Birmingham teens gather for summer service camp

Most students will have stories of beach trips, Disney vacations or pool days to share when they return to school. A few, however, will talk about how they crafted plans for urban revitalization.

As part of YouthServe Birmingham’s Advanced Service Camp, students from the Greater Birmingham area gathered during one of their last weeks of summer for informational panels, brainstorming sessions and service projects.

The weeklong camp, which is open to students who have previously participated in YouthServe service education camps, centered on activities to connect students to the community and help them develop plans to solve issues plaguing a fictional community.

“These kids probably have more innovative ideas now than most adults who are trying to do the same things they are,” said YouthServe Executive Director Jennifer Hatchett during the camp’s closing ceremony.

Students were divided into three “families” that stuck together throughout the week’s activities and were given scenarios in which their fictional community faced issues ranging from an exodus of businesses and families, to high crime rates and low graduation rates. To help solve these issues, the groups researched current events and statistics and learned from Birmingham-based community leaders through panels.

Learning and working

One panel featured Darrell O’Quinn, president of the Crestwood North Neighborhood Association and the City of Birmingham Citizen Advisory Board; Demitri Carpenter, outreach and enrollment coordinator for Christ Health Center; and Mashonda Taylor, program director of the Woodlawn Foundation. These community activists discussed some of the revitalization efforts they helped lead, and they answered questions about what programs might be implemented in the students’ fictional communities.

Even though it was only the second day of camp, students asked questions ranging from the best way to open up conversation in a community, to how family health programs could help better a community. One student also asked, “How has helping your community helped you personally?”

“Life is no longer about me,” Carpenter answered. “… You learn to appreciate where you’re from.”

Taylor emphasized the importance of talking to the community before starting new projects. Assuming what a community wants is not an effective way to bring about change, she said, adding that the Woodlawn Foundation makes sure to ask what Woodlawn residents want to see.

“We’re thinking about the whole person, the whole community,” Taylor said.

Students at YouthServe did not only discuss hypotheticals or ideas, however, during the camp. They also divided into two groups to get out and help areas of the community.

One group assisted Serving You Ministries, a nonprofit that aims to serve the community in multiple areas of need. The group helped the organization move into a new building in East Lake so that it could quickly be up and running.

Another group worked to create a “pocket park” at the entrance of the Enon Ridge neighborhood. Students removed overgrown foliage and cleared pathways throughout the neighborhood’s front corner to make room for an attractive and shady area to relax as well as a safe walking path.

“Instead of a big, overgrown eyesore, it’s kind of a nice pastoral area,” Hatchett said.

The students' project took two days, and Hatchett said this undertaking is something YouthServe enjoys doing for communities. Not only does it provide a nice area for the community, but it also shows students the sort of immediate impact they can have, Hatchett said.

“When you show somebody they can do something, it changes everything,” Hatchett said.

Jaylon Carter, a 14-year-old student from Hoover High School, said he enjoyed seeing Enon Ridge residents drive by, waving and thanking them for the work.

“It really gives you a lot of perspective on how you can impact a community,” he said.

Being outdoors and in the community, rather than standing on the sidelines, was also a highlight of the project, Carter said.

“I’ve loved it because we’re actually in the thick of it,” he said. “A lot of people will donate money, but then they don’t want to do anything.”

Working together as a team was also a highlight of the project, said Caroline Parker, a 14-year-old Mountain Brook Junior High student. Parker said everyone at the camp was enthusiastic to be there, and no one acted like they were forced by their parents to attend. YouthServe has taught her more about what is going on in and around Birmingham, Parker said, and she hopes to return to their project spot in Enon Ridge in the future.

While students were working on their third day of camp, Kathleen Bunton, a more than 50-year resident of Enon Ridge, stopped by the project site. Bunton said she felt the pocket park was a great place to start because it gives the first impression of the neighborhood.

“To see a group of young people who have come here to help us to do this, let me tell you, it’s just overwhelming,” Bunton said.

The neighborhood will maintain the pocket park, and Bunton said they hope its beautification will discourage people from throwing trash along roads in the neighborhood. The neighborhood also plans to implement a similar look in empty or abandoned lots at a later date, Bunton said.

Planning for the future

At the end of the week, students gathered for a final presentation on their communities and potential solutions. The problem offered a challenge to the students, Hatchett said, and pushed them to think creatively and critically.

“We gave them a task of, if they’re in a community struggling in every way possible … what would they do?” Ross added, recapping the premise for family members and friends in attendance.

Groups based their presentations on information gathered through research and discussions, and each took a different approach to their community’s issues.

One group chose to focus on education and family assistance as a way to build their community.

Improving a community’s schools helps start a cycle of improvement, the group said, because better schools attract more families, which attract more businesses, which help build the tax base, which in turn is able to provide more assistance and support to schools.

The group said the best way to approach educational challenges is to start a conversation about education and school funding — something that could help all communities.

“The best way to get the ball rolling, to get the change started, is talking about it,” one group member said.

Another group also focused on education but with the added problem of food insecurity. The group called their presentation “The Eco-System of Education” and emphasized the importance of providing resources ranging from mentorships and after-school programs to food donations to students in need.

Students who do not have a consistent source of food may have a harder time focusing in school due to hunger, they said, and it is important to remove that hurdle.

The group also discussed its idea for a new program, Food for Thought, which would provide meals to food insecure individuals. Not everyone knows from where their next meal or rent payment is coming, and that is something the group said needs to be addressed.

“We need to fix these problems because that’s not OK,” one group member said.

The third group focused on crime reduction and included multiple solutions, from bringing more Safe Place locations to communities in need, to promoting after school programs and encouraging neighborhood watch programs.

One group member, a Hoover High School student, said while safe places provide a great resource to runaway children and their families, they do not always reach all children who need help.

“They’re in areas where children are privileged,” he said, noting his school as an example.

Providing free after-school programs and family resources to encourage support and open conversation, the group said, would help keep young people off the streets and out of potentially dangerous situations.

Following group presentations, the students addressed audience questions and reflected on their week. When asked if their placement in diverse groups, with students from multiple communities, affected their experience, most agreed it did. That diversity helped change their outlook and enrich the experience, many students said.

“We all love this camp, and we all love the people here,” one student said.

The ideas presented by the advanced camp families will go before the Youth Action Council, a group of 25 young people that plans community action programs and workshops. The council will hear and consider the presented projects when developing its plan for the upcoming year, Hatchett said.

For more information on YouthServe, visit youthservebham.org.