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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
Canton, Mora Crossman and Mildred Monroe; Walbrook, Hamilton and Waverly; Arlington, Gwynns Falls and Farring Baybrook B to someone unfamiliar with Baltimore, these words might sound mildly exotic, but they would have little meaning.
A visitor could be forgiven for failing to realize how important these small places are to those of us who came of age on Baltimore=s streets. How could he know, after all, that these are places where young lives are being saved and nurtured?
To understand the importance of a place like Farring Baybrook, you must leave the thriving Inner Harbor behind, cross the old Hanover Street bridge and find your way deep into South Baltimore. That=s what Allison Klein of the Baltimore Sun did recently in search of a remarkable woman, Officer Stephanie Constant of the Baltimore City Police.
Farring Baybrook is the neighborhood recreation center that Officer Constant runs for the Police Athletic League (PAL) - an essential after-school haven for the children who live in the Brooklyn Homes neighborhood.
"Before PAL took over, kids wouldn't come up here because they were scared,@ Rosalie Pack, President of the Brooklyn Homes Tenant Council, told the Sun reporter. AIf police officers are up here, they know it's safe."
A patrol officer for 16 years, Stephanie Constant made this PAL center the safe place it is today, pushing out the drugs and strengthening the children=s skills and self-confidence.
Officer Constant understands that to do effective policing in a community, she must be a contributing member of that community. She once spent $800 of her own money on materials and built a room to keep the neighborhood=s computers safe. When the children succeed, she rewards them with a meal.
Despite her success, however, budgetary reasons will force Farring Baybrook and the other PAL centers I mentioned to close B unless we do everything within our power to help Mayor O=Malley and the Baltimore City Council keep them open.
Keeping Officer Constant on the job in South Baltimore is good public policy, but I also have a personal reason for supporting Baltimore=s recreation programs. I owe a debt to Captain Jim Smith and Ms. Kathleen Alston, the caring and responsible people who ran the small recreation center at Sharp and Hamburg Streets in our South Baltimore neighborhood 40 years ago.
Like Officer Stephanie Constant, they understood how hard it is to be young and poor. Ms. Alston would use her own money to bake us cakes and buy us candy. She and Captain Smith took me to my first baseball game at Memorial Stadium and my first trip to the circus. With seven children, my parents could not afford to do these things.
Captain Smith created a real baseball league at our recreation center. Although we played ball on asphalt, he gave us the opportunity to experience what the kids with the big lawns took for granted; and he cared enough to convince the Dixie Waste Company to buy us baseball uniforms.
It was the first new uniform I ever wore, and I felt pride every time I put it on. After each game, we would take our jerseys home, wash them and bring them back. That little baseball jersey and cap reinforced the self-respect, responsibility and teamwork that were Jim Smith's more lasting gifts to us.
The contributions that people like Captain Smith, Ms. Alston and Officer Constant have made to our lives remind us that this is our City, and these are our children. We are all one family. We know the value of Farring Baybrook and our other PAL centers.
We cannot send a message of abandonment to 1000 of our city=s most deserving young people.
Mayor O=Malley has expressed his hope that other public or private organizations will operate the centers now scheduled to be closed. We must help him keep all of Baltimore=s recreation centers open - with a police presence to keep our children safe.
As Michael Eric Dyson has insightfully observed, when young people trust the adults who are responsible for their destinies, they are more likely to go far in life. Both compassion and public safety are served when a young person can look into a police officer=s eyes and see a friend.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.
