churches tabling. Live worship. Health screenings. People gathering. Free food and fellowship.
What's Actually Built
Months of canvassing, listening conversations, email outreach, coalition attendance, relationship visits, and faith partner coordination — made visible.
What Comes Next
Working groups. Neighborhood consultants. MOUs. A 4-year investment in community-led systems change that outlasts any single event.
The Method
The Community Lab Method
LISTEN
Canvassing, listening conversations, attending existing meetings. Learn who's already doing the work.
ACTIVATE
Community activation events in the open air. Make invisible infrastructure visible. Build public credibility.
EMBED
Neighborhood consultants paid to work in their own communities. Working groups on community well-being priorities.
TRANSFER
Self-governing community ecosystems. LVCM as connective tissue, not the center.
The Framework
Our Systems Change Framework
COORDINATION
Sharing information. Making sure the right people know what the right people know.
COOPERATION
Working alongside each other. Reducing duplication. Honoring what already exists.
COLLABORATION
Shared goals, shared resources, shared credit. Building something none of us could build alone.
INTEGRATION
Weaving organizations, people, and resources into a common infrastructure for community well-being.
SYSTEMS CHANGE
Shifting the mental models, structures, and policies that determine who gets access to what, and why.
The Commitment
Life of Victory in Christ Ministries CDC has made a four-year investment commitment to Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Not one event. Not one year. Four years of presence, relationship, and work — until the community has what it needs to sustain itself.
LVCM CDC · Winston-Salem — Forsyth County
CHURCH IN THE STREETS
Full Strategy: From Neighborhood Activation to Systems Change
Cooperation • Coordination • Collaboration
Integrated EcoSystem of Systems Change | Winston-Salem–Forsyth County 2026–2028
How It Works
How It Works
A place-based, asset-driven model that brings services to residents rather than asking residents to navigate fragmented systems.
"Church in the Streets closes these gaps by delivering a coordinated ecosystem of care, navigation, story collection, and resident co-design directly on the block — with the Church as the trusted bridge."
Before we activate, we listen. Neighbor Up pre-event conversations in the neighborhood gather resident voices, identify pressing concerns, and shape what the activation looks like.
Faith congregations, ministries, and community groups commit to showing up — not just attending, but tabling, praying, serving, and connecting residents to resources.
Church in the Streets activations bring together faith communities, health resources, civic partners, and residents in open, public spaces — parks, street corners, community lots.
Every activation generates new relationships, listening data, and connection points. We document what we learn and use it to shape the next engagement.
Over time, Church in the Streets builds a web of faith-rooted community relationships that operates year-round — not just on event days.
The CITS Definition
The CITS Definition
The common language for partners, residents, funders, and faith leaders.
From Coordination to Community Ownership
From Coordination to Community Ownership
The movement grows through three partner behaviors and one community outcome.
Systems Change Starts Inside Organizations
Systems Change Starts Inside Organizations
CITS builds capacity inside partner organizations — not only at the event level.
"Community accountability + iterative learning"
The Ground Engagement Model
The Ground Engagement Model
Four Pillars of Community-Centered Activation
Partner Operating Model
Partner Operating Model
Every organization is more than a table: each partner becomes a connector in a shared ecosystem.
Community Innovation Lab
Community Innovation Lab
CITS is a living laboratory for sustainable systems change.
Data + Story = Policy Voice
Data + Story = Policy Voice
The tracking system should capture reach, referrals, needs, partner outcomes, and resident voice without creating barriers.
"Every voice becomes evidence for systems change, grant reporting, and advocacy."
The Systems Change Progression
From Coexistence to Lasting Systems Change
"Church in the Streets accelerates this movement — event by event, neighborhood by neighborhood, relationship by relationship."
2026 Winston-Salem Activation Series
2026 Winston-Salem Activation Series
Four launches, four learning cycles, one integrated ecosystem.
"Iterative: Listen → Activate → Debrief → Return"
Immediate Implementation Roadmap
Immediate Implementation Roadmap
From the first activation to sustained neighborhood working groups.
Funding & Research-Ready Framing
Funding & Research-Ready Framing
Position CITS as a testable, community-led intervention for systems change and health equity.
