Social Capital at Work: Marylyn Creer and Woodlawn

[Community Highlights] [Success Stories [1] [2] [3] [Press Release]

Marylyn Creer came to Birmingham 25 years ago as a student, the daughterof a Baptist minister, and started out, like most students in the urbanuniversity setting of UAB, living in the city’s popular Southside area.But she fell in love with the city within a city known as Woodlawn, aclose-knit but changing community with its own post office, library,schools and stores. That’s where she bought her first home and where, somany years later, she now serves as the president of the WoodlawnNeighborhood Association and a key cog in the swiftly moving wheel ofthe revitalization effort known as the Woodlawn Housing Initiative.

Today she quotes Birmingham City Council Member Aldrich Gunn as shechallenges others to work – and to live – in the neighborhood while theytry to make things better.“I tell people, you don’t have to move to be able to live in a betterneighborhood,” she says with a smile that lights her dark eyes.  “Youcan stay where you are and live out your dream.”

For Ms. Creer, that dream has found reality in the work of the WoodlawnHousing Initiative, a pilot program of the Region 2020 visioning processwith funding from The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham andothers.  What began with the involvement of a neighborhood church hasnow found resources, technical support and volunteers through OutreachInternational, Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity, the YWCA,Neighborhood Housing Services, Grace By Day, Metro Changers, BARC(Birmingham Affordable Rental Communities), students from area collegesand universities, and governmental institutions such as the City ofBirmingham and HUD.  Some of the supporting groups are nationally known,while others draw from organizations with chiefly local support.  Butall have in common what Marylyn Creer exemplifies – the motivation towork together and make things better.

“When Mimi walked in, that was my hope,” says Ms. Creer, recalling themoment when she first met Mimi W. Tynes, former president of TheCommunity Foundation of Greater Birmingham and now working as HousingInitiative Consultant with all the groups involved. “One person can onlydo so much,” Ms. Creer adds, “but together we can do anything; we canmove mountains.”

Working with The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham has meant alot, according to Ms. Creer.   “When foundations become involved, youcan trust them,” she say.  “They really care about what they’re doingand they chose this area (for the housing initiative) because theybelieve in it.”

The spirit of cooperation in Woodlawn is important, too.  “At somepoint, no matter what our color or level of education, we can all windup in the same boat,” Ms. Creer says.  “The only way to survive is topull together.  The strength of the community is in knowing that we allcount, no matter our age or color of skin.

“Everyone has a right to be at the table, to be represented,” she adds.“I think people feel they can trust me because I care about them.  Thereis strength from the trust among the different groups.”

In recent months, Ms. Creer said she has seen even more growth incommunity spirit as a result of a survey done for the Woodlawn HousingInitiative.  Ms. Creer and others from the neighborhood were part of theteams going into homes throughout Woodlawn and asking questions – andthe enthusiastic response they received to that attention has been alittle scary.  Now people really believe that something good is going tohappen, she explains, “so we have to keep on.”

Marylyn Creer makes clear the fact that she is not alone in her work torevitalize Woodlawn.  The Neighborhood Association is strong, withcommittee members and fellow officers working hard on tasks that rangefrom keeping strip joints out of the nearby business district and totaking care of elderly residents with gift baskets at Christmas.  Alsojoining the effort are the members of Grace Church and its rector,Timothy Holder, who lives right behind the church in the heart of therevitalization area.  Newcomers to the neighborhood play a vital role,too, as they enjoy their brightly-painted homes and the chance to bepart of a new day in a historic community.

And then there are the young people of Woodlawn, dear to the heart ofthis woman who makes time for others in the midst of a busy career inmarketing at BellSouth. They carry the future on their shoulders, shebelieves, and she has challenged them with cross-country trips toneighborhood association meetings as well as work in local cleanupefforts.  Perhaps, she muses, one of these young people will move, withtheir families, into one of the newly built and newly refurbishedhomes.  “I was taught that you make your dreams happen,” says Creer, whogrew up with eight kids and two parents in a three-room shack.  “I wantto see lots of people’s dreams come true.”