Maya McFadden Photos
Dwight neighbors at Wednesday’s community meeting.
“We are the cavalry,” Dwight neighbors decided at a community meeting called to address safety concerns.
Wednesday night’s meeting was held at Amistad Academy Middle School on Edgewood Avenue. It was organized by The Community Builders (TCB), the nonprofit landlord of the neighborhood’s sprawling Kensington Square development.
Wednesday’s Dwight stakeholders panel.
The meeting included a panel discussion with four leaders who work in Dwight focusing their work on violence prevention and community engagement: Ice the Beef President Chaz Carmon, The Connection Program Director Deborah DeJarnette, Dwight Community Management Team member and Civilian Review Board secretary Rick Crouse, and Dwight Alder Tyisha Walker-Myers. Project Longevity Manager Stacy Spell moderated.
TCB Development Project Manager Kristin Anderson spearheaded organizing the event after hearing some of the 215 TCB tenants concerns about neighborhood safety. TCB sought out leaders in the neighborhood to share with residents about what opportunities the neighborhood currently has to offer to keep youth and families engaged and what they hope to see improved.
Over pizza and refreshments, 40 neighbors spent an hour and half exploring what a safe and thriving Dwight looks like to them. Anderson said Wednesday’s meeting is the first of a series for the neighborhood to “come together to build a safer community.”
Rene Dominguez.
Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez, Asst. Chief Karl Jacobson, and Dwight and District Manager Lt. Ryan Przybylski participated as well.
Dominguez reported that the city is seeing an uptick in homicides: 25 so far in 2021 compared to 20 in 2020. Last year saw 105 nonfatal shootings in town’ 99 have been recorded so far in 2021.
To tackle the increasing violence, Jacobson said, the department is returning to walking beats and “relying on all cops and not just the district manager” to build trust with residents.
Przybylski provided neighbors with an update on crime and safety stats specific to Dwight. He reported that of the total city homicides, four have occurred in the Dwight area, as have 11 non fatal shootings.
Crime incidents have been “way down” in November compared to October, Przybylski said. In November the neighborhood had two reported robberies, a homicide on Thanksgiving, six burglaries, and six auto thefts.
Lt. Ryan Przybylski.
Przybylski said there is less violence in Dwight recently than neighborhoods like the Hill and Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hills (WEB).
Audience members spoke of a need for social services on the weekends, a community center, neighborhood basketball leagues, and affordable youth programs.
Dwight neighbor Marvin Conner suggested a neighborhood security system like a block watch, so the neighborhood can “do it ourselves” rather than “depend on these other people to come in.”
Conner shared that he served prison time for committing crimes in the streets of Dwight as a youth. “I was taking care of my family,” he said. “We got to take care of our own and help keep these kids from shooting. Give them what they need, clothes, food, jobs so they don’t have to end up with them [police].”
Conner said he now collects clothes and donates them to families on several Dwight corners.
Delisa Carney, owner of Advance Childcare Center at 65 Kensington St., said she intentionally opened her operation in that spirit of neighbors addressing challenges in the neighborhood.
She encouraged residents to not “hide in your houses” but rather to invest and improve the neighborhood.
“If you want to fix the problem come out of your doors,” she said.
She receives help with keeping the center safe from her neighbors, whom she described as the “real leaders.”
“These guys out here hold me down. They’re security. They buy your kids Christmas gifts, make Thanksgiving donations, all of it. Whatever I need for the kids,” Carney said.
When asked about what builds a thriving community, the panelist mentioned a “village” mentality, neighborhood cohesion, engaged neighbors, community gardens, and housing for those with mental illnesses, substance abuse addictions, and the re-entry population.
Panelist Deborah DeJarnette and Chaz Carmon.
“We need to bring back that these are all of our children and our neighborhoods,” Carmon said.
Panelist Tyisha Walker-Myers.
“If people have jobs and kids have opportunities, I think that the community ends up being healthy,” Walker-Myers said. “What we see in our neighborhood are simply just the symptoms of poverty.”
The final question of the night: “What would a safe and thriving Dwight look like to you?”
Neighbors’ responses included: children in parks, positive interactions with police, youth programming, dirt-bike showcases, financial support, more male mentors for youth, and more love.
Moderator Stacy Spell.
“Let’s not just talk about it. Let’s be about it,” Spell said. “We are the cavalry. We cannot wait for someone to dig us out this situation.”
The panelists ended the evening meeting with highlights of neighborhood happenings that residents may not be aware of. Walker-Myers said she is working with a team to purchase underutilized properties to keep slumlords out the community and help residents become homeowners or renters. Carmon reported that the YMCA currently has openings for youth rec programming.
The Dwight neighbors have mentioned in this article exactly the things that will help to build a community and a village and will help to make their neighborhood safer and strengthen neighborhood ties. It is a shame that the city neglected to maintain the Kensington Park and let it become run down and then sold it off to a developer for a dollar when the had poor reputation and a negative history in their other properties the owned in the area. The park could become a real center for the neighborhood to create a neighborhood gathering space for community programs.