Spring Break
Students to hold workshops at newly opened community center
by Jillian Wagner
News Editor
News | 2/5/08
Posted online at 3:31 AM EST on 2/5/08
/ Last updated at 7:14 PM EST on 2/5/08
The Prospect Hill Terrace community center officially opened its doors last Tuesday to the low-income public housing community in a temporary location within the housing complex.
The Waltham Housing Authority approved the center last fall after Prospect tenants, with the help of Brandeis students and faculty advocated for its opening.
Brandeis students worked to turn the three-room apartment into a temporary location for the community center. After renovations at a different site, the center will reopen in December 2008. The original community center was replaced by a day care center about 15 years ago, but was closed last year because of staff shortages.
Brandeis students working on Community Engaged Learning projects will provide after-school activities for the children in the housing development. The CEL initiative, started last year, integrates Brandeis' dedication to academic excellence and social justice with its obligation to be a part of its surrounding communities, along with various other groups at the University.
"I have really developed a deeper appreciation for the people at Brandeis University, both students and faculty. Everyone has gotten involved and has been profoundly committed to this partnership," said Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH), CEL's director.
According to Auslander, there was an anonymous, generous donor who gave them the initial money to start up the project. VOCAL2008, a concert featuring renowned slam poets held Jan. 19, also raised money for the center.
The idea to form a partnership with the tenants, which includes both building the center and working with them on issues so they can fix problems that arise within the development, started off as an idea in Prof. Ellen Schattschneider's (ANTH) "Anthropology of Gender" class early last semester.
Throughout last semester, students and faculty members associated with CEL worked with the tenants at Prospect Hill and other Waltham organizations, such as the Waltham Alliance, to create housing that would transform this small dream into a reality.
The Waltham Housing Authority approved the center last fall after Prospect tenants, with the help of Brandeis students and faculty advocated for its opening.
Brandeis students worked to turn the three-room apartment into a temporary location for the community center. After renovations at a different site, the center will reopen in December 2008. The original community center was replaced by a day care center about 15 years ago, but was closed last year because of staff shortages.
Brandeis students working on Community Engaged Learning projects will provide after-school activities for the children in the housing development. The CEL initiative, started last year, integrates Brandeis' dedication to academic excellence and social justice with its obligation to be a part of its surrounding communities, along with various other groups at the University.
"I have really developed a deeper appreciation for the people at Brandeis University, both students and faculty. Everyone has gotten involved and has been profoundly committed to this partnership," said Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH), CEL's director.
According to Auslander, there was an anonymous, generous donor who gave them the initial money to start up the project. VOCAL2008, a concert featuring renowned slam poets held Jan. 19, also raised money for the center.
The idea to form a partnership with the tenants, which includes both building the center and working with them on issues so they can fix problems that arise within the development, started off as an idea in Prof. Ellen Schattschneider's (ANTH) "Anthropology of Gender" class early last semester.
Throughout last semester, students and faculty members associated with CEL worked with the tenants at Prospect Hill and other Waltham organizations, such as the Waltham Alliance, to create housing that would transform this small dream into a reality.
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