For five years The Dewitt Center, a free community center providing daily programs, classes and connection opportunities to members of all ages, has served as the heart of Madison Park Village. In celebration of that anniversary, Madison Park Development Corporation will host a Pick-Up Basket Ball party for the surrounding community.
“Our mission is to provide a healthy and vibrant Roxbury community,” says Ingrid Tucker, Deputy Director at Madison Park Development Corporation. “Given what the outside world may think of our community, it’s important for us to celebrate all the great things that happen on a day-to-day basis, many of which happen at The Dewitt Center.”
The free event, hosted on May 17, 6:30-9pm, will include live music, lawn games, food trucks and an opportunity to spend time with The Dewitt Center’s art collection, which features work by local artists like Ekua Holmes and Jaypix. After the party, guests can join in a multigenerational pick up basketball game. For community members new to the center, it’s also an opportunity to learn about the programs hosted there.
Guests will hear from Eric Thompson, the executive director of a grades 4-12 tutoring program called EVkids and from Lt. Col Carleton Jones and Major Steffen T. Landrum-Alves, the instructors for Civil Air Patrol (CAP), a program that helps participants of all ages obtain their pilots license. Both of these programs are available at The Dewitt Center for free.
Erica Davis, director of The Dewitt Center, is particularly proud of the center’s multigenerational reach. Toddlers and senior citizens alike can find enrichment and joy in the space. Not only can community members of all ages benefit from the center, they can shape it too.
“We had the opportunity to have a senior who is a resident of one of our properties, who was engaged in multiple programs, host her own program at The Dewitt Center,” says Davis. “Now she hosts these annual events at The DeWitt Center where she’s highlighting males and females who have paved the way for this generation.”
Davis hopes to see the Pick-Up Basket Ball party become an annual affair celebrating the success of the center, immersing community members in local arts and showcasing the many programs available to the neighborhood. The center is always free and open to everyone. Whether visitors come to peruse the art gallery, to do schoolwork on the Wi-Fi or to earn their pilot’s license, they’ll find support at The Dewitt Center.
