pineridge community center

Published in Gainesville Sun February 2017:

Elementary-aged children in the Pineridge neighborhood have an after-school program that serves them through the help of several volunteers. 

Retired teacher Helen Moten is one of those volunteers at the Pineridge Community Center after-school program at 2507 NW 57th Place.

“Coming here to volunteer is important to me because I taught school for more than 30 years and I know how important it is for children to get a good education early in life to help them be productive citizens when they grow up,” Moten said.

Moten, a 1957 graduate of former A.L. Mebane High School in Alachua, retired from teaching in 2001 after a long career at Poinciana Elementary School in the Liberty City neighborhood in Miami. She volunteers at the center from 1 to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesdays, helping the children with their homework and math and reading skills.

Volunteers from Peaceful Paths Domestic Abuse Network Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides residential services and more to survivors and victims of domestic abuse, also work with the children on Wednesdays. Recently, Amanda Gleason, violence prevention educator for Peaceful Paths, along with intern Katie Groves, sat at a table with seven children attending the program.

The program can only serve up to 14 children because of the limited space available, and they are chosen on a first-come, first-serve basis. Gleason said the things she does with the children are all aimed at “increasing their emotional literacy” so they can precisely identify and communicate their feelings. “I think coming here is worthwhile because we provide a steady presence in their lives and we develop relationships with them throughout their formative years,” Gleason said.

Pineridge is a community of mostly single-story apartments with individual owners who rent them out. The main entrance is off Northwest 34th Street near the Wal-Mart Supercenter. Many of the apartments are in much better condition now than several years ago, when a lot of them were in disrepair, with screenless windows, rotting wood and other issues.

Geneva Webb, director of the Pineridge Community Center, lives directly across the parking lot from the center. The outside of her apartment is decorated with well-cared-for plants and flowers that help it stand out among the other apartments. Webb, who has lived in her current apartment since 2009, also lived in the neighborhood for 17 years a few years earlier. She said she loves the area and believes in looking out for the children in the neighborhood. She is known as a pillar of the community and children often come to her when they need help, for whatever reason, she said.

Bob Johnson, a middle-aged Pineridge resident, stood outside of his apartment down from the center. He said Webb deserves a lot of credit for the work she does at the center. “I think they are running a very good program down there, and the lady who runs it does a great job with the children,” said Johnson, who moved into his apartment in 2016. “She treats all of them like they are her own.”

The center is sponsored by the Black on Black Crime Task Force and the city of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and Gainesville Police departments. Rosa B. Williams, chair of the Black on Black Crime Task Force, said the program has a budget of $24,000 annually. She said $10,000 of the money comes from a community development block grant and the rest is from donations. She said the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank donates snacks to the program. "Our expenses include one staff member, insurance, materials and supplies for the center, as well as food for the last meal/snack that is given to the children right before the center closes," Williams said.

GPD and the city of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Department also helped to sponsor a similar program in the Phoenix community in southwest Gainesville, a neighborhood quite similar to Pineridge. The program, known as Maxine's Place in Phoenix, was operated by Belinda Smith and her mother, Maxine Bethea. It served nearly 26 children daily until it ended in December when the homeowners association in the Phoenix neighborhood decided not to renew the lease agreement with the city. For three years, the program operated out of a spacious two-story apartment at 3124 SW 26th Terrace.

Webb said besides the funding the Pineridge program receives, it is the volunteers who make it successful. She said four to five women from Temple Shir Shalom in northwest Gainesville work with the children on Mondays.“ They help the children with homework, reading and all kinds of different things,” Webb said. On Tuesdays, the children are taught the fundamentals of tennis by representatives from Aces in Motion, an arm of the Gainesville Area Community Tennis Association. A temporary tennis court is set up in the parking lot in front of the center during the lessons, Webb said. Also on Tuesdays, Webb said a teacher and several students from Buchholz High School volunteer to help the children with their homework.

Moten and Gleason volunteer on Wednesdays, and several retired educators who attend Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church volunteer at the center on Thursdays. Alice Primack, 77, a retired University of Florida librarian, said she is accompanied on Thursdays by Tom Bullock, a retired UF professor, and Cheryl Poe (mother of Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe), a retired music teacher.

Primack said the church began a relationship with the Pineridge community in 2005 as part of an outreach program. “We went door to door meeting people, and most of them said they wanted safer opportunities for the children,” said Primack, adding that the church began hosting the children once a week after school before the center opened. “Once the center opened, we started going there once a week,” Primack said.

Williams of the task force said the center opened in 2013 during a time when Pineridge "was experiencing numerous problems," many of which involved youths who lived in the complex. "After a young woman was killed, GPD, Parks and Recreation and the Black on Black Crime Task Force met with residents," Williams said. "It was decided that a recreation center for the youth was needed. The center would be a safe haven and offer programming to keep the children occupied and engaged."

A Pineridge landlord was contacted about providing a unit to house the center, and when the anonymous landlord agreed, the center became a reality.

The center is set up like an elementary classroom, with some completed school work on the walls with other decorations, a library, play room with many educational board games and several tables with chairs.

It also has two bathrooms and a kitchen. Webb feeds the kids snacks as soon as they arrive and at least one more time before they leave. The after-school program at the center is held from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 1 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. It is closed on Friday.

Darrius Bloodworth, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at Talbot Elementary School, said he enjoys attending the program. “They help me with my homework and we get snacks,” Darrius said. “We play tennis, too, sometimes, and go to the playground.”

Tiondra Young, a 10-year-old fifth-grader at Talbot, said she also enjoys attending the program.

“I like all of the different things we get to do when we come here and I get help with my homework,” Tiondra said.