ROCKFORD - Precious Henderson spent the first days of 2017watching maintenance workers patch seven bullet holes in her living room wall. Police said it was a random New Year's Eve shooting.
Two months later her home was robbed. She then sent her two sons back to Chicago to live with her mother until she felt it was safe for them to come home.
Today, Henderson and her sons, Alonzo, 6, and Kameran, 1, moved from Fairgrounds Valleyon Rockford's west side into a newly constructed three-bedroom east-side town house at TheGrove on South New Towne Drive.
"This move is the best thing that's ever happened to me, aside from having my kids," she said.Residents began moving from Fairgrounds Valley to The Grove, a development partnership between the Rockford Housing Authority and Gorman Properties, last week.
The Grove is part of a long-term plan to move people away from Fairgrounds, a 210-unitHousing Authority complex Gorman previously described as "distressed and segregated," so it can be demolished and rebuilt as a smaller complex. Other sites will be scattered throughout the community. Sergio Velarde, director of human services for RHA, said the plan is to move two to four families per day until 43 families are moved from Fairgrounds to The Grove. TwoMen and A Truck was hired to help with the moves, easing the transition process for residents.
"I'm really grateful for that," Henderson said. "I could just sit back and relax because they're moving everything for us for free. It's really exciting."
Alonso Bingham, 6, hugs his mother Precious Henderson after thanking her for his new bedroom on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017, in their townhouse at The Grove. For the first time, Bingham will have a bedroom separate from his little brother Kameran, 1, but he says he expects his brother will still want to sleep in his bed. [KAYLI PLOTNER/RRSTAR.COM STAFF]
Among the things Henderson is happy to have in her new house: a dishwasher, a doorbell and a porch.
"And it's a real porch," she said. "At the old place we had little stoops. Everything here is much wider, bigger. It's an actual house. It's a big change."
The majority of families living at Fairgrounds are made up of single mothers and their children.Henderson said the proximity of her new home to child care, job opportunities and the police station make her feel like she has a chance to better herself, and the lives of her kids.
"Some stereotypes that I face living in public housing is that I'm never going to get a job," she said. "I have worked before, but staying on the west side made it more difficult because I didn't have transportation."
The decision to build The Grove on New Towne Drive was opposed by some residents in the neighborhood, as well as Rockford City Council members who said it didn't do enough to deconcentrate poverty. Opponents also feared that the Fairgrounds' troubles with crime would follow to The Grove.
Kameran Smith, 1, eats his lunch on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017, after moving into his new home at The Grove. [KAYLI PLOTNER/RRSTAR.COM STAFF]
The Family To Family program, a coalition of 25 faith communities in Rockford, has pledged to help residents make the transition and ultimately shed the stigma of being a public housing resident.
"Every relationship is different," said Scott Himel, pastor at Christ United Methodist Church, which has teams in the Family to Family program. "So every issue each resident will face will be different. What's so critical is insuring that we're supporting someone, but not taking away their dignity while supporting them."
Himel said building relationships with the residents is the key to making The Grove not just a housing complex, but a neighborhood.
"Feeling embraced by their neighbors is so important," he said. "The Grove does have a negative stigma attached to it that many people are working to overcome and show it's not that kind of place.
"Our churches are getting together with people all over town, not just to solve practical problems like finding furniture or child care, but building relationships with them and getting a good healthy rapport of trust established over time."
For Henderson, challenging the stigma is something she's ready for.
"There won't be a bunch of fighting and drinking and loud music all night," she said. "It's just going to take time for us to show everybody living in this community that we're good people."
Kayli Plotner: 815-987-1391; kplotner@rrstar.com; @kayplot