Core Problem #1: Unaddressed, systemic cycles of abuse are fueling an epidemic of mental unwellness, addiction, trauma, and violence.
Core Problem #2: Corrupt individuals that are supported, enabled, protected, or hidden by an institutional apparatus can cause significant damage by perpetuating these cycles. These individuals are often difficult to hold accountable and remove. These same institutions do little to acknowledge and support the people, spaces, systems and structures left picking up the pieces.
Funding Problem: Sustainable community centers call for long-term economic development models that require significant capital investment and a long runway for return. There are too few funding organizations who are structured to fund these efforts, especially in degrading communities where funding is needed the most. Those that exist, including major American universities with massive dowries, can do more to acknowledge and fund nearby community centers that deal with the consequences caused by their negligence and degradation, past and present.
