Dear Community Partner, 

We are reaching out to you, our neighbors, to support us in our mission to ask our Elected Officials to repeal and replace the current Request For Proposal (RFP) for 872 Morton Street / SPOSG, and establish our new vision for the betterment of our community for years to come!

Since its founding in 2009 Redefining Our Community Neighborhood Organization (ROC) has been planning for the opportunity to honor the life of our dear neighborhood child, Steven P. Odom whose innocent life was tragically taken on October 4, 2007, due to gun violence at the young age of 13 years old.

Steven is the son of Ronald and Kim Odom and the youngest of their 5 children.  Steven was beloved by everyone in the neighborhood and by all those who knew him in the larger community. 

In 2012, we, the members of the Redefining Our Community (R.O.C) Neighborhood Organization participated in an “Envision” exercise, in which we imagined the most beneficial community use for the vacant land on 872 Morton/Hopkins Street. When we opened our eyes and discussed our vision with one another, many of us described similar images to an outdoor sanctuary of tranquility and all of the healing elements nature has to offer with beautiful flowers, a flowing water feature, and welcoming spaces for meditation.  There are few to no natural green spaces available within our community where residents can sit and meditate, or participate in exercises such as tai chi or yoga. 

We presented our idea to then Mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, who wholeheartedly agreed and promoted our vision of creating the space on the land to honor the life of young Steven P. Odom.

ROC organized a special “Naming” ceremony in July 2014 attended by our civic leaders, community activists, neighbors, family, and friends in which Mayor Martin Walsh dedicated the space to honor the life and memory of Steven P. Odom. 

On that day everyone who participated took an oath to honor Steven's memory, respect the land, and use it to benefit the community.  Approximately two years prior, residents of Hopkins St. along with neighbors of surrounding streets (Corbet, Evans, Nelson, Crowell, Maxwell, Stanton, and West Seldon) and members of ROC prayed for ownership of the land and envisioned what it should look like and decided on a name it would be called.  In fact, the members of ROC called it our Sanctuary for a long time. The Steven P. Odom Serenity Garden was birthed out of neighbors’ concern, support, and love for a family (the Odom’s) who lost their child (Steven) due to gun violence just steps away from their home in the neighborhood. It was this love and concern that led us as neighbors to walk together to what was then a vacant lot. 

ROC has a vision for this land and has been reviewing drawings and sketches submitted since 2012.  We intend to maintain the natural floral integrity of the space.  We believe the larger community will appreciate the vision put forth for the Steven P. Odom Serenity Garden and 872 Morton Street.  

As a result of the Covid19 pandemic and after speaking to area residents about current needs and wants for our neighborhood, we have a plan that sincerely reflects what we would like to see at the  872 Morton Street land and the Steven P. Odom Serenity Garden combined. 

We believe the congestion, pollution, and extremely over-populated environment created by the deluge of businesses, cars, and people that already exists at 872 Morton Street would be exacerbated by adding housing. 

As always, thank you for your support and we look forward to working with you! 

#FaithMatters #FamilyMatters #CommunityMatters #LifeMatters

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The Steven P. Odom Serenity Garden will offer local community groups, organizations, and businesses the opportunity to have a meeting space, designed for rain or shine, incorporated with a Recreational Center for both the Personal and Professional Development of our neighbors. The COVID 19 pandemic has given a greater awareness of the importance public health plays in how we design our public spaces where we live, work, and recreate.  With that said, we will take into consideration that spaces be designed with the public health guidelines in mind.

In this space, we would like to….

Host certified workshops covering, S.T.E.M, Vegetation, Music Instruction (Instruments), Cooking Classes, Cori Friendly Workforce Development, Sewing, Knitting, Know Your Rights (Civic Education), Learn A Trade (Partner W/Unions), Art Classes, Music/Video Engineering, Technology Goes Home, etc.

Offer our residents the beauty of a short nature walk similar to The Garden at the Fenway Fens, with a Community Memorial Wall.

We want a feeling similar to Lawn On D with Black History, LED swings, football/ basketball space, a stage for local talent, Drop Down LED Screen for Movies (indoor/outdoor), Kingsize checkers, spades, connect 4, etc.

Pop Up Shops, An area where group/individual exercises like Yoga & "Chicago Step" line dancing can be practiced outdoors.

A greenhouse  / Area for young children to be exposed to natural native flora fauna and a butterfly park complete with a water feature and an Agricultural/Horticultural educational area to train for ecosystem services related job opportunities growing food-producing trees, shrubs, plants, and healthy herbs.

Secured Public Wifi Connection (password held by city/ROC only) for virtual meetings, Solar Powered USB Chairs), 3-D Printers, 50 Apple Computers, 50 Apple Laptops.

Find Grants, Partner with The Spot For Life Foundation, Unions, Colleges (HBCUs, Community Colleges, State Colleges, Private Colleges), Banks, Non-Profits, Businesses to financially sustain this development, creating scholarships to put 100+ youth and families from Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan per year through college to earn BA and enter dedicated careers.

Create Space For B3 CSO's to re-implement Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T/D.E.E.R) Program & Monitor Site)

We intend for the space to be a place that honors the life of Steven P. Odom, our children, and the family unit, the resiliency of our residents, and provides a respite quiet space that nurtures the needs and well being of the soul.