Chapter Seven: Community Assets and Resources
Chapter Nine: The Family Resource Center"People know each other. People help each other."
-Resident
Though topographically just a few yards separate these two housing developments, Trinity Court and Pritchard Park choose to identify themselves as two separate and distinct communities. Heller (1989) defined community as a "social cohesion that develops with close interpersonal ties, a common history, shared common experiences, and for whom group membership conveys a recognition of common destiny." There is a discrepancy among service providers as to whether Trinity Court and Pritchard Park should be considered independent housing developments or lumped together as one community. However, through interviewing residents and those service providers who interact closely with both Trinity Court and Pritchard Park, it became clear that these communities house quite different people, with different needs and different challenges. This chapter will explore these differences9.
To help define the Trinity Court and Pritchard Park communities, we asked residents "What kinds of projects have residents worked on together?" and "How well do you know your neighbors?" Most interviews with Trinity Court residents dealt solely with life in Trinity Court, and most interviews with Pritchard Park residents dealt solely with life in Pritchard Park. Only when specifically asked about the other housing complex, did residents begin to talk about their neighbors "at the top of the hill" in Pritchard Park or "at the bottom of the hill" in Trinity Court. Physical Division. Two aspects of the physical layout of these two housing communities help to create this sense of division. North Pritchard Avenue, the road separating Trinity Court and Pritchard Park, acts as a physical barrier between the two communities. Traffic is fairly steady on this road, and even adults must be cautious when crossing between the two housing developments. According to a service provider, "[Pritchard Park residents] don't send their children to [the After School program] because of the road." The steep hill leading into Trinity Court also creates a barrier; one which discourages many Pritchard Park residents from walking the few yards to Trinity Court and taking advantage of the services offered at the Family Resource Center (FRC).
Many residents also indicated that the fence enclosing the Trinity Court grounds separates their community from the surrounding neighborhood. Before the fence was erected, residents often cut through the woods and between the adjacent properties to reach surrounding streets. For example, before the fence, residents would take a short cut to reach the Housing Department office on Caldwell Street. Now, residents must climb the steep hill leading in and out of Trinity Court and go around the block. "The fence makes it feel like you're in a prison," one resident stated, while another said, "There's only one way in and one way out."
Location of the FRC. The location of the FRC in Trinity Court illustrates the problem caused by identifying Trinity Court and Pritchard Park as one community. Technically, the Housing Department recognizes Trinity Court and Pritchard Park as two separate communities. However, many services, including all of those offered through the FRC, are intended and made available to both Trinity Court and Pritchard Park residents as if they were one, unified community. As one service provider explained, "The Family Resource Center is put here...to serve both communities as a whole because each community is so small." Yet, because the FRC is physically located in the C Building of Trinity Court, many Pritchard Park residents do not feel that the Center is intended for their use. "Since the Center is based in Trinity Court, Pritchard Park doesn't feel that [the Center] is for them. They feel left out," a service provider commented. During an incident in March, when Pritchard Park families were forced to evacuate their homes early one morning, the FRC was opened briefly and then closed again leaving those residents stranded outside in the cold. "I felt like the Center was supposed to be there for us [in emergencies like that one] if they're supposed to be there for both communities. Where were we supposed to go when they turned us out?"
Economic Division. Several residents of both Pritchard Park and Trinity Court reported feeling isolated from the rest of Chapel Hill. These individuals most often cited economic differences for this division. As mentioned earlier in Chapter Three: Economic Outlook, Chapel Hill residents are largely professionals or students from economically comfortable families. "It doesn't feel like Chapel Hill wants people on welfare or public housing," a resident said during an interview. "They don't want projects in their town. They want the big people, like students and doctors." Several service providers have suggested that being tucked away in a relatively affluent county in North Carolina may put these public housing residents at further disadvantage. There reasoning is that the needs of the Trinity Court and Pritchard Park communities may be overshadowed by the relative wealth of the Chapel Hill area. Another, more visible public housing community in a less affluent part of the state may receive more funding than Trinity Court and Pritchard Park. Different People. The residents themselves differ demographically in Trinity Court and Pritchard Park, which also contributes to the sense of division. While there are a handful of older residents living in Trinity Court, the majority are young mothers. One service provider speculated that "Trinity Court is the starting point of housing, so the least desirable people live there - especially young moms. Therefore there's more immature types of behavior. The risk is higher for drug trading." Pritchard Park is home to more two-parent families, and the parents and their children are, on average, older than their counterparts living in Trinity Court. Pritchard Park residents have also lived there for an average of seven years, while most Trinity Court residents seldom stay in Trinity Court for more than one or two years.
