When Pastor Margaret Moon-Taylor pulls up to Be Ready Jesus Is Coming Church on West Fourth Street in Wilmington on a Sunday morning or weekday afternoon, she is often greeted by residents. Someone may offer to carry her bag. And they’re not doing it because of her position as pastor, Moon-Taylor said, they simply want to lend a hand.
This sense of camaraderie is one reason Moon-Taylor loves being a part of Wilmington’s West Side, a network of city neighborhoods that includes The Flats, Little Italy, Hilltop, Cool Springs and Tilton Park. Yet building connections takes time.
Consider the community member who long expressed an intention to join the church or visit the food pantry at Be Ready Community Development Corporation, where Moon-Taylor is executive director.
“It took two years of, ‘Hi, how you doing? What do you need?’” Moon-Taylor recalled, before the individual did so.
Fortunately, leaders on Wilmington’s West Side are well versed in putting in the work to build a strong community foundation. In 2011, residents and stakeholders developed a 10-year community strategy known as the West Side Revitalization Plan, forming the West Side Grows Together coalition. Coming soon from that same group is the West Side Plan Update, a reflection on what has been accomplished in the past 10-plus years and identification of updated needs.
In many ways, the plan recognizes the Vital Conditions for Health & Well-Being as necessary for thriving neighborhoods–from economic development and housing to youth opportunities and access to parks and open space. Support from Healthy Communities Delaware (HCD) has propelled the work of the organizations involved, and Moon-Taylor spoke alongside Sarah Lester of Cornerstone West Community Development Corporation at HCD’s Equity Action Summit this past spring.
Established in 2003, Be Ready CDC is a resident-driven organization dedicated to revitalizing the Hilltop neighborhood. With the opening of Solomon’s Court, Be Ready CDC is further transforming the Fourth Street corridor.
The late Lottie Lee-Davis, former pastor of Be Ready and a housing development coordinator for the state, developed the vision for Solomon’s Court after reflecting on the then-vacant and dilapidated buildings across from the church. Situated at West Fourth and Rodney streets, the mixed-use space will provide 18 affordable rental units and ground-floor commercial space for small businesses, including the offices of Cornerstone West.
It’s thanks to such changes that residents feel they can make a difference in their neighborhoods. When residents lead their own projects and see them come to life, the experience instills a sense of belonging and an interest in taking action. Parks and playgrounds represent another example of West Side advocacy success.
To date, they have maintained numerous community gardens, launched and managed a farmers market, completed various public safety projects, beautified the streets with trees and art installations, engaged residents in park stewardship through six Friends of Parks groups, and hosted thousands of residents in community events. Continued investment in opportunities for youth as well as parks and gardens are among the recommendations for the West Side Plan Update.
“That we have safe places and accessible places for our families and children to play in, that’s something that we’ve heard over and over and over again,” Lester said, noting the five playgrounds that have been renovated since the start of revitalization efforts.
Bringing together communities, as well as different generations, is important to the Latin American Community Center on North Van Buren Street, where an intergenerational garden draws community members of all ages together outside. Back in 2011, the LACC’s Early Learning Center was integrated into the West Side plan to address the critical need for early childhood education, particularly for underprivileged children, said LACC president Maria Matos.
“Usually people don’t come together like that,” Matos said, recalling her early involvement with neighborhood revitalization efforts. “But we all knew that we needed to do something about the West Side.”
Today, the LACC Early Learning Center caters to children as young as 6 weeks old. Studies highlight the importance of early learning for children from low-income backgrounds, who often lack access to educational resources before entering kindergarten, Matos said. This type of programming helps close the gap, and additional LACC services empower parents to become effective educators and partners in their children’s education.
At Be Ready CDC, Moon-Taylor offered similar thoughts on the importance of caring for youth, through after-school programs, camps or leadership development programs, and involving the younger generations in continued neighborhood development.
“We have to give them opportunities to be part of this, because it’s their neighborhood,” Moon-Taylor said. “They have to be able to see it and want to care for it the same way we do.”
