To the Editor:

Time flies. It was over 20 years ago and, as a new principal at Black Hawk Middle School, I mentioned to a group of staff members that I had gone to the Vera Court neighborhood to do some home visits. “You went where?” they said with looks of shock and disbelief. “I would be afraid to go there,” one of them said matter-of-factly.

Indeed, there were drug dealers hanging around and broken windows with sheets hung as curtains. When I left the neighborhood that day all those years ago, I thought, “This is not a good place for my students to live.”

Fast forward to the present. If you walk into the Vera Court Neighborhood Center, you will find smiling faces of elementary, middle and high school students. They are voluntarily participating in Rise, a college and career prep program, and character development programs like Girl Neighborhood Power and Life as a Boy. They are required to do homework, and academic goals are clear. This nourishment for the mind is coupled with nourishment for the body. We served 7,412 meals last year. It’s apparent that this is a home in many ways. The Vera Court neighborhood is now a good place to live.

The only constant is change. The Vera Court Neighborhood Center is certainly different than it was two decades ago. Thank you to all of the people and organizations that have been a part of this incredible transformation. We are excited to continue this good work. That is why we initiated Vera Vision 2020, a capital campaign that will double the size of the center and enhance academic programming. We hope you will be part of that legacy.

To all of my fellow Northsiders, thank you for helping us strengthen our community and provide a brighter future for our youth.

David Krause
Vera Court Neighborhood Center Board