The Justice

Brandeis students helped beautify the Prospect Hill Terrace community, a low-income housing development in Waltham, by planting 14 community and individual flower and vegetable gardens last Sunday.

Sunday's activities were a continuation of work started last semester in Prof. Ellen Schattschneider's (ANTH) "Anthropology of Gender" class, a part of Brandeis' plans to encourage community engagement.

Approximately 60 students from Prof. Laura Goldin's (AMST) "Greening Campus and Community" class, Prof. Mark Auslander's (ANTH) "Introduction to the Comparative Study of Humans" class, and Partners for Civic Engagement, a new first-year living community in North Quad for students who share an interest in community service and want to volunteer regularly, worked with tenants on cleanup projects for their homes. The group's work ranged from planting flower bulbs and trees to weeding gardens. Participants also painted a shelf for the community center decorated with the local children's handprints.

Auslander explained that the Prospect Hill Terrace community has about 140 units for low-income families, and about 100 of these units are currently occupied. There are many families on the wait list due to lack of subsidized housing in the area. The community additionally faces infrastructure problems, such as pest infestation, mold, severe maintenance challenges and social isolation, according to Auslander.

Brandeis students and faculty have been collaborating with the tenants to learn about the improvements they need to make on their gardens and homes. Goldin said, "We are fortunate to be able to work with the [community tenants] side-by-side and help bring to life what they envision for their complex."

Lisa Frank '09, a first-time participant of a Community-Engaged Learning class, said that the goal of the workday was to "help make Prospect Hill Terrace a comfortable and attractive place to live."

Leanna Ortbals '12, a member of the PCE dorm, said, "It is a great opportunity to give back to the community."

Elena Jimenez, a resident of Prospect Hill Terrace and vice president of the community, expressed her appreciation and gratitude for the work being done. She said she is "really proud of Brandeis."

Community-Engaged Learning, a program that combines academics and direct community service in Waltham, the greater Boston area and around the world, is in a partnership with the Prospect Hill Terrace community. According to Auslander, "CEL is dedicated to the core principles for which Brandeis is known: our deep commitments to social justice and intellectual inquiry."

Goldin explained that the long-term goal of community-engaged learning and the partnership with the Prospect Hill Terrace community is to be ongoing and sustainable. There have been three workdays over the past year at Prospect Hill Terrace, and Jocelyn Dorfman '10 said that this particular community workday "shows sustainability [because] we are still here."

The workdays have also inspired Brandeis students to take on more active roles in the development of Prospect Hill Terrace and the Waltham community. Anicia Fernandes '10 became involved with the community through her sociology class "Community, Structure and Use of Culture" last semester, and will now be a Community-Engaged Fellow for the older teens at the Prospect Hill Terrace Community Center. The Community Center is currently housed at a temporary location within Prospect Hill Terrace, but a permanent home is projected to open September 2009, according to Auslander.

Efforts to find a permanent home for the community center, as well as to improve conditions at Prospect Hill Terrace, have been supported by the Men of Color Alliance, the Waltham Alliance to Create Housing and Healthy Waltham, which, according to Project Director Judy Fallows, is a civic group whose goal is to "add health in community by promoting wellness."

Amelia Roy '12, a member of the PCE who has always done community service, said, "Brandeis feels like a bubble, and it is cool to leave campus and interact with other people and step out of the academic mode."

Editor's Note: Lisa Frank '09 is an illustrator for the Justice.

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