Problem Children and Troubled Teens in the Housing Projects
During my teenage years I lived in the housing projects, a three bedroom apartment located at 802 South 7th Street in Nashville, TN. Ten of us altogether, eight children and my parents.
The neighborhood was hard on residents. Walking home from school or work I might have to fight a drunk, adult or teenager, who wouldn’t leave me alone. To protect myself, I had to learn to read the people on the street and plan my route accordingly.
The project’s crowded conditions and lack of privacy was a constant source of irritation and caused edgy relations between neighbors, inevitably contributing to the violence in the neighborhood. It was common to hear arguments and shouts in the courtyard area.
The projects scared me, yet I had no choice but to adapt, to cope with it. Violence in the projects was 24-7. There were no days off. Every resident, and there were thousands, was either engaged in it, observing it, talking about it, or cowering from it. There was no escaping the reality that, eventually, I would become a victim of it.
A few years ago my wife and I flew back to Tennessee to see my old neighborhood in the projects. From what I could tell, nothing had changed in the forty years since I had lived there, except that each apartment now had an air conditioner lodged in the window.
At the exact moment I turned the rental car on to South 7th St, my heart started racing. The disturbing memories of violence resurfaced. I snapped this picture and immediately left the area. Fears of the violence and deprivation of poverty still linger after all these years.
About the author: Douglas Wallace is an attorney, a successful entrepreneur and a published author. His book launched nationwide on October 1, 2009 titled, Everything Will Be All Right, is an engaging memoir about the riveting journey of a child desperately seeking to escape the vicious cycle of poverty. In December 2009, the memoir won the prestigious Indie Bound Next List Notable Award in the best non-fiction category. Book awards are chosen by a majority of votes from members of the American Book Sellers Association. The book can be purchased on the Internet at Amazon.
I’ve been driving by projects on my way to and from work, just on the outskirts of town (Savannah), for years now. They look so desolate, isolated and sad. I’ve always wondered what it was like to live there. It’s very sad that these places exist in our country.
Doug, my family is planting a church at Kirkpatrick Center. One of our young ladies that lives on 7th attends our church. We are working to make a difference in someone’s life.
Patsy, God Bless You for what you are attempting to accomplish. Don’t give up, stay focused, and never lose faith. Best, Doug
Thanks Doug, I have looked for a way to subscribe to your blogs. Did I miss something? Do you have an rss feed so one can be alerted to new blog post?