After being removed from an abusive situation in his parents’ home, the 8-year-old boy was placed with an aunt and uncle living in the Autumn Grove apartment complex in Downers Grove.
Worried that the emotionally scarred boy would fall prey to local gang members, his uncle brought him to the Autumn Grove Neighborhood Resource Center, a community-oriented policing program at 2048 Prentice Drive.
There the boy was placed in an after-school homework assistance program that not only provided tutoring and mentoring, but also arts and crafts and recreational activities, said center coordinator Indra Williams.
“At first he was hard to interact with,” Williams said of the boy, who is now 12.
“He wasn’t used to any types of limit settings and he would go off crying,” she added. “But I think the structure we provided changed him. He knew there was a place where people would work with him and help him. Now you can sit there and have a conversation with him, and he’s doing excellent in school.”
The boy is one of the many success stories found in the community resource centers in Downers Grove and Woodridge.
In Downers Grove, in addition to the resource center at the 700-unit Autumn Grove complex, there’s the Arbor Park Neighborhood Resource Center, 4224 Belmont Rd., at the 80-unit Arbor Park apartments.
Woodridge also has two centers: The Woodridge Community Resource Center at 8274 Janes Ave. and the Woodward Avenue Neighborhood Resource Center at 7606 Orchard Ln.
In May, the Woodridge Community Resource Center was opened to the entire village after police recorded a substantial decrease in crime at the five complexes originally served by the program.
“We found that the basic needs of the neighborhood are now being filled,” said Jill Samonte, police counselor for the Woodridge Police Department.
“One of the reasons we turned the corner in that area is because of the public and their support for the center,” said Woodridge Police Chief Geoff Korous.
The centers and the community policing actions in both towns were created in the early 1990s after officials became concerned about rising crime at apartment complexes.
“The village leaders began to realize these particular areas in the community were potentially problematic,” said Barb Leiber, director of social and health services for Downers Grove. “There was a sense of rising crime and drug and gang activity in these areas.”
The main focus of the centers and the philosophy of community policing, said officials, is for village officials to connect with communities “in need.”
“The services that the residents need are brought to the residents–and the residents can walk to these services,” said Samonte. “This is not 100 percent crime prevention programs or 100 percent social services. It’s sort of in between the two.”
“We want the residents to get to know the police and see them as resources for safety and well-being versus their enemies,” said Leiber. The results, she said, have been “marvelous.”
“The complexes have become much more stable,” said Leiber. “We used to have one to two false fire alarm calls each week at Autumn Grove. Now we’ve completely eliminated false fire alarm calls.”
The four centers offer a range of services, including after-school programs that operate during the school year. Elementary school pupils receive homework assistance, recreational activities and, most important, a guiding hand from volunteer tutors and mentors.
“We’ve realized that to make a difference we need to create opportunities for the youth in our neighborhoods,” said Samonte.
Another common service is English as a Second Language classes. “This is an example of how we’re working to empower the communities to solve their own problems,” said Leiber.
At the Woodridge centers, other services include story times, summer camps, a computer learning center and field trips to sporting games, circuses and other events.
Samonte also offers counseling to neighborhood residents. “I help with youth and family problems, substance abuse and domestic violence,” she said.
At the Downers Grove centers, activity days include such things as field trips, sports and guest speakers. There’s also a vocational job listings board, and Williams helps residents with resume writing and vocational counseling.
Crisis counseling is offered as well, as is a weekly women’s support group called Women’s Night Out. Twice a month, the DuPage Health Department runs a mom and tots activity and educational program.
The centers in both communities also sponsor special events such as flower plantings and neighborhood cleanups.
The centers act as Police Department substations and are assigned police officers who regularly patrol those areas.
“We’ve made this more of a proactive station, especially with our DARE officers and our youth officers,” said Samonte.
The officials running the centers say that the services are a way for members of the public to interact and eventually trust the villages’ police officials.
“We’re providing a link for people that they’re not afraid to go to when they need help,” said Williams.
Added Samonte: “We’re showing that the police and other agencies care and we’re trying to put a human face on the Police Department.”
