Oct 28, 2008 6:57 pm US/Central
Englewood Community Pulls Together
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
There is a ray of hope in the wake of the Hudson murders. One group believes the tragedy has highlighted the good in the Englewood community.
CBS 2's Jim Williams reports that this past weekend as police and many others searched for 7-year-old Julian King, they were joined by an unlikely group of volunteers, according to one community organization. Rival gang members put down their weapons, and tried to help.
"They went into the vacant lots, they went behind the railroad tracks," said Daryl Bell, Teamwork Englewood. "They went places I don't even know about going. They went looking for this child."
Englewood residents insist such spirit is far more representative of a community that is often in the news for tragic reasons. Crime is high here, and there are vacant lots in what was once a thriving shopping district.
"This was the Mecca of shopping for African-American people," Bell said.
But the community group Teamwork Englewood says the good here is overlooked by people outside the neighborhood.
"They are hardworking people who are trying to make a difference and improve the quality of their lives," said Rev. Rodney Walker.
There are hopeful signs: enrollment is up at the new campus of Kennedy-King College, and Teamwork Englewood says in the last year the number of block clubs has grown from two to nearly 60. The payoff, the groups says, is greater safety on some streets.
"It used to be us coming up here, we'd had to drop and roll, cause of the shooting so bad over here," said Deanna Woods, Teamwork Englewood. "But it got a lot better."
Englewood will continue to face enormous challenges and pain. But many here refuse to give up.
"We are here to stay and will see the glory come back from the past and surplus what it used to be," Rev. Walker said.
Teamwork Englewood also praised the police - something you don't often hear in struggling inner-city neighborhoods. The group says Chicago Police commanders there have been responsive and are working well with the block clubs.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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