A few blocks behind Brewster/Boland Complex, just past the interstate, is a small brick building surrounded by a playground, a basketball court and a swimming pool. This is Wilson Park, a publicly-funded community center built in the 1940s around the same time as the Pioneer Homes housing complex, the first public housing project in New York State.

Since then, Wilson Park has been a place for local children to play and socialize after school while their parents finish their work day. It offers sports, field trips, arts and crafts, a computer lab and a tutoring program to help students complete their homework. As one of only three Kids Caf programs in Syracuse, the center also serves a free hot meal to children whose families may lack the means to provide them with a hearty dinner every evening.

‘Centers like this provide a safe haven for kids to come,’ said Barbara Grimes, director of Wilson Park.

At Wilson Park, kids can socialize, release pent-up energy and receive the attention they wouldn’t receive if they went home to an empty house.

‘Sometimes (staff members) act as doctors, counselors, parents, grandparents, big brothers and big sisters,’ Grimes said.

In addition to money from the city, which funds Wilson Park as part of its Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs, Grimes said the center raises money through fundraisers and receives private donations. Syracuse University and affiliated groups such as sororities and fraternities provide many of these donations. SU students comprise the center’s entire part-time volunteer staff.

Preston Reeves, a junior political science and policy studies major, started volunteering at Wilson Park in the spring of 2005 as part of his PAF 101 class. The following semester, Reeves managed the Tech Center there for another policy studies class. He continues this work even though he no longer takes classes that require it.

‘I love it down there,’ Reeves said, adding that he enjoys working with children who come from a different socio-economic background than him. ‘It keeps the kids off the street. It gives them something productive to do.’

Reeves believes many SU students avoid visiting the area around Wilson Park because of safety concerns.

‘If more students were aware (of places like Wilson Park), I think they would go down there and enjoy it,’ he said. ‘There’s so much you could do down there to make it less dangerous.’

In addition to Reeves, Liam McCabe, a sophomore policy studies and magazine major, and Ross Cantor, a junior policy studies major, manage the Wilson Park Tech Center for their PAF 416 class. Cantor began working at Wilson Park as a tutor last fall, and McCabe started last spring for another policy studies class. Both say they will continue to volunteer there even after these classes end because they find the work rewarding.

‘If I wasn’t volunteering, I’d probably be watching TV,’ McCabe said. ‘I’m doing something helpful with my time.’

Professor William Coplin, chair of the Policy Studies department at SU, said students in the major receive a large amount of their education from the community service requirement. In this way, the volunteering program provides a two-way service: the centers save money by using volunteers instead of hired staff and the students gain experience and build relationships with children who see them as mentors and role models.

‘Mostly those who get involved love the kids and love the experience,’ Coplin said. ‘I think it’s mostly recreation for them. They’re almost addicted to it.’

The university also cooperates with other community centers besides Wilson Park. Jonathan Pepe, a senior information management and technology major, works for the Faith and Hope Community Center as part of his IST 466 class. For the class, Pepe and Elizabeth Famodimu, a senior chemistry major, will create a database to collect attendance information for the center. This information will help the center when it applies for grants from charitable organizations.

Four local men-Bob Harrison, Ed Beauford, Richard Brooks and Charles Pierce-started Faith and Hope, located at 1029 Montgomery St., as a way to lower the murder rate in the surrounding community and provide a place where young people can go to better themselves.

‘They wanted to see kids live,’ Famodimu said. ‘Not just live, but have something to live for.’

Although he began working there only this semester, Pepe has already noticed several things Faith and Hope needs. First, money. The center applies for charitable grants, but according to Pepe, the process is arduous and long. A few years ago, the center applied for a $50,000 government grant, and more than a year later found out it would receive only $5,000. It finally received the funds eight months later.

Pepe says Faith and Hope also needs people, and the university provides this resource for free.

‘The University has a capacity to do a lot of good for these kids,’ Pepe said. ‘We can help break the cycle of poverty.’

Famodimu agrees. She said the university can provide an invaluable resource by sending volunteers into the community who have practical skills that can help the community, such as finance, communication or public relations skills. They can act as mentors for the young people there.

‘You’ll be surprised about how many people need you,’ Famodimu said.

Grimes knows first-hand about the relationships SU volunteers build with the children they work with at centers like Wilson Park. She sees how young, educated, usually middle-class adults bond with poor, underprivileged, minority children. She knows that after a while, volunteering becomes more about these relationships than about earning class credit or fulfilling a community service requirement.

‘(The volunteers) get so attached so quickly to these kids,’ Grimes said. ‘They just love them, and who does not want to be loved?’

Published on October 23, 2006 at 12:00 pm