{"id":43780,"date":"2018-09-17T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-17T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=43780"},"modified":"2018-10-22T10:46:47","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T13:46:47","slug":"the-kennedy-brothers-community-center-in-vila-kennedy-sustainablefavelanetwork-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=43780","title":{"rendered":"The Kennedy Brothers Community Center #SustainableFavelaNetwork [PROFILE]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Initiative<\/strong><\/span>: The Kennedy Brothers Community Center (Centro Comunit\u00e1rio Irm\u00e3os Kennedy –\u00a0<\/span>CCIK)
\nContact<\/u><\/strong>:\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Email<\/a>
\nYear Founded<\/span><\/strong>: 1969 \/ 2010
\nCommunity<\/span><\/strong>: Vila Kennedy
\nMission<\/span><\/strong>: The Kennedy Brothers Community Center is a nonprofit association managed by volunteers with the objective of carrying out social projects to improve, empower, and provide opportunities for the community.
\nPublic Events<\/span><\/strong>: A schedule of CCIK\u2019s weekly events and course offerings can be found on its\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>.
\nHow to Contribute<\/span><\/strong>: The CCIK is seeking financial partnerships to sustain its volunteer workforce. It also welcomes volunteers with expertise to instruct existing courses or offer new ones. The center specifically needs volunteers to provide support with graphic design and the creation of a website.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Vila Kennedy<\/span><\/a>, in Rio\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>West Zone<\/span><\/a>, has faced its share of challenges in 2018, ranging from\u00a0local kiosk evictions<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0destructive rains<\/a>\u00a0and a heightened police presence<\/a>. But on a Saturday morning in late April, a celebration nonetheless took place<\/span>\u00a0at The Kennedy Brothers Community Center (CCIK). With nearly a dozen volunteers and <\/span>virtually no financial resources,\u00a0<\/span>the CCIK celebrated its 49th birthday and the graduation of students in its first semester of courses and activities\u2014which included children\u2019s taekwondo, English classes, administrative job training, and caring for seniors. Following the ceremony, kids swarmed a snack table displaying the center\u2019s birthday cakes, while CCIK participants of all ages posed for photos with their diplomas.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Distributing course certificates\u2014and running the community center itself\u2014was Ver\u00f4nica Gomes Martins da Silva, a social worker who was born and raised in Vila Kennedy. She began volunteering at the CCIK in 2010, when the space transitioned from a community nursery (founded by Catholic nuns in 1969) to the center that it is today. Gomes has participated in social projects in the community throughout her life\u2014her mother worked at the nursery, and Gomes spent free time there in her youth. It is only fitting that she is now the Director-President of the same space\u2014one that has provided services to over 10,000 people since 2010, according to Gomes. \u201cI could be working anywhere else,\u201d she says with a smile, \u201cbut my heart is here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The CCIK provides a wide range of weekly activities and classes: basketball and\u00a0<\/span>music<\/span> classes for kids, women\u2019s empowerment conversation groups, pro bono legal<\/span>\u00a0advice, psychological support, social services, and\u00a0<\/span>work training<\/span> programs (including administration, human resources, and handicraft workshops) with municipal partners such as <\/span>SENAC<\/span><\/a> and\u00a0<\/span>SESC<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday the community center makes a big difference; it directly impacts the lives of [community] residents. We know this,\u201d says Gomes. On average, the center offers monthly services to more than 200 people. For each course offered, the CCIK receives about 70-80 registrations, a demand that exceeds available resources. For example, 32 students are actively enrolled in the English course, while another 40 students are on the waiting list. Likewise, approximately 25 students are enrolled in the taekwondo class, for which over 50 registered. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Despite its achievements, Gomes does not tiptoe around the struggles of running a not-for-profit organization. \u201cIt is a very big challenge, making the community center a point of reference in this area\u2026 It\u2019s really hard to do social work without any resources,\u201d she says. While the center has formed partnerships across the city, financial support is <\/span>nearly impossible<\/span> to come by. Gomes holds other jobs in order to continue volunteering as director, and none of the other ten volunteers are financially compensated for their work\u2014something that she wants to change to \u201cshow the volunteers that we have today how much we value them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Through her work with the CCIK, Gomes has learned that change doesn\u2019t happen overnight. \u201cWhen you arrive\u2026 at a social project, you want to do something, [you want] something to happen [immediately].