Overview
You are a community organizer at the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO). You have been assigned to work with the Grand Central block club, one of many clubs you serve as organizer. CANDO is a community development corporation with a staff of 10 and is a successful developer. CANDO has rehabbed a number of homes and storefronts in the area. CANDO also owns and manages three previously abandoned apartment buildings in its service area. You have been asked to go out into the neighborhood and talk with some members of the community so you can help put a plan together to assist with the issues that have been arising at the Low Building, a run-down apartment building in the community. Click on an icon below to explore the Grand Central community.
Introduction
In this activity you will explore the Grand Central neighborhood and talk to residents to gather information to create an initial assessment of the community. This assessment is the first step in identifying key players and resources available in the community. You will use this information later on to formulate a plan of action for the neighborhood.
To explore the Grand Central neighborhood, roll your mouse over various parts of the image. If there is more information available, you will see a glow around that image
Crisis at the Low Building Part 2 Alternative Version (Text Only)
Slide One:
You are a community organizer at the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization (CANDO). You have been assigned to work with the Grand Central block club, one of many clubs you serve as organizer. CANDO is a community development corporation with a staff of 10 and is a successful developer. CANDO has rehabbed a number of homes and storefronts in the area. CANDO also owns and manages three previously abandoned apartment buildings in its service area. You have been asked to go out into the neighborhood and talk with some members of the community so you can help put a plan together to assist with the issues that have been arising at the Low Building, a run-down apartment building in the community. Click on an icon below to explore the Grand Central community.
Screen: Click on an icon to explore the Grand Central Community
Image 1: Image of a yellow school bus – “Visit the bus stop”
Image 2: Image of an alleyway – “Explore the alley”
Image 3: Three people sitting and speaking – “Attend a community meeting”
Image 4: Image of a door with graffiti and many locks. – “Walk the hallways of the Low Building”
Image 5: Image of two African American females – “Talk to Janet Goode and Rose Jones”
Image 6: Image of Hispanic female- “Talk to Judy Garcia”
Image 7: Image of older white male – “Talk to Ricky the property manager”
Slide Two:
Image 1: Image of a yellow school bus – “Visit the bus stop”
Neighbors report that the busy intersection of Grand Avenue and Wolf Avenue has become a hub of many illegal activities, ranging from drug dealing to prostitution. Talk to some people in the area to get their feedback on the situation.
Screen: Clickable images of a school bus, white female and multiracial family.
(When school bus is clicked): The bus stops at the corner of Grand and Wolf to pick up kids to take them to school. Parents report that it is not safe to leave their kids at the bus stop unattended.
(When white female is clicked): Yeah, my mom doesn’t like me being out here alone. Just last week my boyfriend and his friend got hassled when they refused a drug deal. The cops are too busy in other parts of the city to pay attention to what’s going on here.
(When multiracial family is clicked): I’ve got two little kids and it is very unsafe to walk out here alone and I would never drop them off at the bus stop unattended. I’ve seen too many bad things around here to feel safe. If we go anywhere, we head out as an entire family. This corner is an unsafe eyesore and that building is a big part of the problem
Slide Three:
Image 2: Image of an alleyway – “Explore the alley”
Lately, the dark alley behind the Low Building has become a favorite hangout for drug dealers and prostitutes. Residents report that they never know who they will encounter when they take out the trash and many have resorted to throwing the trash out their back window to avoid the dangers.
Screen: clickable image of a black female standing with arms crossed and image of white female sitting cross legged on the front of a luxury vehicle.
(When image of black female standing with arms crossed is clicked): No one should have to live like this,” Rose said. “When my babies can’t even go outside without walking over condoms, that’s it!
(When image of white female sitting cross legged on the front of a luxury vehicle is clicked): They alley has become a hotel for prostitutes. After soliciting customers on the main streets, they have only a short walk to the poorly lighted and filth infested alley where they can conceal their activities.
Slide Four:
Image 3: Three people sitting and speaking – “Attend a community meeting”
The Grand Central Block Club meets once a month to work at improving their neighborhood. They have tried to address several problems with the Low Building.
The club is searching for resources within their community to try to make some changes at the Low building.
Screen: Image of young man with glasses speaking, image of older male listening, and clickable image of middle aged female listening and smiling.
(When image of young male is clicked): We need to petition the city to tear down the Low Building. It is a slum that is bringing down the entire neighborhood. If we move to get rid of it, most of the problems in our neighborhood will disappear.
