First week in Compton

Hey all,

It's been quite a week here in LA. It seems like much longer than that at this point-- we've been all over, talked to enough of the movers and shakers of the community to lose count, and have spent long sessions how to build this project from the ground up.

First, I'll give everyone a little background on the area. Compton is an independant city south of downtown LA. Every morning I wake up to do PT and see the LA skyline and the mountains north of here. Compton of course has a really bad reputation for crime, but at no time have I felt unsafe here. The neighborhood that I am in has many newish houses with green yards, and down the street are all the restaurants that one might expect to find in Avon, IN (minus the Cajun/taqueria/Chinese buffet place on the corner). Where we are is pretty much untouched by gang activity and mostly hosts older folks whose familys have been and continue to be from the area for generations. In this sense, the project isn't terribly exciting. We're making a nice area even better.

What is exciting is fact that we are building this project from a few hypothetical good ideas into a reality ourselves. James Davis, our sponsor, has given us a wide breadth in our vision for the project, and we've been running with it as best as we can. We've spent much of the week networking with James' circle of community advocates (the city council, the Watts/Crenshaw Rotary, the LA Sheriff's Dept., Centennial High School staff). Everyone has been very receptive and impressed with our enthusiasm. Hopefully we can translate that goodwill into action on their part; our biggest hope is that the community can take ownership of the project so that it will be sustainable.

Right now we've been trying to plan a block party event to introduce the neighborhood to the disaster management staging center project and gather information on their willingness to use it and/or help manage it.

The place that we live has been an interesting situation. Until yesterday, our sponsor (who is the owner of this house) had been unable to move in with neighbors like he had hoped. He had been cooped up in his office with some couch cushons. It's been a bit uncomfortable since he hadn't moved out much of his things until recently, so we had been stuck in a state of not being able to mess with anything. As an on-again-off-again neat freak, the chaos of things everywhere in my living/working place had been eating at me. We've finally got our house organized yesterday, and tomorrow is cleaning. The house itself is an older one, but it's comfortable. There's two bedrooms, two bathrooms, one shower, and a large family room and living room that the majority of us sleep in. The family room triples as our office and dining room. I was luckily able to snag one of the bedroom spots with two other Corp Members.

On a side note, I forgot to mention something about last week's post. We were at the Folsom Zoo. For you Johnny Cash fans out there this is the same Folsom of the Folsom Prison Blues. The prison was actually within earshot of us, and we spent much of the time listening to the guards doing a weekly round of target practice. I figured I might raise an eyebrow with Seth or Barton, there. I don't know. I thought it was cool.

Okay, I need to get to bed. We're working at Willowbrook Junior High School doing a painting/beautification project.