Dispatch One: Collaboration with Youth Spurs Vacant Lot Project
Ellyn Schuette, Chemistry Major/Schreyer Honors College

Last Wednesday, January 22nd, the Harrisburg Collaborative Studio spent a day in the South Allison Hill neighborhood of inner-city Harrisburg. Our purpose was to get a general "feel" for the area in which we will be working this semester and to meet leaders of the current youth programs within the community. The day was packed. We met members of the Community Action Commission, leaders of the SHOC (Students Helping Our Community) program within Communities That Care, program directors of the CARE After School Program at a local church, and leaders of the Pride of the Neighborhood childcare facility. We also stopped in at Danzante, an arts-based outreach program rooted in the Latina and African-American cultures, where we watched a play written and performed by local high school students about HIV/AIDS.

I came away from the trip with mixed emotions. On one hand, the neighborhood was filled with caring people who were dedicating their lives to improving the conditions of the South Allison Hill community and its children. The positive outlook of these people, who will act as our community partners, was uplifting. On the other hand, the issues with which this community wrestles seem overwhelming. How can one new community garden or outdoor performance space make a difference?

Ultimately, my misgivings are pushed to the background. After spending the day in the community, I feel a renewed commitment to the goals of this class. There's no way of predicting what type of impact my classmates and I will have, but I'll give it my all.

For more information on this project, contact Gary W. Cramer, Department of Public Information, at (814) 865-7517 or gwc104@psu.edu; or Samuel F. Dennis, Jr., assistant professor of landscape architecture, at (814) 865-7833 or sfd3@psu.edu