Holding Ground

     Holding Ground is a documentary video of the Dudley Street Initiative and how it developed over time with community change. The Dudley Street Initiative focuses on the Dorchester and Roxbury areas of Boston. In both of these areas individuals lived in poverty and within society they were powerless. Ethnic backgrounds within this community included Cape Verde, Hispanic, White, African American, and many others. Only individuals who were white were able to move out of this poverty and into the city because banks would only give loans and mortgages to the white race while all others were at a disadvantage. The community needed help in revitalizing the community so it would no longer be in poverty. Areas were being used as dumping stations so families would view and live in filth daily. Many were becoming very ill due to the toxins coming from the trash dumping in vacant land areas. The city tried to help this situation but coming in and telling the community what they needed to do was not the answer. Community residents’ believed that individuals from the community should have say and run this plan of action for change. Only the residents who suffer daily know what needs to be done and what they want their community to change to. This reminded me of the reading by Hardina that I read. Hardina stated that citizen participation is important to ensure effectiveness and making services more responsive to the individuals in need (Hardina, 2003) Members from the community were then appointed by the community to implement a plan for change. The leaders began with surveying and speaking with the community as a whole to see what they wanted and what they believed the community’s largest issue was. Doing this the community leaders gained the knowledge that the community as a whole felt that the largest issue was the dumping of waste onto vacant land in the neighborhood. With this knowledge the community leaders took in urban planners who listened to the residents and took into account their ideas for change. In the readings by Netting, it was stated that for change it is important to work both horizontally and vertically (Netting) This community worked both ways; they include each other which is horizontally and they included the urban planners which is working outside of the community vertically. The leader of the plan for change really empowered the community by making them feel involved and letting them know that their voice counts. Hardina makes reference to this when stated that empowerment practice focuses on the importance of participation and decision making within the community (Hardina, 2003) Over a period of 10 years trying to get affordable housing onto the vacant property, instead of a dumping station, funding came through and affordable housing was built. The affordable housing brought back residents who were forced out of their homes because of poverty or house fires back to the neighborhood of where they grew up. Many individuals who spoke on this in the video were overwhelmed with excitement to get back to their community and neighborhood of which they refer to as home. Aside from the dumping stations another issue in the Dudley street area was drug dealing in the local park area. This was a quick fix when the community got the police to stand at the parks daily to patrol drug dealing and activities and events were planned for every day throughout the summer days for children and young teens. This was a place where they could come to interact and learn; something that was never done because of the illegal drug trafficking. In my reflection this change was great because children within this community needed an area where they could learn and grow. Individuals within a community are known to supposed to be able to advocate for themselves and they are ultimately responsible for their quality of life (Fraser, 2005) Throughout this entire process for change in the Roxbury/Dorchester area the residents of the community proved that they were responsible for improving their quality of life; they really lived up to their expectations of individuals within a community.

       I found this video to be extremely interesting and moving. I felt a connection to the video because my grandmother grew up in Roxbury and lived through the Dudley Street Initiative. After I viewed this movie I spoke with my grandmother about her experience, it was very inspirational. I learned that change is possible even if it takes years and years to be like it should be. I also realized that change will only occur if there are committed team leaders and players that are involved and persistent about change.

Fraser, J. (2005). Understanding Community Building in Urban America. Journal of Poverty , 23-43.

Hardina, D. (2003). Linking Citizen Participation to Empowerment Practice: A Historical Overview. Journal of Community Practice , 11-38.

Lipman, M. (Director). Holding Ground: The Rebuilding of Dudley Street [Motion Picture].

Netting, F. E. Understanding Communities. In F. E. Netting, Social Work Macro Practice (pp. 131-165).