6/19/2006 4:41:00 PM Community helps find solutions for Blake corridor kids
By Kelly Westhoff
Hopkins Police Chief focused on lack of after-school, summer programming
Children look forward to summer. School is out and freedom is in. Warm, sunny days stretch into the night. Day camps and sleep-away camps promise adventure, activity, friends and fun. Neighborhood kids gather for pick up games of basketball, kickball and tag.
Or do they?
For some local children, this idyllic image of summer is not a reality. Rising crime rates in area neighborhoods keep some children indoors. Scarce family funds prevent others from participating in soccer leagues.
Language barriers mean some families aren’t aware of nearby activities at local libraries and parks. Working parents aren’t available to drive their children to and from events.
Any one of these situations can keep a child from fully enjoying the summer months. Unfortunately for one neighborhood in Hopkins, all of these factors are happening at once.
The area known as the Blake Road corridor in Hopkins lies east of Blake Road between Highway 7 and Excelsior Boulevard near the St. Louis Park border. It is an area that many immigrant and low-income families call home.
In the past year, robberies and carjackings have increased in the neighborhood. Drug activity has increased as well.
The Hopkins Police Department has been a visible force in the area, cracking down on crime and making arrests. Yet while patrolling the streets, officers became aware of other issues facing the neighborhood.
One area of concern was after-school programming for neighborhood children. There was none. Summer programs weren’t available either.
For police, this lack of programming meant they often worked in plain sight of children playing in area streets. Officers were making arrests and curious children were watching.
This worried Hopkins Police Chief Craig Reed. He decided to do something about it. In the fall of 2005, he called a community meeting. Residents, concerned citizens, and various community organizations attended to discuss the issue.
“Turns out,” Reed explained, “it was a catch-22 situation. Parents in the area weren’t aware of the different programs for kids that were out there because they couldn’t read English. The programs perceived a lack of interest when kids stopped attending, so their programming in the area was dropped.”
Plus, Reed added, “Transportation is a huge problem. Right in that area, Blake Road is seven lanes. Excelsior Boulevard is seven lanes. Highway 7 is six lanes. To expect a second grader to cross those roads to get to the library on the other side is unrealistic.”
Roughly 42 people began attending regular meetings to address the problems facing the Blake Road corridor. These stakeholders, as Reed called them, represented 38 area organizations.
Parents participated. City and county officials were present. Local business leaders attended. Employees of the Hopkins School District offered input, as did employees of Hopkins Park and Recreation. Area churches got involved; so did the Ridgedale YMCA, the local Rotary club, Stages Theater Company and more.
About 300 children attending kindergarten through sixth grade live in the Blake Road area. The stakeholders discussed ways to increase transportation, programming, funding and communication to these children and their families.
Faith-based organizations offered volunteer drivers, and the Ridgedale YMCA added a bus stop in the neighborhood.
The stakeholders applied for grants and were awarded $33,000 to support summer programming in the area. Some of that money was earmarked to provide scholarships, but the group also used the funding to hire three community liaisons.
The community liaisons represent the three predominate populations in the Blake Road corridor: African American, Somali and Latino.
The liaisons helped spread the word about summer programming within their respective communities. Calendars and brochures were translated into Somali and Spanish. Laisons went door to door throughout the neighborhood explaining activity options and registration procedures.
Tsehia Wodajo, the Hennepin County School Success Community Coordinator for St. Louis Park and Hopkins, worked with the stakeholders and liaisons. “For many immigrant families,” she said, “there is greater comfort and more trust when information comes from within the community.”
She added, “Especially for refugee and low-income families, planning ahead is a challenge. For summer programs, parents have to register and pay for their children in advance.”
The community liaisons, Wodajo said, informed Blake Road parents about scholarship opportunities. Families were asked to contribute 10 percent of their child’s programming cost, while scholarships often picked up the rest.
In addition to the work of the community liaisons, teachers at Eisenhower and Katherine Curren elementary schools, the schools serving the Blake Road neighborhood, discussed summer school classes with students and passed out translated programming information to take home to parents.
In May, Hopkins Park and Recreation held a community picnic in a neighborhood park, invited Blake Road families and talked to parents about sporting activities.
The various communication efforts have paid off. As of May 23, 52 Blake Road families with elementary-aged children had registered for summer programming.
What the stakeholders have accomplished in a short time is impressive, yet they aren’t finished meeting and planning.
“Grant money is a fickle thing,” said Reed. “We can’t count on $33,000 every year. These summer programs are a short-term solution. What we’re hoping is that this will give us time to come up with long-term solutions for 2007.”
“The stakeholders have done a great job putting together positive options for the children and their parents to look forward to this summer,” said Reed.
“It's been gratifying,” he added, “to see stakeholders come forward and brainstorm solutions. This is not a police problem, it’s a community problem, and the community has really stepped up to find solutions.”
Wodajo was also impressed with the level of commitment the stakeholders brought. “Everyone has worked as a team to address the community. The spirit of people working together was so strong. This is the community working to make Hopkins a good place for all people.”
