Victoria
We pull into the parking lot of the church. My eyes automatically go to the brown building that looks like it’s seen better days. The blue side door is shut and looks like it’s been kicked in a time or two. I step out and look around to the back of the church where there is the chain link fence falling down on one side and bent up on the other to give people access to get into the yard. The grass is overgrown except for the path that leads to the back of the church and the playground.
I leave Lexi and Kylie by the car as I make my way to the fenced area. The playground has one swing that isn’t even level. The slide is missing the second piece in it, so they can’t use it. The sandbox is filled with very little sand as the weeds have taken over and the basketball court is cracked in four different places, the rim to one basket is slanted, while the other one is not even on there. “There is all that field over there.” Lexi points from beside me. “We could even do a community garden here,” I nod, “and a soccer field.”
“We should head inside,” Kylie suggests and the three of us walk to the front of the church.
“I love old churches,” I tell them as we walk up the five steps. “There is just something so peaceful about them.” I look at them and they try not to laugh at me. “You’ll see,” I assure them as we pull open the door and step in. Walking into the entrance, there is a bulletin board to the right that has papers all over it. We walk through the two doors that are open and see the pews on both sides of the church with the front altar empty.
“Don’t you get a sense of peace?” I ask them as we walk in. The click and clack from our heels echo into the high ceiling room.
“Where do we go?” Kylie looks at Lexi, who points to the door on the side. We head toward the door. Once we get there, we see stairs leading downstairs and an office not far off.
I follow Lexi, who walks toward one of the offices and knocks on the door. “Shauna,” she says the woman’s name. “My name is Lexi Petrov. I’m from Make The Choice Foundation.”
“Lexi,” she says, getting up and walking over to her, extending her hand, “it’s so nice to finally put a face to a voice.”
Lexi shakes her hand as she looks over at us. “Shauna,” she points to us, “this is Kylie and Victoria.” Kylie goes first and shakes her hand and then I follow.
“It’s nice to meet you.” I shake her hand, and she gives me the gentlest smile I’ve ever seen.
“Let’s get Seth,” she mentions someone we’ve yet to meet. “He’s downstairs where his office is.”
I move to the side as Shauna walks past me and we head down the stairs. We make it downstairs, and it opens to a huge space. Folded tables are against one wall and there are colored pictures taped up. A small kitchen is off to the side and there is a woman in there preparing food.
“That is one of our kitchen volunteers. She comes in a couple of times a week,” Shauna explains to us, walking to the kitchen. “Hey,” she calls out and she looks over at us. A little girl who walks around with a ball in each of her hands smiles at me, as another one is sitting on the floor playing with two spoons and a bowl. “That is Kennedy,” she says of the lady, “and her daughters, Serafina and JJ. These are the ladies who are going to help us create a playground.”
“Oh,” she says, her eyebrows going up in anticipation, “that would be so good for the community.” Her voice is soft. “A lot of kids will be happy about that”—she looks over to her kids— “including these two.”
“We’re going to do what we can.” I smile at her as she turns back to her cutting board.
“Seth,” Shauna calls and a man comes out a door of the corner office. He’s about six foot two with blondish brown hair with black-framed glasses. “The Make The Choice Foundation is here.” She looks at us. “This is Seth, he’s the social worker who works for the church.”
His eyes lock on mine and I smile at him. “It’s nice to meet you,” he says and then looks at the rest of the girls. “I’ve heard lots of good things about your foundation.” He turns. “Do you guys want to head outside and we can take a tour?”
“That would be great,” I reply. “If possible, can I also take some pictures? I plan on pushing this on social media to get the word out so people will know about the before and after school program. We can even start a donation page that could help.” I look at Lexi and Kylie, who are off talking to Shauna. “I’d also love if you could tell me a little bit more about what the church does within the community.” He nods at me as I turn back to the girls, who are being pulled to the kitchen, as Seth leads me to the side where there are stairs leading to the back of the church.
“I guess this is why there is a path to the swing set,” I say to him, and he puts his hands in his pockets.
“It is,” he answers. “We usually have the before-school kids and the after-school kids come out here and burn off some of their energy,” he explains as I take out my phone and snap a couple of pictures.
“What ages do you usually have?” I ask him.
“The before-school program is mainly kids from four to about twelve years old. The after-school program is when the older kids come in. Then it’s up to about fifteen, maybe even sixteen.”
“How do you think they would benefit?” I ask him, turning to take a picture of the basketball court.
“It’s not even for the kids who come here during the week. It would be a safe place for them to also come to on the weekends when the services we offer are cut in half. A place where they can connect with each other and stay out of trouble,” he states.
“How many families does the church help?”
“Not enough,” he admits, and I smile at him as I take more pictures. The girls come out with Shauna, and we quickly end the meeting when we see a group of fifteen kids walking through the playground from the school that is right next door to the church.
I take one more look around before walking to the car with them. “We have to help them,” I say as soon as I buckle my seat belt. “Like, this playground is dire, and it helps so many families.” I look out the window at the building as we drive away. “We could even make it a community effort and have volunteers and the families come out and help us build it,” I speak up from the back as Lexi and Kylie look at each other. “I’m even going to reach out to a couple of garden centers to see if they are willing to donate any supplies.”
“That’s a great idea,” Kylie says.
“Do you think Kirby and Knox could ask some of the team to come out and help?” I take out my phone to start taking notes. “Jaxon for sure will be in.”
