Hill East is responding to a recent spate of violence – both physical, in Southeast streets, and verbal, in the cyberworld of the NewHillEast listserv – with renewed interest in community building as well as growing concern about public safety and juvenile justice.

Reports of neighborhood muggings and assaults – most recently, individual men attacked, in four separate incidents, by a group of four teens – circulated on the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD-1D) and NewHillEast listservs throughout May. In response, one resident issued a call for an anti-crime march targeting Potomac Gardens, the presumed haven for the teens suspected of these crimes, while a few more discussed obtaining weapons and employing aggressive self-defense techniques. Other listserv participants raised objections; cyber-arguments focused on race, economic difference, newcomers versus longtime residents and other sensitive issues.

Discussion devolved into what one resident called a “kerfluffle about at-risk kids (or hooligan predators, according to taste).” Out of the fray came a number of practical suggestions for community building, with particular attention to linking residents of public housing with residents outside those gates.

Officers at May's PSA 107 (east of 13th Street SE) meeting said MPD was aware of the surge in incidents and believe they are related to Hill East's demographic transition. MPD reported increasing activities, including undercover efforts, in PSA 107 and the adjoining PSA 106 (west of 13th Street). No arrests had been made by press time, attacks had continued, and residents remained concerned that young offenders are too quickly returned to the streets following apprehension.

One listserv participant suggested petitioning for a community center serving local public housing youth, and a number of residents expressed an intention to increase their local volunteer efforts and donations. Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells proposed a series of dinner discussions to “create a conversation about safety, perceptions, and how our neighborhood builds strength in the community among all neighbors.”

Meanwhile, although Neighbors United has not yet succeeded in developing a community center in the former Eastern Branch of the Boys and Girls Club, they have launched programs in Hill East. While BGC has failed to respond to proposals for purchase submitted in February – leaving Hill East with an empty building and a gaping need for recreational and other services – NU reached agreement to host programs at Payne Elementary School and Rec Center, 14th and C streets SE.

Former professional soccer player and NU staff member Malcolm Granada is leading a youth soccer program; NU's executive director, Jerry May, with the assistance of varsity players from Eastern Senior High School, is operating a basketball program. Both programs – the former under the auspices of Parks and Rec and the latter by arrangement with the school – will be expanded for the summer and welcome additional participants. Also welcome are adult volunteers for these and other programs. (202-441-2745; www.NeighborsUnitedDC.org)

Steven Park, executive director of Little Lights Urban Ministries, posted on NewHillEast about his organization's work in Potomac Gardens. Since 1997, the organization has offered tutoring, homework help, a children's choir, Bible study, a teen group, trips to ballgames and other activities, and summer camp. Little Lights – which counts the DC Youth Investment Trust and the Capitol Hill Community Foundation among its donors – takes a “relational approach,” Park says, with staff members spending time inside Potomac Gardens, getting to know residents of all ages. Year-round about 50 youth participate, with twice that number involved during the summer. (Park estimates the Gardens' youth population, age infant to 18, as 250-300.)

Jacqueline West, outgoing present of Potomac Gardens Resident Council, applauds the work of Little Lights, an organization she says “has been here for years, always doing something worthwhile for the kids.” In addition, she commends the Capitol Hill Group Ministries and other groups that offer programs for kids – who do participate, while their elders often do not – in and around the Gardens.

Park posted an invitation to introduce NewHillEast participants to Potomac Gardens residents. He believes that some Hill Easters, on and off the listserv, think “public housing is hurting the neighborhood.” Although this is not a universal view, Park hopes community members who do hold that view will see that “inside the Gardens, are good kids and good people who do need encouragement from people outside the Gardens.”

So many Potomac Garden residents are struggling with the basics and find it hard to be involved in outside community affairs, Park suggested, making it less likely for those in and outside the gates to get to know one another. The kerfluffle yielded an opportunity, he believes, “to build bridges, creating greater interest in trying to improve the whole neighborhood, including Potomac Gardens.”

Potluck, or Can of Worms?
In response to recent tensions in Hill East, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells is inviting community members, including MPD and local leaders, to a weekly potluck dinner and discussion at Potomac Gardens. The potlucks were scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on May 30 and recur Friday evenings throughout June. Wells said in a letter posted to NewHillEast that the potlucks were only part of his efforts concerning public safety in the area and that he hoped these events would “be an additional constructive way to engage the neighborhood in a discussion on how to make improvements.” (202-724-8072; www.tommywells.org)

Jacqueline West, out-going president of the Potomac Gardens Resident Council, agrees that Wells' potluck idea is “great … We need to do something on the Hill to get people together.”

Still, West, who has lived in the Gardens since it opened 41 years ago, expresses disappointment in Wells' long absence from the Gardens. “He hasn't been here, except maybe once or twice, since the last election,” she said.

Gail Smith, a 16-year resident, notes that Wells had not been to PSA meetings “to hear what the concerns are” and has not come to the Gardens to discuss economic development and plans for the area's public housing. Instead, she says, “he patronizes the other side of the street … his agenda is to bring a high economic base here.” The potlucks, she fears, are more about “high visibility” in an election year than about residents' real needs. (Note: Wells was elected as Ward 6 councilmember in 2006 for a four-year term. The next election for a Ward 6 councilmember will be in 2010.)

Why have residents not heard from the councilmember regarding economic development plans and the fate of public housing those plans?

“Almost all public housing residents in Ward 6 believe there is an active plan to remove their buildings,” Wells responds. “There is currently no plan to do so, and I will advocate for [resident] involvement in the development of any new plan.”