\u201d In reality, she has found, the process is more complicated: you discover the need to plan, to organize, to make schedules. \u201cAnd this all happens much more slowly.\u201d This explains why, on the one hand, she describes an ideal vision of a \u201crevitalized community center, updates made, with many more partnerships\u2026 if we want to dream.\u201d On the other hand, she describes a more structured goal of \u201cadvancing\u2026 in a conscious way\u201d to \u201cgain financial support so that we can actually achieve everything that we need today.\u201d Both visions are necessary for the CCIK to achieve its goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the issue of funding, Gomes identifies two major challenges of working in Vila Kennedy. The first is the community\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>s<\/span>ecuri<\/span>t<\/span>y<\/span> situation, which \u201cended up fragmenting our actions a bit,\u201d she says. Insecurity has \u201cdemotivated partnerships,\u201d taking away opportunities to attract partners and volunteers from other parts of the city. \u201cIt\u2019s one more thing that you lose,\u201d she says. This makes the center\u2019s work more difficult, but also more necessary. Gomes says she can see the positive impact of events and courses held at the center for people who have become\u00a0<\/span>afraid to leave their homes<\/span>. She also sees the effects of creating a secure space for children<\/a><\/span>\u00a0who \u201cdon\u2019t have anything else to do. If we let them, they would spend the whole day here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The second challenge?\u00a0<\/span>Trash<\/span>: an issue that Gomes calls \u201cgigantic.\u201d In response, the CCIK has developed projects aimed at raising environmental awareness. Gomes contends that the problem is \u201cnot one of\u00a0<\/span>trash collection<\/span>,\u201d which she says is excellent, but a \u201ccultural question, one of\u00a0<\/span>education<\/span>.\u201d She explains that many residents do not realize that they need to leave trash in a specific place in order for the city to collect it; rather, they often leave trash at the doors of schools and nurseries, according to Gomes. The CCIK has partnered with other community groups to educate residents on this process. Furthermore, the center offers activities such as its upcoming community garden, in addition to a project that recycles unused cooking oil into products such as soap. \u201cThe environmental question,\u201d Gomes says, \u201cwe are starting [to deal with it].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, Gomes is motivated by a sense of optimism. \u201cI believe in people,\u201d she says. She emphasizes that \u201cthe <\/span>history of Vila Kennedy<\/span><\/a> is a really beautiful story, thanks to all of the social and cultural movements here. I believe that we need to revive these movements because the story has been reversed\u201d in recent years. But, Gomes continues, \u201cWe have a legacy, a marvellous cultural history<\/a> here. We have poets, artists; we have a theater\u2026 We have this wealth.\u201d She begins to list social projects in the area<\/a>, from the community nursery that predates the CCIK to the local health clinic that has partnered with the CCIK in service provision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of young people who sometimes go through many negative things,\u201d Gomes explains, \u201cbut we have brilliant young people\u2026 Kids who study, who dream\u2026 There are so many positive things that we have to show<\/a>\u2026. [and] we have to show what we have.\u201d This is especially true in a volunteer-run center: Gomes knows how important it is for people to see and believe in what they are doing. She calls it a \u201cquestion of reciprocity: that you contribute if you believe\u2026 in the transformation of the space.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gomes says that the center\u2019s work continues because \u201cpeople come, get to know [our work], and want to help us.\u201d She calls it \u201cstriking\u201d\u2014and surprising, too\u2014that people arrive at the center and not only stay but become more involved because they \u201cfall in love with our work.\u201d She describes the center \u201ccausing this\u2026emotion, this question\u2014this feeling of belonging, of responsibility.\u201d From that feeling comes a desire to improve the center, and the community itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the short-term, Gomes says that upcoming projects include a\u00a0<\/span>community garden<\/span>, a candy shop, and a partnership to offer a new course entitled \u201cThe Art of Living\u201d for children aged four to fourteen years old. More broadly, the community center is working to increase its visibility across Vila Kennedy and in the West Zone. While the space has existed for almost 50 years, it has only functioned as a community center for the past eight.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is hard work, but Gomes knows it\u2019s worthwhile. When heavy rains left the community center \u201cfull of mud,\u201d everyone pitched in to help, telling Gomes that \u201cthis space here is ours.\u201d Everything at the center is done collectively because \u201cpeople feel they are a part of the space… The meetings, the plans, [are] made in a participatory way, always with the volunteers\u2026.If we didn\u2019t, this wouldn\u2019t work. I depend on every single person here to keep this work going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n