Community Renewal Thru Rejuvenation of the Soul

By Rev. William E Coleman Jr.

This book is about changing a community from the inside out.

How do you change an Urban community?
"Rejuvenation"
When rejuvenation takes place, we are a new creation, brand new, new hands, new feet, new look new life, new ways of seeing, new ways of being, new ways of living, and new ways of being in relationship together. Thank God. I once was in exile, a stranger on earth, a sinner by choice, an alien by birth. But I have been rescued. My address has changed. I'm an heir to new dwellings, to a robe and a crown of life, for life, in life, life unto life. And I must share the gifts of God with my people. Thanks be to God.

A Blueprint for Urban Renewal
Community Renewal can only be achieved through the I-R.I.S.E approach adopted and developed by W.E.C. Resource Group and tested with the Cooperation and buy-in of a committed community group.
This is community building and capacity building modality
Brainstorm the community needs
I-R.I.S.E. is an acronym for Using Integrated Resources to instill self-Sufficiency and Empowerment.
First all that is done must be spiritually driven and grounded in scriptures and biblical references.
Find a community leader or leaders and develop trust. Start a Civic Association, select officers. Identify and Coordinate the resources to support the community renewal (I-RISE)
Bring the community together- working through the community leaders; determine the purpose, build consensus, determine an evergreen time table; meetings projects, How to's? Organize the short term base. Build trust and rejuvenate the souls of community residents. Make a connection with the broader community, i.e. businesses, schools, service providers..Strengthen relationships- build sustainable forums for fellowships, community organizing etc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9781456799755

Rev. William E Coleman Jr.

William E Coleman Jr is a unique individual. He knows something about rejuvenation of the soul. His soul was rejuvenated. He was forced to leave home at a young age. He left a rural country setting and was thrust into a satanic, “ I got mine and will take yours” environment in New York City. He witnessed how when a cub is cut away from the protection of family and left to fend for itself, a sociopathic behavior kicks in and survival at any cost is all that matters. It becomes a way of life; Unless, someone or somebody introduces you to a different environment. He saw the breakdown of the black family and the obliteration of the old black church support . He was a high school drop-out, worked in a factory, live alone at age 15. He carried a 25 automatic pistol and a straight razor for protection, and attended night school after running from Harlem to get out of a street gang. He met a religious couple in Brooklyn who became his godparents and nurtured his spiritual growth. They started the rejuvenation of his soul. He entered the Army at age 17 at the beginning of the Vietnam involvement to get away from the poverty and fast growth of street gangs in Brooklyn. He received his GED while in the Army and attended community college after being honorably discharged. He became a New City Police officer in 1968 in the middle of this country's social unrest.. He has a bachelor degree in psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He is a national Urban Fellow with a Masters Degree in Public Administration and a Masters of Arts Degree with a concentration in Theology and Pastoral Care from New Brunswick Theological Seminary

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© 2012 by Rev. William E Coleman Jr. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/19/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4567-9976-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-9975-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012906319

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Contents

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Communities are Broken

Who am I?

Some more personal history

The Seeds of

My Soul Rejuvenation

Achieving Community Renewal thru Rejuvenation of the Soul

The Problem in the Rutherford Civic Association

Neighborhood Geography

Some History of

Rutherford Avenue

The Residents and Problems of Black-on-Black Crime

History of Trenton

Change in the City

Pastoral Reflections

Methodology

Additional Resources

Community Connection, Involvement and observations

The Process

"Rejuvenation of the Soul

Emotional homelessness

Rejuvenating the Soul: Solutions

Defining the Soul

Conclusion:

Marketing Copy

Endnotes

Dedication

To my wife, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman who dedicates her life to serving God and her community. She listened to my activism and my desire to find solutions to problems that plague Urban America.

To New Brunswick Theological Seminary and Professors Smith and Dennis for never giving up on me.

To Emily Templeton who was the first to help me organize the first of many drafts.

To MaryHelen Cervantes who developed a format for me to follow to corral my thoughts.

To the families that live in the Rutherford Heights Civic Association, for their patience in putting up with me.

To Shiloh Baptist Church for being the spiritual training ground where God revealed the real purpose for my life.

I want to thank my son, Jared Chase Coleman and Minister Tracey Ross for collaborating with me to develop the book cover and Yvette Fibeuil for some timely proofing.

Preface

Urban communities are broken. We (blacks) have been open prey, especially in urban communities, since the abolition of slavery. Let me get to the point of how blacks have been forced to exist. Consider this: If you (the whites in power in our country) cut off the resources we will eat our own. We will attack our own. We will develop a self-hate that is difficult to overcome. We will become drunk with the wine. I say, Not This Time.

There must be a way to stop this runaway train. This train that allows others to define who we are. This train that allows police to do illegal search and seizure (Recent Supreme Court decision April 2012). This train that causes white judges to assess high bail for people of color and low bail for whites. This train that causes teachers to recommend a black child be classified as Special Ed because the child is black and bored and stressed because of family issues. This train that causes a local rag newspaper to put the face of a clown on the new superintendent of schools, who happened to be black. This runaway train that allowed our black kids to be given tenth-grade books to study when they were in the eleventh grade. This train that carried blacks off to prison in numbers disproportionate to other ethnic groups.

We were confined, served our time, and sent back to our community with no rights or privileges. The white powers won’t allow us to vote or get a decent job. Not this Time. They ended slavery for their own good, not ours. We weren’t prepared