BELOW: YMCA might close Booker satellite center
ROCKFORD ? The five board members who govern Booker Washington Center pledged Thursday to resign after they appoint a new board to resolve a leadership and financial crisis that threatens the future of Illinois? oldest African-American community center.
After 97 years, Booker is struggling to pay its debts and board members say it has lost ? or is about to lose ? its nonprofit status. A bankruptcy reorganization may be necessary, said Rep. Chuck Jefferson, who facilitated a public meeting at the center Thursday so board members could hear community input about its future.
The meeting came on the eve of what traditionally has been Booker?s biggest annual fundraiser: BookerFest kicks off from 5? to 11 p.m. today at the center, 524 Kent St.
The center?s financial records were reviewed by a state auditor in recent weeks amid questions about how it has spent two recent grants from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Jefferson, whose brother, the Rev. Frank Jefferson, is a Booker board member, did his best to accentuate the positive. But many who attended the meeting criticized the board for not collaborating enough or not being transparent about how its charitable donations are spent.
Support was voiced for two very different courses of action: restructure the community center via collaboration with others or simply go it alone. There was no consensus about which road to take.
Ald. Venita Hervey said Booker is not alone. Northwest Community Center, Patriots? Gateway Community Center and others are facing financial uncertainty. The city?s community centers might be wise to join under an umbrella management model to stretch their limited dollars.
?We need to ask ourselves if we can support five community centers, each of which has an executive director,? she said.
?Instead of having five accountants and five different audits, we?ve got to start looking at true partnerships with people and not being afraid that somebody is going to takeover Booker. Because what we?re afraid of is exactly what we?re going to run ourselves into.?
Yahcolyah Muhammad told the crowd that ?whatever problems we have we can solve ourselves. But he warned those at the meeting to be wary of ?coded language.?
?When you?re on life support, that?s when you see vultures, that?s when you see scavengers. And the scavengers are looking and they use coded language like ?Why do we need another community center???
Resident Virginia Ware wants Booker to survive and thrive, but trust has been broken and she doesn?t understand the logic of allowing the board to select replacement board members.
?The fear is that personal feelings will come into play if the board is doing the choosing who the new board will be,? Ware said.
Winnebago County Board member Pearl Hawks echoed the call for leadership change.
?If you keep doing what you?re doing, you?re going to keep getting what you?re getting,? she said. ?Where is the accountability??
After the meeting, Frank Jefferson said the board ?has not always functioned as effectively as it should have.? But the larger problem, as he sees it, is a lack of public engagement in the community center?s survival. Not enough people have stepped up, he said, to help the community center or serve on the board.
Board secretary and acting President Aprel Prunty said the board would soon form a committee to interview and select new board members. The new board would hire an executive director.
Prunty dismissed the notion that she and other board members are too insular: ?We are the queens of collaboration.?
Jefferson closed the meeting by asking the public to attend BookerFest this weekend and volunteer at the community center to help it regain its former glory.
?We can point fingers and say who did what and when, but what?s done is done,? Jefferson said. ?Booker has been here for 97 years, and we all want it here for another 97 years. We need the community to come out and support Booker.?
Isaac Guerrero: 815-987-1361; iguerrero@rrstar.com; @isaac_rrs
Booker Washington Community Center
Mission: To provide an environment that promotes the quality of life, values, and the welfare of the people of our community through education, art, recreational and cultural programs, and to promote learning and sharing within the greater multi-cultural community.
Address: 1005 S. Court St., Rockford
Board of Directors: President Dan Lewandowski, Treasurer Sidella Hughes, Secretary Aprel Prunty, and members Willie Ashford, Lloyd Hawks and Rev. Frank Jefferson.
Fiscal 2011 revenue: $609,294*
Fiscal 2011 expenditures: $459,164*?
*Note: Booker Washington Center operates on a July through June 30 fiscal year. The revenue and expense figures noted above are from the agency?s fiscal 2011 Form 990, the agency?s most recent financial document on file with the Internal Revenue Service.
If you go
What: BookerFest 2013
When: 5 to 11 p.m. today, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: Booker Washington Center, 524 Kent St.
Cost: Free
Details: Enjoy entertainment, vendors, food, fun, fellowship and activities for the entire family
Contact: 815-962-9117
YMCA might close Booker satellite center
ROCKFORD ? The YMCA of Rock River Valley might shutter the satellite program center it established at Booker Washington Center nearly a year ago because community center leaders are unwilling to accept the Y?s help.
YMCA Director Mike Brown said he?ll recommend to his board that the Y abandon the small wellness center and related offices it established at Booker Washington Center when an agreement between the two agencies expires Aug. 1.
The satellite program office was announced with much fanfare in 2012. The YMCA invested thousands of dollars at the Kent Street community center. Plans were made for a small wellness center, senior classes, youth programs and opportunities to bring Y services such as youth camps, child care, education services and employment training to Booker Washington Center.
But ?it wasn?t long before the YMCA noticed a change in our ability to serve the Booker community,? Brown said.
?We, as a Y, were finding it difficult to communicate, get permissions to start programs and have relocated a majority of our services to other locations in Rockford.?
Rock River Training Corp. pulled funding for job-training programs at Booker Washington Center a couple of years ago over concerns about program accountability. Similar concerns led United Way of Rock River Valley to shrink the level of funding it sent to Booker Washington Center in recent years.
The center received no United Way funds for the fiscal year that began July 1.
Brown said he quickly recognized the value of the education, recreation and social offerings at Booker Washington Center after coming to Rockford two years ago.
?Booker matters because it is important to the community,? he said. ?It is symbolic of cultural struggle and a symbol of the survival through tough times. However, the time for collaborating is now. Booker has an opportunity to build upon its rich history and protect its center so it remains viable for another 100 years.
?Simply put: adults are messing Booker up by risking relationships that ultimately hurt our communities and our children.?
? By Isaac Guerrero
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