Struggling over the uneven surface of a Hempstead sidewalk I was approached by a woman in haste who started to describe a situation in which her car was towed. She casted the vision of a car she had to abandon immediately; the policeman who could not buy her a ticket on the LIRR; and the eight dollars she so desperately needed to get home. I was on my way to church as it was and I gave her three bucks. A gentleman watched me closely and smiled, shaking his head as I walked by and said, “Wow, she really beat you. Everyone around here learns in their own time. People out here are searching for the same thing.”
Over 25 years ago The New York Times wrote an article, “Hempstead Strives to Change Image,” depicting goals of “renovation, revitalization, and renewal.” Hempstead has since seen the likes of new businesses and fresh paint but the change appears amongst rundown buildings plastered with posters of events long gone. People plague the sidewalks for leisure and for business. Churches have sprung up between restaurants and grocery stores but gyms are nowhere to be found. A thriving Black and Latino population fills the multi-family homes, some on welfare, and some without healthcare. The neighborhood rests on the backs of the few mobilizing to see a change.
That’s why I have chosen to focus on Hempstead. It has not given up. Community Service groups such as Hempstead Rebirth are focused on uplifting the people of the community to see minds renewed. A pastor of Hempstead looks on at the neighborhood he grew up in, not with judgment but with love. It has been a while but it is still striving.
The anecdotal lead drew me in and made me want to keep reading. I don’t think I have ever been to this neighborhood but I am interested to learn more about it.