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published October 05, 2009
Home Court Brings Community Together
Creates Safety For A Local Playground
On Friday nights this summer, the play lot at St. Louis and Carroll in
East Garfield Park is being transformed. Like
too many open spaces in
Chicago.s tougher neighborhoods, the lot has a reputation of not being
a safe place for children and community members
to spend time due to
drug and gang activity. .Since the Breakthrough events, it.s starting
to get a little better. I see new people come out,.
says Nick, a
life-long resident and college sophomore math major. .Everybody used to
go farther away to other parks instead..
Nick refers to Home Court, a citywide basketball tournament whose Garfield Park bracket is hosted by Breakthrough Urban Ministries and features weekly basketball tournaments and free food, music, art and opportunities for the community throughout the summer. Nick, who plays in the tournaments, and other neighborhood residents are one reason why the Friday night block parties are successful. .We hope that the community will take ownership of the park,. says Breakthrough.s Athletic Coordinator, Rusty Funk.
He continues, .We want this lot to become a full-time safe zone for residents to spend time together.. The safety and violence issue hit home just a few weeks ago, when seven young people where injured in a shooting on July 28 near an empty lot two blocks from the St. Louis play lot.
While the basketball court now has new benches, new nets and freshly painted lines, both the community and Breakthrough are experiencing transformation as well. Rusty explains, .Every week, a different local church or organization helps sponsor the evening by bringing in volunteer support and opportunities for residents like free health screenings..
It.s an opportunity for Breakthrough and other like-minded groups to be purposeful in working together to help create a stronger network of support for the community. Rusty admits, .It.s a challenge. Partnerships like this force us to invest in each other, and that sometimes takes more effort. But if we.re going in the same direction, we might as well help each other out and not remain isolated..
.This needs to happen more,. agrees Patrick Steward, Athletic Director at the Carroll Care Center, another neighborhood organization that offers after-school programming. The Carroll Care Center sponsored a recent Home Court event and offered free HIV testing and educational sessions on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Attendance is hard to gauge at a block party, but so far, a nightly average of 120 players have participated, and over 400 free meals have been served at the play lot on Breakthrough.s west side campus. Breakthrough is thankful for help and support from the community, local church and organization sponsors, and Ceasefire, which has provided security for the events.
.There are always volunteers from the community who are happy to help,. says Patrick. .Events like this are good for the neighborhood. It gives the kids somewhere safe to go, and it gives adults good time to interact with them.. Patrick adds, .You should see the kids. faces. It.s beautiful..
Breakthrough launched this summer.s Home Court event through initial funding from LISC/Chicago and the Hoops in the Hood project.
Special thanks to our community partners:
Carroll Care Center
Lighthouse
Fellowship
Greater Chicago Food Depository
Landmark Missionary Baptist Church
Vision Nehemiah