Different Histories. Pritchard Park was established three years before Trinity Court, and it is significant how these few years have affected the two communities. Perhaps because Pritchard Park was established before Trinity Court, the residents have lived there longer and have established a stronger sense of community. Trinity Court's greater transience may perpetuate it's history of crime and violence. Perhaps for this reason, most people agree that Pritchard Park residents tend to have a greater sense of pride in their community than Trinity Court residents. "I think Pritchard seems a little more stable than Trinity," a service provider commented. "There are more families that have been there for a while. There's a lot more moving in and out in Trinity. I know there are duplexes in Pritchard that are larger... so there would generally be larger families in there that tend to be more stable."
Neighborhood Cohesion. Yet, among most of the residents in these two communities, people agreed that there is a strong sense of connection or cohesion. One Trinity Court resident said, "We're friendly with our neighbors. During the summer, people sit outside and talk to each other. Everybody is friendly. Everybody knows each other." In fact, when asked whom they would turn to for assistance, most residents named one of their neighbors if a relative was not available. "We help each other out. It's like one big family. We all know each other in my building," a Trinity Court resident told us. For some, that sense of family is literal. There are a handful of families who have lived in Trinity Court and/or Pritchard Park for several generations.
Different Needs. More adults living in Pritchard Park are employed compared to the adults living in Trinity Court. More Pritchard Park residents own their own vehicles compared to their neighbors in Trinity Court. Therefore, transportation is often a larger problem for Trinity Court residents. As a result of these demographic differences, the average Trinity Court resident has markedly different needs compared to their neighbors in Pritchard Park. While education, employment, and financial assistance are priority areas of need for many Trinity Court residents, child care is the greatest need of Pritchard Park parents.
Residents and service providers agree that Trinity Court, and to a lesser extent, Pritchard Park have poor reputations. In Chapter Eleven: Safety Concerns - Myth vs. Reality many of the issues which are at the root of Trinity Court and Pritchard Park's negative reputations are discussed. The effect of these histories of crime and violence as it relates to their reputation is addressed here.
Overcoming the Past. While all of the Trinity Court residents interviewed acknowledged that the poor reputation was quite accurate a few years ago, most of the people we spoke with said that it is no longer warranted. Because Trinity Court suffers from a worse reputation than Pritchard Park, Trinity Court will be the focus of this section. Ten years ago, Trinity Court was a very different place than it is today. According to one resident, 1989 "was a time when the police wouldn't even come down [to Trinity Court]. People came down here all the time. Cars were parked everywhere; people drinking beers out of the trunk; people whooping and hollering; smoking weed on the sidewalk; people gambling. It was just the spot to be. There was a group of ladies running a prostitution ring out of D Building." Ironically, this 'bad period' had a positive effect on Trinity Court. "All of that stemmed into things getting better. You had people afraid to come down here. They had a woman try to better the community, and getting people to feel better about the community."
However, much remains to be done before Trinity Court residents can put their neighborhood's negative reputation behind them. "There are so many people who keep up that bad area reputation," a service provider said, "and there are so many people fighting to get out of it, that they bump heads all the time. It's hard for people to forget what has gone on, and give people a new chance. You can say you're from Trinity Court and people go, 'Unhhhh.'" The same service provider said, "Trinity Court is just like a playground to every young, black man. Every drug addict knows that Trinity Court is the dope spot. It's just the perfect place for all of that. It's a whole vicious cycle to say the least."
Untrue Assumptions. As one resident said, "Everybody knows about Trinity Court and Pritchard Park. Everybody's afraid of Trinity Court and Pritchard Park. Everybody thinks it's a trap." Trinity Court is fighting an uphill battle just to clean up its reputation. Even among Pritchard Park residents, Trinity Court is looked down upon as a drug infested, crime-ridden neighborhood. One Pritchard Park resident said, "It's rougher down there. There used to be just as many problems in Pritchard Park as Trinity Court, but now things are better up here [in Pritchard Park]. There's more of a drug problem in Trinity Court." However, Trinity Court residents themselves say, "It's a really nice neighborhood to live in. It's not bad like [everybody] says. Before I moved here, there was drugs and shooting, but not now. Everyone but the residents think it's bad."
Clearly, proving to non-residents that the worst period is in the past and strengthening the sense of community in Trinity Court and Pritchard Park will take a great deal of effort. Strides are already being made towards these goals and are discussed in depth in Chapter Thirteen: Community Action and Involvement. Much of the challenge falls on the residents. "If [residents] all get jobs, and start taking pride in their homes, people are going to look on the communities better." Another resident stated, "[People who look down on us] have no choice but to keep believing in what they've believed all these years." Service providers, meanwhile, should do their part by recognizing Trinity Court and Pritchard Park for their distinctive needs and assets.
9Please keep in mind that many of the differences described between Trinity Court and Pritchard Park communities were cited repeatedly by community members and service providers. However, official statistics from documented sources were not available for verification of these cited differences.
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Chapter Seven: Community Assets and Resources |
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