Barbara Smith never pictured her Amani neighborhood deteriorating to what she sees now.
In the nearly two decades she has resided there, homeownership rates have fallen and many of the homes are showing their age. Community leaders acknowledge that abandoned properties have become a major problem, with one even being dubbed “The Critter House.”
According to Block by Block director Denisha Tate-McAlister, “that house became infested with every type of free-roaming rodent, animal, cat and dog, you name it, it lived there.”
Over the years, Smith says more than a few organizations came in to upgrade the neighborhood, but never gained the trust of residents.
“There were so many promises made,” she said. “They’d come in and they’d do something and they were satisfied with that something and then they were gone.”
Smith said that’s part of the reason why she moved to found Amani United in 2019, a group to represent the neighborhood’s interests for people who might not be able to attend local government meetings.
“We are here, we’re standing up for ourselves, we just need your assistance to get some of the things we want done,” she added.
Dominican Center executive director Maricha Harris says her organization paired with Northwestern Mutual and Ezekiel Community Development Corporation to make it happen.
“We firmly believe that the residents, while closest to the challenges in the community, that also makes them closest to the solutions,” Harris added.
While many of the solutions seem to differ from one group to the next, Jim Gaillard argues the most critical factor could be teaching people to make those repairs themselves.
“It’s an awesome feeling, it’s a great accomplishment and they want more of it,” he says.
Smith agrees giving people the tools to help themselves is critical.
“If you come in and do it for us, that’s wonderful, that’s great, but it won’t be sustained because you didn’t equip us,” she says. “You didn’t give us the tools we needed to keep it going, to sustain it.”
Gaillard argues revising the neighborhood goes a lot further than just slapping on a fresh coat of paint.
“Building a new building or painting a new building, that’s not revitalizing,” he said. “Revitalizing is when you’re energizing the people, making them believe in themselves, making them trust each other, working together.”
With the program having known success, leaders hope to now apply the same approach to other blocks across the city.
Smith can see it happening.
“We’re going to reach the ultimate goal, which is revitalizing not only these properties, but the residents as well,” she said.
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