10 Pillars of Community Well-Being
10 Pillars of Community Well-Being
The Organizing Framework for Partner Engagement, SDOH Tracking & Systems Change
"We are not building an event. We are building the infrastructure that a neighborhood needs to own its own health future."
Our Progress
Church in the Streets — The Work So Far
Four-Year Timeline
The Journey So Far — And Where We're Going
YEAR 1 · 2023-2024 — Listen & Learn
COMPLETED- Launched Church in the Streets in Winston-Salem
- Began canvassing in East Winston neighborhoods
- Outreached to 45+ faith communities
- Built partner database and digital infrastructure
- Attended existing community meetings as learners
YEAR 2 · 2026 — Activate & Connect
IN PROGRESS- Launched 2026 CITS Winston-Salem series (East 11th, Mount Zion, Downtown, East 12th)
- Launched Neighbor Up listening sessions
- Launched Community Alerts Portal
- Launched Healing Without Debt Winston-Salem outreach
- Began neighborhood consultant pilot
- Launched Community Tools portal and Boots on Ground staff platform
YEAR 3 · 2027 — Embed & Deepen
UPCOMING- Neighborhood consultants in 3–5 Winston-Salem communities (full launch)
- Standing working groups on community well-being priorities
- Formal MOUs with faith sector, health systems, civic partners
- First annual Forsyth County Community Health Report
- CITS expansion to additional Winston-Salem neighborhoods
YEAR 4 · 2028 — Transfer & Sustain
FUTURE- 10–15 active neighborhood consultants across Winston-Salem
- Working groups self-governing with LVCM as convener
- First cohort of Community Fellows in Winston-Salem
- Community health data used for active policy advocacy
- Succession planning complete: community ecosystem runs itself
Diffusion Curve
Who's Coming With Us — And When
Early Adopters
nowFaith communities already engaged, active community groups, pastors who have shown up
Early Majority
Year 2–3Organizations that join when they see results
Late Majority
Year 3–4Institutions that move slowly — hospital systems, school admin, major foundations
Laggards
laterSome will never join. That's okay. The work continues.
Every movement has early adopters, majority followers, and late arrivals. We're not waiting for everyone before we start. We're building something real, so that when people are ready, there's something worth joining.
Neighbor Up
Neighbor Up — Community Listening Conversations
Before every Church in the Streets activation, we sit down with the neighborhood.
Neighbor Up is our pre-event community listening model. Before any activation, we host open conversations in the target neighborhood — gathering resident voices, understanding the most pressing needs, and co-designing what Church in the Streets will bring.
These are not focus groups. These are conversations between equals — residents, faith leaders, and community builders sitting at the same table, listening to each other.
What we hear in Neighbor Up shapes every activation that follows.
Upcoming Neighbor Up Sessions
No upcoming Neighbor Up sessions are scheduled yet. Check back soon.
Partnerships
Partners: Let's Transform Neighborhoods Together
Are you a faith community, healthcare provider, nonprofit, school, civic group, or government agency? Partner with CITS and reach residents where they live — with the Church as the trusted bridge.
Get Involved
Help Us Bring Health to Your Neighborhood
Whether you have 2 hours or 20 — there is a role for you.
LVCM CDC activations qualify for community service hours. We document your hours and provide official verification.
For Faith Leaders
For Faith Leaders
Is your congregation called to walk with us?
Church in the Streets is built on the conviction that faith communities are among the most powerful forces for neighborhood transformation. We are inviting congregations, ministries, and faith leaders across the Triad to make a public commitment to walk with us — to show up, to serve, and to be present in the streets where people live.
Ready to Be the Church in the Streets?
Register, partner, volunteer — or just show up. Every person makes Church in the Streets real.
Register Now — It's Free →Building Stronger Communities Through Faith, Health & Collective Impact
Rev. Kenneth Holly, President & CEO
📞 (336) 473-8859 | ✉️ kholly@lvcmcdc.org | 🌐 www.lvcmcdc.org
📍 313 Indera Mills Court, Winston-Salem, NC 27101