(When image of older male is clicked): Shutting down the building isn’t the answer. But we need to go after Jimmy Slick, the property manager, and get him to change the rental arrangements in the building from weekly rentals to monthly leases.
(When image of middle aged female listening and smiling is clicked): Have you taken the time to listen to some of the people that live in the building to get an idea of what they want? Maybe we need to be more inclusive and reach out to the residents of the building to come up with a solution.
Slide Five:
Image 4: Image of a door with graffiti on it and many locks. – “Walk the hallways of the Low Building”
The crisis came to a head last week when Janet Goode, another resident of the Low Building, placed a call to 911 after finding Maxine, one of the other residents unconscious in the hallway outside her apartment. Goode stepped in to help after several neighbors ignored the situation and walked right past the woman.
Screen: You notice the hallway is dirty, dimly lit, and has a vaguely foul odor. People tend to come and go quite regularly from a handful of the apartments. Loud yelling between a man and woman is coming from one of the apartments down the hall.
Slide Six:
Image 5: Image of door African American females – “Talk to Janet Goode and Rose Jones”
You knock on the door of Janet Goode, a resident of the Low Building and a member of the Grand Central block club. She came to the CANDO office a few days ago to discuss a situation with Maxine, a resident of her building, and her daughter Brittany. You find Janet and Rose Jones, another resident of the building, having a conversation about the Grand Central Block Club. Janet is trying to persuade Rose to join the block club.
Screen: Clickable images of two African American females
(When image of Janet Goode is clicked): Thank you for stopping by. I am worried about my neighbor Maxine. She’s been getting into trouble a lot lately and a few days ago she OD’d and ended up in the hospital. She has a little girl that I worry about and I want to be sure she is taken care of. This building is no place for a child right now. I joined the Grand Central block club because I thought the other members would have similar opinions, and that we could work together to make the building and the neighborhood overall a better place. (When image of Rose Jones is clicked): There aren’t a lot of other options for affordable housing in the area and I work nearby, so moving out is not really practical. It turns out that a lot of those block club folks think they are better than us. They think that because we live in the Low Building, we are all poor, uneducated, and lazy welfare recipients, and that we bring all of these problems to the neighborhood. They want to get rid of us and our home. Instead of working with us, they are working against us. Judy Garcia is one of the few women in the block club who takes a genuine interest in us and the building. A couple of other people in the building, Tiana and Jerome, agree with me that we need to start our own organization to try to make our building a better place to live. Can you help us?
Slide Seven:
Image 6: Image of Hispanic female- “Talk to Judy Garcia”
At the suggestion of Janet Goode, you decide to speak with Judy Garcia.
Screen: clickable image of Hispanic female smiling standing in front of a group of homes
(When image is clicked): Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I’ve lived here my whole life and my family has been here for three generations, so I have a vested interest in this neighborhood. I am very active in the block club and I have been trying to convince other members to try to work together with the residents of the Low Building as well as the new owner, Jimmy Slick, to try to improve things. So far I haven’t had a lot of luck in making a difference. I am about ready to give up. Do you have some other suggestions or can you recommend some other resources in the neighborhood we could explore?
Slide Eight:
Image 7: Image of older white male – “Talk to Ricky the property manager”
You visit the property management office to find out a little bit more about the building’s history and what the new landlord plans to do with the building.
Screen: Clickable image of older white male sitting at a desk in an office, arms crossed.
(When image is clicked): Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not responsible for this place. I just collect the rents and do the basics, like change a light bulb here and there. If they would be responsible the problems would go away. If you want to make some changes around here, you need to talk to Jimmy Slick.
(When phone is clicked): I just bought the building a few months ago. I haven’t even been there to see it. My Real Estate agent told me it was a good buy to add to my portfolio. Told me I could maybe tear it down and put up some nice, new condos. Keep on tenants to pay rent (denial of problems.) Assured he can make a profit if he has a manager and doesn’t put too much into the building.
Slide Nine:
You have had a chance to explore the neighborhood and talk to some of the residents. Now it is time to assess the situation before taking action.
• Who are the stakeholders that you need to engage to learn of their perspectives and knowledge?
• What questions will guide the assessment?
• How would you enter the community? Who would you talk to first and how would you approach them?
What other resources exist in the community to assist the residents of both the Low Building and the neighborhood as a whole? Put together a brief plan for your assessment process, including how you would go about addressing each of the above questions. Post your assessment plan to the discussion board in this module.
Screen: Image of rundown neighborhood.
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