Apr 22, 2008 5:11 pm US/Central
Englewood Residents Work To Reclaim Neighborhood
Recent Increase In Gun Violence Marks Trend Of Crime On Once Safe City Blocks
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
After yet another day plagued by multiple shootings, residents of the South Side Englewood neighborhood are reflecting on how things are and how they used to be.
As CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, some longtime residents like Eloise Baskin say they're beginning to feel like prisoners in their own homes.
For 30 years, Baskin has watched over her Englewood block, and in those three decades, she says she seen a lot of changes, but not the kind she likes.
"It wasn't all that killing like they doing now," she said.
Baskin says back in the day, she and her friends could walk anywhere they wanted. These days she's afraid to leave her home.
"Since all this be happening, I don't be wanting to out there cause you know when they get to shooting, they may be shooting at different people and I be the one to catch that bullet," Baskin said.
She isn't the only one living in fear. Her neighbors say they, too, feel like prisoners in their own homes.
"Robbing, shooting one another and all that killing; that don't have to go on. Too many innocent people getting hurt," said Bruce Lovelace.
People living in this neighborhood say they understand they may not be able to get it back to where it was 20 or 30 years ago, but they're not giving up the hope of turning it around, and that's exactly what they're trying to do.
"We have to get back to communal living," said Anita Dominique of The Peace Community Center. "In other words, there is zero tolerance in the schools. There's zero tolerance on everybody's part. We're all in this together."
Dominique believes if the community can come together to fight violence, safe streets will become the norm, and more generations will look forward to growing up in their neighborhoods, rather than moving away.
Longtime residents say they'd like to see that.
The Peace Community Center in Englewood is currently working on a "safety network" which will help kids get around their neighborhood safely.
A town hall meeting to discuss other solutions to the violence will also be held at the center this Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
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