This section made me think about how important it is for children to have a steady sense of home, of having one place where they make connections, learn to trust people and feel supported.  It became clear to me in reading David’s tragic story, in how even through his rough family life he found strength in his surrounding community.  It wasn’t perfect, and it didn’t prevent the abuse, but it was much better than living in an isolated apartment complex where no one knows you.  David also had the wildlife preserve as a refuge of sorts and a place to develop his interests.  However, after urban renewal, this community where he was raised was no more.  And even as David returned with Fullilove, the area looked less and less like the place where he was raised, new commercial buildings in the place of houses where community members used to live, and he learned of deaths only by visiting.  It was interesting to me that even in places where David had so much suffering in his community, like where he waited while his mom went to the liquor store, he still was saddened by how much it had changed.  It was as though the only pieces of the neighborhood that provided him comfort and safety had been destroyed.  I also noticed that it almost took the death of his mother and coming to peace with his childhood that he could ever find “home.”  I think it speaks volumes when a homeless shelter is a person’s first true sense that they belong somewhere.

In seeing how David’s life progressed, I couldn’t help but think of the old maxim “it takes a village to raise a child.”  Urban renewal may seek to make economic advancements for the community, but at what cost? How can they justify displacing a social and economic support system for so many?

-Jacqui Larsen