It's a shame when empty buildings are neighborhood eyesores while local non-profits are looking for places to do their good work. The Neighborhood Partnership can help.

West End resident Juanita McNeil knew children would have a brighter future if they spent afternoons doing homework with adult supervision instead of hanging out on the street. She started the original West End Community Center out of her home in the late 1980s with help from Duke tutors and neighborhood volunteers. Residents got a small house donated, but needed separate space for teens and elementary children. Duke and The Duke Endowment provided about $195,000 to buy and renovate a former law office into the Juanita McNeil and Joseph Alston West End Community Center . The Teen Focus program there serves about 20 students. Fewer of them are suspended from school, and 88 percent are promoted to the next grade.

The vacant Walltown Elementary School was once a haven for vagrants. When a neighborhood church expressed interest, Duke invested more than $400,000 to help transform it into the St. James Family Life Center. The Carter Community Charter School also uses the building, as does as a library established by the Junior League of Orange-Durham Counties.