Description
The William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center (WHACC), located on the corner of 5th and Madison Streets in Wilmington, opened its doors in 1972. Formerly known as the West Center City Community Center, the Center was renamed in honor of Wilmington youth and community advocate William “Hicks” Anderson. The Center has served as a hub of positive community activity in the West Center City neighborhood, and is focused on community strengthening and family-focused programming.
At the time of his passing in 1990, “Hicks” Anderson was a name well-known in the Wilmington community for his tireless efforts to help those in the city’s underrepresented communities and his work with Wilmington’s young, poor, uneducated and disenfranchised. Anderson dedicated his life to forwarding causes central to the quality of life possible for Wilmingtonians such as poverty, hunger, fair housing and especially, education.
Today, WHACC continues in the tradition of providing individual and family services to Wilmington’s families and youth. The Center is a bustling hub of activities for neighborhood children, including after-school academic enrichment and recreational programs. Additionally, the Center provides services for the elderly through its Adult Center, along with food and nutrition assistance, a clothes closet, crisis services and health programming through the Center’s workout room and swimming pool available to the general public. Organized sporting leagues and events, including basketball, boxing, aquatics programming, martial arts, as well as youth camps, field trips, and tutoring, are all core parts of the mission of the “Hicks” Anderson Center.