“I grew up in this community and a lot of people don’t know that housing projects started here in Columbus, and this area saw one of the first housing projects in the United States. Now we’re seeing people lose their jobs and we’re feeling crowded again because we don’t have enough affordable housing. It’s like we’re back in the 60s and we need massive housing projects once again. But instead they keep building luxury apartment complexes, like the one across the street, and none of that is affordable. One bedroom over there is $1,500 a month. Who’s gonna live there?

Money has its place. I mean, we all want to be able to make a decent living and live comfortably. But what I see here in America is that we’re becoming more concerned about ourselves, and that’s how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I’m not against wealth, but when you amass all this wealth, what do you do with it?

I’ve been blessed financially, and I take care of my family, and then my wife and I, we adopt several families, not just for Christmas, but we make sure those families are good. I know what it’s like to be the kid that gets picked on because you don’t have the name brand clothes. So it’s always been my prayer that if God ever blesses me with enough to spare, I will take care of the people, because I wouldn’t be sitting here if they didn’t do it for me. I was raised by this community. That’s why I came back here, to serve them, because I never forgot about where I come from.

So when people come to Central Community House, we give them a place to belong. If you need something or you are struggling, you can come here and we’ll help you. We do community dinners in the summer and we’ll have up to 300 people there, many of them are homeless. But we make sure everyone gets a hot meal. We have a DJ, arts and crafts. We laugh. For those two hours, they can forget all their worries.

But we need everyone to achieve what we’re trying to achieve. If you have disposable income, and you live in this community, ask yourself, ‘What are you willing to do to help your neighbor that’s in need?’”

David Cooper is the Director of Community Outreach & Engagement at Central Community House, a non-profit community center in Columbus, Ohio that provides essential support to neighbors in need.