Eastside Park Community Center

Eastside Park was once filled with crime, drugs, and prostitution. The city began cleaning up this neighborhood in East Greensboro in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, Project Homestead, Habitat for Humanity, and Greensboro’s Episcopal Housing built 60 homes and renovated 50 apartments. Westminster’s session discussed addressing racial divisions in Greensboro. At a housing summit in the spring of 2000, Cindy Higgins and Linda Jones from Eastside Park talked about building a partnership. Listening sessions were conducted, and the overarching theme from this neighborhood was that they were "losing their children."

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An after-school program started at Marie Stamey’s house, but they soon ran out of space. That is when the idea of building a community center was introduced. More partners began to surface. North Carolina A&T State University, Crown Automotive, the Rotary Clubs, John Lomax Construction, VF Corporation, Jefferson-Pilot, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity came together. It was a long process before building began. The land was acquired from the city, funds were raised, and construction started in April 2002. The Eastside Park Community Center (a 501(c)(3) organization) opened in September 2002, and the After-School Homework Help and Tutoring program began.

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Westminster stayed active in this neighborhood and at the community center for over 20 years. Eventually, leadership from both the neighborhood and Westminster changed. Then COVID-19 hit, which led to the closing of the after-school program and a downturn in activities at the center. Today, an EPCC board still exists, but the only activities currently occurring at the center are special events like birthday and graduation parties. This is enough to keep the lights on. 

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Just like any community, the neighborhood has shifted over the years. WPC has begun to re-engage with the neighborhood to be a resource in helping to revitalize the center as the neighborhood sees fit. It is their engagement, ideas, knowledge and drive that will bring it back to life. 

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Interested in getting involved? Contact Scott Neely at scott.neely@westpreschurch.org