'The Hilltop is suffering': Neighborhood advocates come together for youth

A group of Hilltop advocates have come together in the hopes of creating safe spaces for youth to gather and encouraging local young people to speak up about what they want and need.

Zerqa Abid, founder and executive director of MY Project USA, a Hilltop-based Muslim nonprofit group that works to empower youth, has been seeking more resources from the city, county and state for neighborhood youth for years — without much luck.

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So, at a meeting late last year, she appealed to other local advocates from the Hilltop, which has been among the deadliest neighborhoods in Columbus and is plagued with gangs, prostitution and gun violence.

"I said to everybody in that group: 'This is a time we must work united, and we must do something,'" Abid said. "Several of the people in that meeting right away said, 'You're right.'"

Kevin Orr, executive director of the nonprofit Greater Hilltop Area Shalom Zone, which specializes in community development, was one of them. Others included representatives Highland Youth Garden, Brightside Academy and the Run the Race Center.

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Orr and Abid teamed up to start the Hilltop Youth Social Justice Collaborative with these and other groups last month to bring together like-minded advocates on the Hilltop to empower youth.

The group's goals include securing safe physical space for youth to hang out recreationally; getting school buildings that Columbus City Schools is planning to close repurposed for youth use in the neighborhood; making South-Western City School District, which some Hilltop-area students attend, part of the Columbus Promise tuition guarantee through Columbus State Community College; and to establish programs, trainings and resources for all youth on the Hilltop.

It also aims to create leadership classes and a summer camp program for Hilltop youth, Abid said.

"One thing that is 100% clear is with programming we have curbed the pipeline to the gangs," Abid said, referring to MY Project USA's programs. These include the Hilltop Tigers soccer team, a mentoring program and reading help. 

"That's why it's important for the Hilltop to have enough indoor spaces," she said.

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The Hilltop has a YMCA branch, three community centers with gymnasiums and the J. Ashburn Junior Youth Center, but advocates say the Hilltop recreation spaces are always booked, often by groups that don't reside on the Hilltop, leaving little to no space for local children.

Finding a space — or having the city help fund or purchase one — is a big goal of the group, Abid said. She has experience with lack of space, as she has struggled unsuccessfully to find an indoor soccer facility for the Hilltop Tigers.

"We are saying if we are given $20 million we would be able to have at least 10 buildings in the neighborhood," she said.

The cost of the building MY Project USA works out of — home to a food pantry and youth activities — cost $1.8 million to renovate, she said.

"We are not talking about a fancy building. We are talking about a safe, decent, ADA-compliant building," Abid said. "Not too expensive so we can have more centers."

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Abid and Orr pointed to the $22 million in city funding that went to a 240-seat early learning center currently being built near Highland Elementary on the Hilltop. Abid said such a large amount spent on one facility for 240 children is mismanagement when thousands of the Hilltop's children are in need.

Orr said the center is fantastic, but there are so many other 4-year-olds on the Hilltop. A 2019 statistic from a City of Columbus report indicated that 152 of 2,000 Hilltop 4-year-olds were enrolled in quality preschool programs.

"This building is just not the solution," Orr said. "We need more. ... There's still a long way to go."

The mayor's office said the preschool isn't the only investment it's making or has made on the Hilltop.

"The city has and will continue to invest millions directly and through trusted community partners to advance youth violence intervention programs, youth employment opportunities and other strategies to stop youth violence — on the Hilltop and citywide," a statement from Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther's office said.

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City Council member Emmanuel Remy, who Abid said has been supportive of the group's efforts, said he's looking forward to working with the collaborative.

"Anytime we have organizations that bond together to shoot for a common goal we see success," he said. "So I'm incredibly excited to see the work they continue to do."

In addition to adding physical safe spaces, Orr said he got involved in hopes of creating a space where youth can speak for themselves.

"The purpose of this collaborative is to create space so the voice of the youth can be heard," Orr said. "We want to help train youth to advocate for themselves."

It's still early in their planning process, but the group is planning to reach out to youth for a roundtable on their thoughts and needs, he said.

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"Hilltop kids need the advocacy," Abid said. "Every project is important, all neighborhoods are important, but sometimes you have to pick and choose between what is most urgent and where the life-threatening situations are.

"We know the Hilltop is suffering."

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dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing