CAMDEN'S LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY
Then the Lord answered me and said: Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so
that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment,
and will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.
--Habakkuk, 2, 2-4
When New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey signed the landmark $175 million Camden Recovery Act in July, it was as though the prophecy of Old Testament Scribe Habakkuk had finally come to pass for the members of Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP).
For 17 years, CCOP leaders, representing 30 of the city's congregations, have fought an uphill battle to revitalize their ailing city. They've campaigned for safer streets and better schools. They've advocated for the demolition or rehabilitation of vacant buildings, for the improvement of neighborhood parks, and for new homes for working families.
But despite CCOP's many successes, Camden has remained a city on the edge, plagued by high crime, a failing infrastructure, and an impotent (and at times corrupt) city government. Its nine square miles are home to more than 150 active drug markets. Roughly one-seventh (or 4000) of its housing units are abandoned and have become a favorite haunt of drug dealers and drug users. The 100-year-old water system delivers brown water into Camden homes. The list, say local residents, goes on and on.
Year after year, CCOP leaders would take their issues to the city's leadership, only to be met with the same response: "We don't have the resources to make the kinds of changes you're proposing."
"That's when we began kicking around the issue of capacity," says CCOP Director Joe Fleming. "We began to talk about what it would take to really improve conditions in our neighborhoods." Their conclusion: Camden couldn't solve its problems on its own. Massive state aid would be necessary to turn the city around.
Working with the Concerned Black Clergy of Camden City, CCOP articulated a sweeping vision for Camden's recovery and in June of 2000 1200 people packed St. Joseph's Pro-Cathedral to press state officials to support their plan.
Two years and two governors later, CCOP's vision is one giant step closer to becoming a reality.
Hope for the City
Under the legislation signed by Governor McGreevey, millions of dollars will flow to Camden over the next three years. The initiative includes considerable funds for the revitalization of the city's blighted neighborhoods, but also looks to reinvigorate the city's educational and health care systems and to continue with the renovation of the waterfront area.
"It isn't everything," says veteran CCOP leader Rosa Ramirez. "But in life you don't get everything you want," she adds. "This is a start."
CCOP leaders fought hard to ensure that the majority of funds would be used to address the immediate needs of Camden's families. Job training, road and other infrastructure repairs, and the demolition of abandoned buildings are all included in the recovery bill. Changes are also in store for Camden's public schools, with the new bill allowing the governor to appoint three new members to the city's Board of Education.
Despite the promise of better days ahead, Ramirez cautions that there's "still a lot of work to be done." Through its representative on the newly formed Economic Recovery Board, CCOP will have a hand in overseeing and monitoring Camden's progress.
The Good Fight
Like many CCOP leaders, Ramirez grew up in Camden. She got married in Camden and she and her husband raised their two daughters on the city's east side. She has fond memories of a healthier, safer, more vibrant city. And she has worked tirelessly for 17 years to see Camden return to its former, finer self.
The road to recovery has been a rocky one for Ramirez, who's seen first-hand how slow and painful progress really is. But the mother and grandmother is steadfast in her commitment to Camden and her commitment to CCOP.
"When my parents were here and the city first started going downhill, no one stood up and said, 'This is wrong.' No one asked, 'Why are we failing apart?'
"I'm sticking it out for my girls," says Ramirez. "Someday they will say, 'My mother did something. My mother fought for this city.'"
For the Children
For Reverend Heyward Wiggins, III, growing up in Camden, New Jersey, meant riding bikes around the neighborhood, going to the movies with friends and family, and playing baseball or joining in other city-funded activities for kids at the park
"It was a beautiful place," says Wiggins. "Such a beautiful place to grow up."
But that was before -- before the shipyards closed. Before Campbell's shut down the soup factory where many of Wiggins' family members worked. It was before the riots in the early seventies prompted many whites and upper-income minorities to leave the city. It was before Camden was declared the second poorest city in the nation; before street-corner drug dealing and violent crimes became everyday occurrences.
"Everyday is a challenge for our young people," says Wiggins. Today, instead of worrying about where they are going to play, Camden's youth worry about whether they'll be robbed on the way to the store or whether they'll get shot or caught in the middle of a corner drug deal on the way to school.
"My parents' only concern when I went out was what time I would be home," says Wiggins. "Now parents fear whether their child will come back at all."
As CCOP leaders crafted their vision for a revitalized Camden, their focus was on the children of their city, says CCOP's Fleming. "Our congregational leadership identified the changes they want to see for our children. They envisioned a city that would make our children proud to call Camden home."
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A New Vision for Camden
We envision a city in which children and families experience the fullness of God's creation. More specifically, we envision a Camden in which every child would:
" Receive a well-rounded education.
" Have access to recreation and positive alternatives to gangs, drugs, and street life.
" Live in a vibrant neighborhood free of abandoned buildings and trash.
" Feel safe in their homes and on the streets of their neighborhood.
" Grow up to have the opportunity to compete for a good job or career.
" Be proud to call Camden home.
Excerpted from, "A Vision for the Recovery of Camden", PICO Update Newsletter, Fall 2002.
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