Two rivers run through Charleston, West Virginia. While most of the city is situated on the Kanawha, it’s the Elk River that demarcates the West Side from the governmental and business center of Charleston. Today, the West Side is the poorest neighborhood in Charleston.
As you might imagine, those demographics lead to others: higher crime, higher drug activity, higher incarceration rates. Many people in other parts of Charleston think of the West Side as a dangerous place to avoid.
And yet, Corporal Errol Randle received $50,000 from a program called West Invest to purchase a dilapidated house on the West Side, fix it up, and move in with his family. He moved to the West Side in 2015; now there are 3 cops living in the same neighborhood.
When I first heard about this, I wanted to know: who are these guys who are willing to do this? I mean, I can see wanting do something to help the West Side, too, but — would I be willing to move there to be a part of that change?
On this week’s episode of the “Us & Them” podcast: two different views of what police are, and two different views of how a community can determine its own destiny.
From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and PRX, this is “Us & Them,” the podcast where we tell the stories about America’s cultural divides.
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This episode is part of a series made possible with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Sunday dinner is a big deal in Deanna McKinney’s family. Deanna’s a de facto mom to her three sisters and two brothers — when she moved to West Virginia from New York City, they came too. These Sunday dinners are to remind the siblings that someone’s always got their back.
Deanna’s told the story of her son’s murder so many times, that she can recount it to me — a relative stranger with a microphone — while she picks out cornbread mix at the grocery store. His name was Tymel and his senseless death is an experience that has defined her life and informed who she is.
On this week’s episode of the “Us & Them” podcast: the first of a four-part series that focuses on the West Side of my hometown of Charleston, WV. It’s a part of town that’s struggled economically in the past few decades. It’s got the two statistics that often go together — high poverty and high crime
From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and PRX, this is “Us & Them,” the podcast where we tell the stories about America’s cultural divides.
Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @usthempodcast or @wvpublic, or leave a comment on Facebook.com/usthempodcast.
And if you enjoyed this episode, join our community and sustain “Us & Them” with a pledge of support.
We often hear about urban cities, like Detroit, that are dealing with abandoned, dilapidated buildings. But some communities in West Virginia are struggling with neighborhood blight too.
The WV Hub is working with partners across West Virginia to plan a three day event in Huntington this October. The summit will help people across West Virginia who are working to fix blighted, abandoned and dilapidated properties. Civic groups in Huntington have been collaborating on this type of work and have made great strides recently.
And in Charleston, two non-profits are working to rebuild and remove dilapidated homes in their neighborhood, known as the West Side Flats.
Credit Roxy Todd
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This building was once Dr. Hopson’s office
At the heart of the West Side Flats neighborhood is Mary C. Snow elementary school. This neighborhood has the second highest percentage of African American residents in West Virginia.
The school itself is named in honor of West Virginia’s first female African American principal of an integrated school. Snow was not only an educator- she was also known for her civic engagement in this neighborhood. And for most community organizers here, like Reverend Matthew J. Watts, the memory of the real Mary C. Snow is a reminder of what individuals can do to help revive the West Side.
“Some people just stay here, they want to see it turn around again, and we believe that it can. Despite the vacant houses, there’s still 4,000 reasons on the broader West Side, those are the kids. That is why we should fight. They deserve a chance to live a safe, wholesome, healthy place that inspires them,” says Watts.
Watts is the CEO of a non-profit called HOPE Community Development Corporation. He says the dilapidation of buildings reduces home values and can become a magnet for crime.
Credit PBS NewsHour/Sam Weber
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Roxy Todd speaking with Reverend Watts on 2nd Avenue, in front of one of the homes that Bob Hardy and the Charleston Economic Development Corporation built.
“On those four blocks, there are 61 vacant structures—61. And they pose a public health threat in terms of public safety, health, etc. for the children and families. And we believe that it contributes to the overall negative feelings this neighborhood has.”
But as Watts walks along 3rd Avenue and points to homes with fresh flowerbeds out front and houses that are well maintained, he says its clear that not everyone on the West Side has given up hope.
Credit Roxy Todd
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A vacant lot on 3rd Ave. that is being maintained as a green space
Many of the houses here still posses a historic charm from the days when this was an up and coming neighborhood for middle class African American families.
During segregation, this was also the cultural center of activity for the black community in Charleston, including tourists who were not allowed to stay downtown. But now, middle class families have moved away.
Credit Roxy Todd
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Vacant home along 3rd Ave.
In the last year, Reverend Watts and his organization has spent $250,000 to remove asbestos and prepare 12 vacant homes for demolition. The removal of these structures was a partnership between HOPE CDC, the city of Charleston, and the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority.
Bob Hardy has been helping this neighborhood since the 1990’s. Before anyone else had a vision to restore this neighborhood, Hardy was working to rehab dilapidated homes along 2nd Avenue.
Credit Roxy Todd
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Bob Hardy, standing in front of one of the 10 affordable houses that he helped build
Hardy’s father was a shop teacher, and he is a licensed contractor himself. As executive director of the Charleston Economic Community Development Corporation, he has helped build 10 new homes in the West Side flats neighborhood. He’s helped rehab about 50 houses.
Hardy grew up in the West Side Hills, which looks down into this neighborhood. His vision for restoring this area came because he believes it’s like the front yard of the entire West Side. He sees the potential here to develop affordable housing because of the neighborhood’s close proximity to downtown.
The community here has been supporting a large part of these efforts, even though 1 in 3 residents here are living in poverty.
And though he’s been involved in this work for over 20 years, Hardy says he believes the neighborhood is going to turn around and the people here are going to pull themselves out of poverty.
“The race is not given to the swift or to the strong, but to those who endure until the end. My mother gave me that. Never quit.”
Together, Hardy and Watts working to continue to rehab homes here on the West Side. They are each cautiously optimistic that Charleston officials can partner with them more in the future to restore the West Side flats neighborhood.
During the tour of the West Side flats neighborhood, Roxy Todd met up with a few correspondents from the PBS NewsHour who were visiting the Mary C. Snow school. Their story, “Summer slide: the year-round solution”, will air on September 7 on PBS NewsHour Weekend.
Credit PBS NewsHour/Sam Weber
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Reverend Watts speaks with PBS NewsHour correspondent Alison Stewart
On a sultry summer evening, three women are killing harlequin beetles in an effort to save the greens at the SAGE micro-farm on Rebecca Street that they landscaped themselves.
Last year, Kathy Moore, Jenny Totten and Meg Reishman completed 18 agriculture and business classes through SAGE, which stands for Sustainable Agricultural Entrepreneurs. Kathy says she loves getting to take home an unlimited supply of fresh vegetables each week.
“Oh my goodness, the green zebra tomatoes were absolutely my favorite. They are just absolutely luscious!” says Kathy, who works a day job, like most of the other growers, outside the SAGE micro-farm. She and the other SAGE growers also earn a few hundred dollars apiece at the end of the year based on the group’s produce sales.
The food is grown on Charleston’s West Side, in a high-crime area with many vacant lots. Over the past two years, the SAGE program has transformed two of these lots into working micro-farms.
New this year is the Rebecca St. garden, with its unusual swirling starburst shape. At the center of the beds of squash, kale and tomatoes is a bright circle of sunflowers, zinnias, basil and cilantro. Kathy is surprised that the garden’s design has been so successful.
“I had no idea that it would be so inviting. So, yeah. It’s a really nice design, and people are excited just to come and look at it.”
Credit Roxy Todd
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Rainbow chard and collard greens have been some of SAGE’s best sellers this year
Credit Roxy Todd
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SAGE sells edible flowers to a local restaurant in Charleston called Mission Savvy. The flower and herbs are grown in a circle at the center of the Rebecca Street garden.
Credit Roxy Todd
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The SAGE program teaches growers like Meg Reischman how to make a business plan and how to choose the most profitable types of produce.
“I was having a difficult time sitting down and figuring out what my break even price was, and whether it was worth growing it or not, making a plan,” Meg says.
Many of the students struggle with these questions, says SAGE instructor Dr. Dee Sing-Knights, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics with West Virginia University’s extension services. She teaches the SAGE growers how to manage small businesses and how to market their produce. She tells the growers to make sure the public knows that SAGE’s organic produce might cost a little more than supermarket vegetables, which often come from larger, more mechanized farms.
“I always tell them, you have to tell your customers that listen, the reason this costs more is I squashed my bugs by hand!” says Dr. Singh-Knights. The SAGE growers are also learning to educate more potential customers about the value of spending money inside the community, versus sending the money out of state by buying food at a chain store.
Even if the 18 SAGE graduates never become full time farmers, this morning for breakfast they are probably all making food using at least one ingredient they grew themselves.
This year, the group has seen an increase in the sales of produce and flowers at their local Saturday markets, as more customers are enjoying the fruits of their labor, too.
The West Side in Charleston is one of the largest urban neighborhoods in the state. Within sight of the Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary School are vacant lots and abandoned buildings. This neighborhood is besieged with many problems like childhood poverty and high crime rates. It’s also a neighborhood that suffers from negative stereotyping—a place where good people and good projects are often overlooked.
Aiming to highlight these challenges and some possible solutions, a collaboration is launching between West Virginia University’s Division of Diversity and the West Side Revive Project.
Reverend Matthew Watts, a pastor at Grace Bible Church, heads up the West Side Revive Project.
“And so we’re trying to help the broader community realize that this is a community of enormous potential. And actually the future growth of Charleston hinges on what we do,” Watts said at the presentation last Friday at the Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary School. The Hope Community Development Corporation initiated the West Side Revive Project.
The meeting last week was also attended by David Fryson and a group of scholars from WVU’s Division of Diversity. Fryson was recently named the Division Vice President. At the meeting, Fryson said that he remembers the real Mary C. Snow and said her legacy should remind people to organize to make great things happen on the West Side. He said WVU is looking to assist the West Side Revive Project, chiefly by evaluating the research the group has done.
Credit Roxy Todd
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Reverend Watts said it’s encouraging to see WVU begin to validate the work his project has been doing for years.
“[There’s] a lot of energy, and a lot of interest in the project. And we have never been more excited for the potential for the West Side of Charleston to truly return to this healthy and wholesome residential community that it used to be,” said Watts.
Watts explained that back in the 1950’s the West Side was a neighborhood where middle class black families could buy nice homes. The West Side’s decline began as many of those families left West Virginia to find jobs.
Though the neighborhood does have many problems it is going to have to face head on, Watts believes that for the first time in years, there is reason to hope that things here can change.
