The documentary Ground: Building Community on Dudley Street by Mark Lipman and Leah Mahan is the continuation of a story that was first started 25 years ago with Holding Ground: the Rebirth of Dudley Street. Both of these documentaries are focused on the Boston neighborhood that includes Roxbury and a portion of Northern Dorchester and the development of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative but Gaining Ground concentrates on the successes of DSNI and the change of leadership and on the new challenges that the Neighborhood faces now.
One of the biggest issues that film highlighted was how successful DSNI has been dealing with the foreclosure crisis in the neighborhood. It showed that while the residents that are affiliated with the Land Trust have weathered the storm other neighbors haven't been as lucky. DSNI has started a Foreclosure round table with other stakeholders in the community in order to combat the problem and to help people affected by the problems this creates increases crime, drugs, squatting etc. These are not issues that are easily solved but the people involved are trying to find a solution that will work for them.
This film also concentrated on the a family that was just purchasing a home with the Initiative during this time; Dacia and Dwayne Thompson are featured as the new kids on the block so to speak. They go through the process of buying a home when a lot of people in the city are losing theirs. This film shows though that it isn't always smooth sailing, there is a meeting where they can talk about problems that the new residents have and police response time is one problem that the residents are still working on with the police department. In the end the film also shows that the land trust also has problems, in theory they are the Thompson's landlord and promises that have been given haven't been fulfilled.
Another challenge that the film portrayed is that of the youth workforce and how they are working to help keep the children in the community employed. This issue has lasting affects in the neighborhood because it can be tied directly to gang violence and economic hardships that families have in this area. A fact that I found most surprising is that 40% of the residents in the neighborhood are under 19 years old and are also helping their parent or parents with money for the household. This is a problem that a majority of urban youth find themselves in Boston and other cities, Chicago included. The film also shows how the neighborhood combats some of the problem with cleanup jobs that the youth council offers during the summer. Jason Webb, VP of Operation with DSNI is in charge of the program and he gave control to the kids in the film. They showed their maturity and thoughtfulness of the other kids and the neighborhood when dealing with the budget constraints that the program has.
The Kroc Center has been both a success and a challenge for the neighborhood. It was part of the original plan that was promoted 25 years ago and has been a challenge because of different issues that were raised during the construction and afterward. One of the first challenges that the center presented was the workforce that was constructing the building. DSNI received complaints about residents not receiving work that was going on in their own neighborhood; these were given during meetings with the residents, Salvation Army, Suffolk Construction and the Board of DSNI. These meetings then produced the 51/51/15% rule that the builders had to use; 51% residents, 51% minorities and 15% women, the subcontractors that they used also had to meet a 35% minority or women owned business level also. The film showed the success of this and Suffolk Construction has gone on and instituted this into more of their jobs.
Affordability at the center is another problem that came up in the film, when the center was being planned the projections of the rates were much lower than what was given to the neighborhood after it was built. This is still a poverty stricken neighborhood and the people cannot afford the rates that the Salvation Army has issued. The film showed at the end that they are still working towards a solution but that was not resolved.
The transfer of leadership of roles is a very important message in this film. The children that grew up in the program were now running the program. John Barros is the Executive Director of DSNI; Jason Webb is the VP of Operations and Carlos Henriquez is the DSNI Board President. These leaders followed in the footsteps of their parents because they wanted change in their neighborhood. The positive role models that these kids grew up with affected them and it shows in the commitment that they have to their neighborhood and to DSNI. In the film they show the elections for new members of the Board and one of the nominees stated that he was running because he wanted to be like them. He wants to make a difference in his neighborhood.
The filmmaking is raw, more like interviewing than telling a story. It breaks up into different segments and can be confusing because dates and expanses of time are not shown very often. It is still a very powerful message about community building and the possible change is attainable through hard work and dedication of spirit. The people that have been involved with DSNI have shown the world that "If you want it, you have to work for it" stated Julio Henriquez and this was a theme throughout the whole documentary. I enjoyed watching this movie it was a reminder that this is what we should all be working towards by helping other neighborhoods that want change.
One of the biggest issues that film highlighted was how successful DSNI has been dealing with the foreclosure crisis in the neighborhood. It showed that while the residents that are affiliated with the Land Trust have weathered the storm other neighbors haven't been as lucky. DSNI has started a Foreclosure round table with other stakeholders in the community in order to combat the problem and to help people affected by the problems this creates increases crime, drugs, squatting etc. These are not issues that are easily solved but the people involved are trying to find a solution that will work for them.
This film also concentrated on the a family that was just purchasing a home with the Initiative during this time; Dacia and Dwayne Thompson are featured as the new kids on the block so to speak. They go through the process of buying a home when a lot of people in the city are losing theirs. This film shows though that it isn't always smooth sailing, there is a meeting where they can talk about problems that the new residents have and police response time is one problem that the residents are still working on with the police department. In the end the film also shows that the land trust also has problems, in theory they are the Thompson's landlord and promises that have been given haven't been fulfilled.
Another challenge that the film portrayed is that of the youth workforce and how they are working to help keep the children in the community employed. This issue has lasting affects in the neighborhood because it can be tied directly to gang violence and economic hardships that families have in this area. A fact that I found most surprising is that 40% of the residents in the neighborhood are under 19 years old and are also helping their parent or parents with money for the household. This is a problem that a majority of urban youth find themselves in Boston and other cities, Chicago included. The film also shows how the neighborhood combats some of the problem with cleanup jobs that the youth council offers during the summer. Jason Webb, VP of Operation with DSNI is in charge of the program and he gave control to the kids in the film. They showed their maturity and thoughtfulness of the other kids and the neighborhood when dealing with the budget constraints that the program has.
The Kroc Center has been both a success and a challenge for the neighborhood. It was part of the original plan that was promoted 25 years ago and has been a challenge because of different issues that were raised during the construction and afterward. One of the first challenges that the center presented was the workforce that was constructing the building. DSNI received complaints about residents not receiving work that was going on in their own neighborhood; these were given during meetings with the residents, Salvation Army, Suffolk Construction and the Board of DSNI. These meetings then produced the 51/51/15% rule that the builders had to use; 51% residents, 51% minorities and 15% women, the subcontractors that they used also had to meet a 35% minority or women owned business level also. The film showed the success of this and Suffolk Construction has gone on and instituted this into more of their jobs.
Affordability at the center is another problem that came up in the film, when the center was being planned the projections of the rates were much lower than what was given to the neighborhood after it was built. This is still a poverty stricken neighborhood and the people cannot afford the rates that the Salvation Army has issued. The film showed at the end that they are still working towards a solution but that was not resolved.
The transfer of leadership of roles is a very important message in this film. The children that grew up in the program were now running the program. John Barros is the Executive Director of DSNI; Jason Webb is the VP of Operations and Carlos Henriquez is the DSNI Board President. These leaders followed in the footsteps of their parents because they wanted change in their neighborhood. The positive role models that these kids grew up with affected them and it shows in the commitment that they have to their neighborhood and to DSNI. In the film they show the elections for new members of the Board and one of the nominees stated that he was running because he wanted to be like them. He wants to make a difference in his neighborhood.
The filmmaking is raw, more like interviewing than telling a story. It breaks up into different segments and can be confusing because dates and expanses of time are not shown very often. It is still a very powerful message about community building and the possible change is attainable through hard work and dedication of spirit. The people that have been involved with DSNI have shown the world that "If you want it, you have to work for it" stated Julio Henriquez and this was a theme throughout the whole documentary. I enjoyed watching this movie it was a reminder that this is what we should all be working towards by helping other neighborhoods that want change.
