Several years ago, a tall, older African American gentleman, Joseph, stopped by our office. I was engaged soon in conversation with this soft spoken, gentle giant . This strong-looking man looked defeated, and he started to get tearful as he recounted his story to me.
Joseph was the leader of his #civic association for a #poor, neglected #neighborhood in the central city of a #community where I lived and worked. He recounted problems in his neighborhood that had become insurmountable and more were coming.
Unscrupulous investors had bought properties up cheap and used code enforcement and fines to harass other property owners into selling. Sadly, most of those #homeowners who were pushed out were poor African Americans. The City rezoned this single-family home #neighborhood for duplexes under pressure by land investors and once single-family homes were divided into 2 homes and rented. A downward spiral of negative #gentrification was occurring and tearing the fabric of a once modest but proud, historic #neighborhood.
The local Housing Authority had received federal money to tear down several public #housing projects throughout the city and replace it with a mix of income housing. That meant that many people could not return to where they lived for so much of their lives and they were given Section 8 housing vouchers to find a place to live elsewhere. Many of those people crammed into Joseph's neighborhood into the increasing stock of low-income rental #housing, much of it owned by absentee landlords who did minimal work to maintain the properties. Along with this new influx of people came an explosion in the number of children without enough neighborhood parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, sidewalks, and programs to support them.
Joseph had written many letters to City Council and the Mayor asking for help often receiving no response or one that was the equivalent of live with it, there is nothing we can do. Joseph loved his #neighborhood but now was watching helplessly as the problems slowly mounted and pulled their small, #marginalized community down into oblivion.
I agreed to bring some of my colleagues out and meet with Joseph and the #neighborhood in a few listening sessions to get a better understanding of the situation. First, we did some background research on this inner-city #neighborhood. The facts astounded me and my team. A #poverty rate almost 3 times the national #poverty level. 40% of the population under the age of 18. And here was an unexpected shocker, the highest concentration of sexual predators in the county living in an area with so many kids. Predominantly rental #housing owned mostly by people living outside of the city. Drug and crime problems. The list of social problems was exceedingly long and troubling.
We set up the first meeting at the local recreation center. A week prior we went on a reconnaissance mission to the #neighborhood, and the stats and stories confirmed my worst fears. A #neighborhood debilitated by #poverty, crime and lack of services and deteriorated infrastructure.
My eyes scanned the rec center, the space we chose for the #community meeting. My first impression was the large number of kids, mostly African American. The space was small and that made it appear overcrowded and it was missing many of the features that would be considered standard in wealthier, #suburban #communities.
We met with the staff and their observations verified much of what the statistics told us. Immediately painful was hearing that many of the kids were hungry, and the staff struggled to provide nutritious snacks. They had a small budget and they often supplemented it with their own money.
My team regrouped back at the office. We all agreed we had to find a way to help but how. Where would we even begin? We did not have any money to spend. It was not likely the City would give us any money either. Like Joseph, we wondered if the problems were insurmountable. Still, we had to do something....
(Next week, Part 2 - A Neighborhood in Pain)
Subscribe to
Learn-Empower-Evolve by becoming a member of Global League. No cost, no obligation.
This story is among many that inspired the author to create im4u.world, an ambitious project to build positive and constructive conversations around the world, share learning experiences and create real change at the local level. It is easy to join us. Simply start by filling out our Global Survey, a short 15 question survey asking you what are the most important issues facing humanity. Your voice matters and we are listening.
Comments