Valuing Community Spaces
— Max Levitt
Founder and Executive Director, Leveling the Playing Field
I’ll never forget the feeling I had in April of 2020 when stay-at-home orders were implemented and we saw our offices, gyms, restaurants and other community resources close. For most of us, we built home offices, bought home fitness equipment and downloaded every food delivery app we could find.
In our under-resourced communities, the ability to adapt was not so easy. Without libraries, recreation centers, schools and other community services operating, kids in these communities were left on their own. What ensued will have a long-term impact on these kids, and undoubtedly has led to the rise in crime we are seeing in our inner cities.
Despite working with community-based resource centers every day, I did not realize how critical these places were until the pandemic took them away. These buildings that we usually walk by without thinking much about are an integral part of our social fabric — especially in low-income communities where folks need a place like the library to use a computer, or a recreation center to have a safe place after school.
As we come out of the pandemic and the word “critical infrastructure” enters our vernacular, I am spending more time than ever advocating for the investment into not only improving, but also expanding these critical community facilities. I feel strongly after the past year and a half that the need to invest heavily in libraries, recreation centers, community centers and other facilities in our low-income communities is integral to bringing crime down and improving outcomes, especially for our youth.
