"If you are thinking of establishing your
residence here, you will see that our citizens enjoy an
outstanding quality of life" -Daniel J. Szostkiewicz
;
Mayor, City of Holyoke
;
(www.holyoke.org)
One night, after a trying softball practice with the Girls Inc. team my co-coach, Melissa, and I were asked to drive a player named Raquel (the names of the girls have been changed) to her grandmother’s house because her mother was working. We agreed and piled into the large, white, Girls Inc. van with Sandy, who always gets driven home. Not knowing my way around Holyoke very well the two ten year olds gave me directions in broken English. We finally arrived at Raquel’s grandmother’s house, actually a large apartment complex, and I proceeded to walk her in. Sandy came along to see Raquel’s baby cousin. We walked through the pseudo courtyard (a broken concrete walkway cluttered with shards of glass and garbage) and proceeded to the door. As I went to open the door I paused in shock and confusion as Raquel and Sandy walked right through the frame where the glass door should have been. I followed them through the dark stairwell reeking with the pungent smell of urine and lined with men who leered at us past their bottles of alcohol. None of this seemed to phase the two as they marched right past the filth and dirt. As the door to the apartment opened I became privy to a world that, though it existed in my backyard, I had never seen before. There were three adults and three children in a small three room apartment. The baby wore nothing but a cloth diaper and was held by a twelve year old boy wearing Bermuda shorts at least two sizes too small for him. Sandy and I said good-bye to Raquel and we headed back down the stairs and back to the van.
When we got in the van Sandy said, "I’m glad I don’t live there. At least I live somewhere nice". Being privy to certain information, Melissa and I both knew that Sandy’s grandmother walked down from her apartment the meet Sandy at the door as to protect her from the drug dealers that lived in the building. Sandy lives with her grandmother because her mother is in a drug rehab program in Boston. Sandy was taken from her mother and custody was given to her grandmother approximately two years ago. Her grandmother is a wonderful older woman who does everything within her power to help Sandy. She sends Sandy to Girls Incorporated, encourages her to participate in athletics, and attends nearly every one of Sandy’s games, even thought she has no means of transportation and has to walk.
During one practice, Sandy began to taunt one of the other girls on the team. I pulled her into the office to have a chat with her. I asked her why she was teasing the other girls on the team and her reply was, simply, "If I’m mean to them first, they’ll be scared of me and won’t be mean to me." Her attention span being relatively short, she proceeded to pick up an expensive art kit and told me that she used to own one. "But my mom sold it so she could buy drugs," she said in a timid voice. On one trip home with Sandy I asked her if she ever thought about going to college. Her simple, matter-of-fact reply was simply, "Why should I, I might be dead by then." I was beginning to realize that there was a lot more to life in Holyoke than the Ingleside Mall.
History of Holyoke:
Holyoke is a small urban area located in ten miles outside of Springfield,
in western Massachusetts. Holyoke was incorporated in 1850; at the
same time Holyoke was starting to develop as a planned industrial city.
Holyoke began it’s rich history as a hub of industrial activity.
Already heavily populated with Irish immigrants Holyoke had a broad base
of workers to draw from. In the mid to late 1800’s French-Canadian
and Polish immigrants arrived seeking employment. Fortunately, these
people arrived before the mills closed and were, for the most part, able
to steady themselves economically. In the early 1900’s, however,
the American Paper company and the Lyman Mills began to falter. By
the time Puerto Rican immigrants began to arrive in the 1960’s, jobs were
no longer plentiful nor economically rewarding.
Demographics:
Puerto Ricans are now the largest non-white ethnic group in Holyoke. They make up 33% of the population in Holyoke, and, in Hampden County the Puerto Rican population is almost equal to that of the Polish and Irish populations combined. However, while in 1990 only 8% of the white household income was under $24,999 per year, 20% of Hispanic households made less than $24,999 and a startling 12.5% made less than $9,999. The unemployment rate of Hispanic people in Hampden county is 5.5% compared to only 3% of whites. Perhaps most shocking is the fact the while 51.7% of Hispanics live below the poverty level, including 4476 children under the age of 5 and only 14.8% of the white population suffers in poverty.
