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New Sidewalk Poured Nov. '07
Holy Ground in Action
Holy Ground Leaders Resolve Destroyed Sidewalk
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In 1999, an uninsured motorist hit a fire hydrant at 12th and Jacob Streets. Water poured down 12th St. and washed out the ground next to the Church of God and Saints of Christ.
The basement of the church was flooded. Due to other times the fire hydrant has leaked and the weather over the last 7 years, the ground under the sidewalk continued to erode.
In January 2004, members of the Church of God and Saints of Christ requested that CDBG funds be used to repair the sidewalk. They never received a response and since then Mountaineer Gas has shut off gas to the church, due to the deteriorating ground.
Nothing has been done and now the sidewalk is destroyed and the ground under the street is beginning to erode.
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Elder Harold Taylor, Church of God and Saints of Christ, and member Melvin Williams explain the eight-year deterioration of the sidewalk next to their church to Fr. Jerome McKenna and Bryan Minor (Catholic Diocese of Wheeling- Charleston), Hopeful City President Fr. Gene Ostrowski (Corpus Christi) and residents.
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Dorothy Knight of Macedonia Baotist Church and Melvin Williams of Church of God and Saints of Christ view photos of destroyed 12th St. sidewalk
Dorothy Knight takes pictures from table to table to show banquet attendees the destroyed sidewalk. |
Hopeful City's Holy Ground Task Force leaders met with East Wheeling City Councilmen Vernon Seals and Robert Henry in April 2007, who agreed that something should be done about this situation. Task Force leaders made a moving and powerful presentation at Hopeful City's April Banquet and the 200 attendees committed to support them in resolving the situation.
We have since met with Wheeling's city manager and engineer to discuss this situation and how we can work together to resolve this dangerous situation. A late August meeting brought together residents and representatives of East Wheeling churches and the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
In the fall, task force members and representatives of the Church of God and Saints of Christ, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and the City of Wheeling developed a plan to replace the sidewalk. (See newspaper report.) The sidewalk was poured in November.
We believe every neighborhood in the city is Holy Ground and nowhere in the city should a sidewalk like this be left to deteriorate. We are planning to hold a Holy Ground Celebration in April, which will include a Choir Festival.
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Check out Sidewalk Celebration!
| Housing/Holy Ground Task Force Background
In 2001, Hopeful City created a Housing Task Force whose members received a commitment from the executive director of the Wheeling Housing Authority to pay for the creation of the East Wheeling Revitalization Plan. The East Wheeling residents of the task force then coordinated the participation of over 300 people who live, work and worship in East Wheeling in developing the plan. Created in 2002, the plan identifies replacement housing sites for the HOPE VI Phase 3 project.
Hopeful City's Housing Task Force members are committed to making the East Wheeling Revitalization Plan a reality, not just because every day they drive by abandoned houses, deteriorating buildings and young people on street corners engaged in illegal drug activity. Task force members are also committed to revitalizing East Wheeling because they engaged their neighbors, church members and business owners in creating the plan.
One task force member sees an even deeper reason to work on revitalizing East Wheeling. "My family, friends and neighbors ask me why I'm involved in the East Wheeling Revitalization Plan because we all experienced the failed promises of Urban Renewal. I tell them this is different, because for the first time Wheeling churches have put aside their differences and worked together to improve our city. Because this is God's work, we will succeed."
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The Housing Task Force was renamed the Holy Ground Task Force in 2003 when we held a Holy Ground Action that focused drug trafficking that occurs in our neighborhoods. In August 2003, 400 residents joined to declare a united city-wide effort to eliminate illegal drug activity. The action resulted in one drug house being boarded up the following week. In March 2005, leaders traveled to Charleston to build relationships with our state legislators and discuss state funding for Community Restorative Justice. |
Bishop-Emeritus Bernard Schmitt blesses a Warwood sidewalk near the Corpus Christi Parish school he attended. |
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(Right) Claude King, Rev. Bill Ridenhour (1st English Lutheran Church), Rev. Willie Stinson (Agape Baptist Church) and Holy Ground Task Force member Cecelia Pugh participate in the meeting with Police Chief Kevin Gessler.
Frances Isler and Sr. Christine Riley learn concerns of East Wheeling residents during the Door-to-Door Campaign.
Thelma Griffin and Frances Isler talk with Wheeling Heights residents. |
In April 2005, we held a March for Your Grandmother. The purpose was to draw attention to the elderly women living in East Wheeling who are afraid to leave their homes because of the illegal drug activity in their neighborhood.
In June 2005, the Holy Ground Task Force held a public meeting with Wheeling's police chief and received a commitment from him to have police officers build relationships by teaming with East Wheeling residents.
The task force members and officers contacted over 600 households to learn about residents hopes and fears. |
Respect East Wheeling Residents, Honor the East Wheeling Plan!
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was the theme in November 2005 when Holy Ground leaders held a series of actions to ensure the voices of East Wheeling residents are heard in developments occurring in East Wheeling.
They successfully blocked a project they felt did not reflect the positives of the neighborhood, as outlined in the East Wheeling Neighborhood Revitalization Plan. |
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In 2004, the HOPE VI funding that was to be used for the East Wheeling replacement housing was spent in another neighborhood.
In 2006, Holy Ground leaders began meeting again with Wheeling Housing Authority officials to determine how to build the replacement housing promised in the East Wheeling Revitalization Plan.
The leaders developed a map and spreadsheet identifying 226 properties in East Wheeling to determine possible sites for replacement housing. |
They also began developing relationships with US Representative Alan Mollohan and West Virginia Delegates Tal Hutchins and Orphy Klempa. As important as those relationships are, the task force members have continually built and strengthened their relationships with other East Wheeling residents and members of Hopeful City's other faith communities.
In early 2007, task force members held a Public Meeting with Congressman Mollohan and city councilmen Robert Henry and Vern Seals to identify ways for the residents, city, state and federal officials to ensure that the East Wheeling replacement housing is built. Over 100 people attended this meeting.
For further information about Holy Ground activities, call Hopeful City's office at 304-233-0171 or e-mail info@hopefulcity.org.
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