ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER Every day on my way to and from work, I pass by vacant buildings. As I drive down North Fulton avenue, through Sandtown-Winchester and Harlem Park, there seem to be two to three on every block. This is not an exaggeration. Black…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER I am beginning to understand what people mean sometimes when they say they are proud. Of their children. Of their students. Of course, I have felt a similar type of pride for my younger brother, but in our relationship I have long…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER Every day, usually in the mornings from 11 to 12, my kids will settle down, sit according to age group, and complete a worksheet. For the first week, each of them except the very littlest, worked on math; the kindergartener and the…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER There is a great emphasis placed on work. Although it is a recreation center, the idea of work is never far. The expectation is that few-toddlers, and the very elderly-are exempt from contributing their share, as they can. When it comes to…
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ALICIA BADEA | RUTH M. KIRK RECREATION CENTER Humility, and the ability to listen. And more importantly, putting that ability into action. Out of all that we touched upon at CIIP Orientation, these two themes have affected me most, in a subtle and almost semi-conscious way, embedding themselves in the…
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LEENA AURORA | 29TH STREET COMMUNITY CENTER I guess that I’ve been focusing on other things in these blog posts, but a pretty significant part of my summer has been planning a community health fair! Last year, the CIIP interns for 29th St and Charm City Clinic collaborated on a…
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EVAN DRUKKER-SCHARDL | UNITED WORKERS Last weekend, I spent an hour or so talking to my parents on FaceTime, as I do most Sunday afternoons. They asked about my week. I told them a little bit about my United Workers work—making phone calls, doing research, petitioning at farmers’ markets, grocery…
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LEENA AURORA | 29TH STREET COMMUNITY CENTER Since the start of my internship, a lot of people have asked what I do at the community center, so I have a short spiel ready: there are only two full-time staff members at the center (and this isn’t misleading: there is only…
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LEENA AURORA | 29TH STREET COMMUNITY CENTER “Nope. Nope. I’m not going. No way, no interest.” Most of the group nodded along. Week one is done with the six YouthWorkers that I’m supervising — six high schoolers from around the city, four of who had worked at the center last…
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EVAN DRUKKER-SCHARDL | UNITED WORKERS On Thursday night, the Baltimore Housing Roundtable held its regular meeting at the Impact Hub. The bulk of the meeting was abbreviated because the artists and activists who created an exhibition on the structural racism of urban housing policy in Baltimore and the Bronx were…
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