In Holyoke alone there are also many alarming statistics. The dropout rate for Holyoke is 9.5% compared to only 3.7% state wide. There are less people attaining a high school education, less people attending college and more people looking for un-skiled to low skilled jobs. This, in turn, contributes to the high unemployment rate. People who don’t have jobs can’t make money and can’t afford adequate housing. Children who grow up in poverty are less likely to stay in school, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty.
Adequate housing is a major concern in Holyoke. While (in Hampden County) over half the Hispanic population lives in poverty there are only 1138 public housing units in Holyoke for a Hispanic population of 13,573 that’s not even 8%. There is virtually no way for these people to get ahead. It is these differences that contribute to the stigmatization and the isolation of the Puerto Rican population in Holyoke and it’s surrounding areas.
Downtown vs. Uptown:
The city of Holyoke is a very culturally diverse city, yet ethnic groups and cultures seem to be centered in very separate areas. The majority of the Puerto Rican residences and business are located in the "downtown" area of Holyoke. Hispanic and Puerto Rican business and cultural centers are congregated around Main Street.
The division between downtown and uptown is very clear in many aspects. One of these is the difference between living in an apartment and a house. As I was investigating the Holyoke area I began to realize that Holyoke has a very distinct pattern to the housing units. Apartment buildings are in the center of the city and the pattern continues in rings moving through housing complexes to single family houses. Those who live on the outskirts of town or "uptown" live in houses and those who live "downtown" live in apartment buildings, or, if lucky, in housing complexes.
This distinction is apparent in every aspect of life in Holyoke.
While attending a Holyoke Girls Athletic League coaches meeting it was
made very clear that the Girls Incorporated team was the only "downtown"
team. We were expected to do our fundraising at downtown supermarkets
and to be the laughing stock of the league. Downtown girls are of
a population that does not stress women in sports, and therefore are often
unskilled and confused during complex sports like softball. There
was a pervading feeling that we would lose every game again this year.
Girls Inc: A Glimmer of Hope
Driving through downtown Holyoke it is easy to get lost in the dispair and poverty that permeates the area. However, I have learned that there is one tiny light that shines brightly in the lives of many young Hispanic and Puerto Rican girls. Girls Incorporated is located in a small building next to the Boys and Girls Club. It could easily be missed with only a small red and white sign marking its existence. However for the girls that spend time there every day it takes on a task and an importance than is larger than the four walls that surround it.
There are over a thousand locations of Girls Incorporated around the
country. The Girls Bill of Rights reads:
"Girls have a right to be themselves - people first and
females second - and to resist pressure to behave
in sex-stereotyped ways.
Girls
have a right to express themselves with originality
and enthusiasm.
Girls
have a right to take risks, to strive freely and to
take pride in success.
Girls
have a right to accept and enjoy the bodies they
were born with and not to feel pressured to
compromise their health in order to satisfy the
dictates of an "ideal" physical image.
Girls
have a right to be free of vulnerability and
self-doubt and to develop as mentally and
emotionally sound individuals.
Girls
have a right to prepare for interesting work and
economic independence." (www.girlsinc.org)
In a city like Holyoke where the majority of girls who attend Girls Inc. are of Puerto Rican decent these are relatively progressive ideals. Puerto Rican children, especially girls, are not raised into a culture where they are free from sex-stereotyped behavior. Forming a softball team that requires full acceptance and compliance by parents presents a difficult task. In a culture where women are not expected to play sports parents do not see regular attendance as necessary.
Conclusion:
Socio-Economic problems in Holyoke stem from historical problems. Puerto Rican immigrants arrived at a time when jobs were beginning to become scarce. The Puerto Rican community never really had a chance.
Girls Incorporated is a structural organization that helps young girls in difficult economic situations to survive in an area where nothing is guaranteed. Contrary to the belief of the mayor the quality of life in Holyoke, at least for Puerto Ricans, is poor. While certain individuals contribute to their own distruction, the city puts little into any effort for ethnic revitalization. The city web site mentions little of the Puerto Rican community, although it makes up 31.1% of the population. Most organizations in Holyoke that are centered around helping the Puerto Rican community receive little assistance from the state or federal governments. Nationwide Girls Incorporated receives only 7% of it’s funding from the government. (www.girlsinc.org)
In order to truly make Holyoke a place where the quality of life is
outstanding, it is necessary to focus on the revitalization of the Puerto
Rican community.
Works Cited: