Yesterday, surrounded by her children and husband, whose landscaping business helped to restore Prospect Hill Terrace, Olga Olmsted spoke about the need for a community center.
"Our longterm goal is to develop a relationship with Brandeis (University) to create a community center, a place where Brandeis students can come tutor the children," she said.
The former Prospect Hill resident's goal has become the mission of Brandeis' Community Engaged Learning program where students and faculty are involved in community outreach at the complex.
Yesterday, Ellen Schattschneider, who teaches an anthropology class at the university, said residents have written a petition to present to the Waltham Housing Authority asking that a recently vacated two-story day care facility on the property be transformed in a community center.
"This has opened up the possibility of residents taking control of that space," Schattschneider said. "I think the general feeling was now there is an opportunity to create a community center."
Although discussions for a proposed center are in the preliminary stages, there is a need for a place to hold community meetings, GED and English as a second language classes, according to Schattschneider.
The petition is partially a result of the learning program at Brandeis, where about 200 students in eight classes have made community service part of their homework this semester.
Yesterday, while some students conducted poetry workshops with the children of Prospect Hill, others spent three hours getting their hands dirty removing broken glass, painting new lines for a basketball court and trimming trees.
"The first day we came here was Sept. 30 and it was just an incredible experience," said student Jocelyn Dorfman, 19, while painting lines on a basketball court. "Now Prospect Hill is so close to our hearts...it's just a great way to get outside of our little Brandeis bubble that we're in."
For Nebulla Stephen, 25, an anthropology student commuting from Boston, outreach at Prospect Hill has opened her eyes to a new sense of hope and positivitiy.
"I live in Dorchester...There's this myth for me that Waltham is suburban and they don't have the same issues we have...I realized we're all brothers and sisters here and we should be connecting more," she said. "I grew up in public housing as a child, so I think there's a reason I'm here. I've been going on cloud 9. It's true. We can make a difference."
Brandeis' learning program academic director Mark Auslander said one of the best things about the project is watching different students and residents interact.
"It's been a wonderful experience bringing together a lot of students from different parts of Brandeis," he said. "There's international students here who are very interested in development internationally, but also right here in Waltham."
Efforts to clean and restore Prospect Hill Terrace have been coordinated through Brandeis University as part of an effort with the Waltham Alliance to Create Housing, amongst other organizations.
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com.
