Nonprofit reaches out to apartment residents, others in south Oklahoma City

As Chase Parsons and a team of volunteers made their way through Country Club Apartments passing out fliers and picking up trash on a recent Saturday morning, two girls poked their heads out of an upstairs apartment.

“Hey!” Parsons greeted them. “What are you doing?”

One of the girls, Haley Shields, stepped outside into the chilly February air. Her younger brother, Dustin, ran out in a T-shirt, but Parsons stopped him in his tracks with a question: “Are you sure you don’t need a coat or something?”

Dustin retreated inside and returned moments later with a hooded sweatshirt. Then, the two siblings tagged along with Parsons as he continued to make his rounds.

As they walked, Parsons asked Dustin about school. He mentors Dustin on Monday nights. Last week, they worked to construct a hovercraft using a balloon, a CD and a plastic bottle cap for school. Parsons knew Dustin had a progress report coming up.

“How’s that looking?” he asked, followed quickly by, “Shoulder shrugs don’t count.”

On Saturday mornings, volunteers from the Oklahoma City Dream Center visit local neighborhoods, including Country Club Apartments, as part of an Adopt-a-Block outreach program. The volunteers clean the neighborhoods while working to provide resources and build relationships with local residents in south Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma City Dream Center is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with Inner City Church.

On this particular Saturday, more than a dozen volunteers had fanned out across the apartment complex to greet residents, pick up trash and spread the word about services that are available. Their efforts were part of “Super Saturday,” a day of service and outreach.

Earlier that morning, dozens of volunteers gathered inside Inner City Church, 2212 SW 55, to organize for the day. They divided into groups, each with its own mission. One group was preparing to distribute food through a food pantry event. Other volunteers would prepare a hot meal to serve to local residents for lunch. Some were working on other projects around the property. Later on, a group would visit residents at Grace Living Center.

Before the contingent of Adopt-a-Block volunteers headed out to nearby apartment complexes, Parsons, who is the external relations director for the Oklahoma City Dream Center, gave them a quick pep talk. He rattled off some statistics about the 73119 ZIP code from a recent article in

The ZIP code produces the highest number of referrals to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs. It’s home to about 2,000 single-parent households, according to the 2010 Census, and 38 percent of residents are under the age of 19.

“That’s the context that we’re actually stepping out to,” Parsons said.

As he spoke, volunteers passed around vinyl gloves, trash bags and fliers about a free evening feeding program for local youth.

The group first walked across the street to Hillcrest Apartments, where volunteers picked up cans, a 7-Eleven Big Gulp cup, straw wrappers and other trash. Next, the volunteers headed to Country Club Apartments, picking up trash along the way.

A man who walked past the group on South Youngs Boulevard called out, “Keep up the good work!” and a child waved to the volunteers from an upstairs window.

After Dustin, 10, and Haley, 14, joined the group, they followed the volunteers back to Inner City Church, where other volunteers were cooking “McRib sandwiches” for lunch. Haley passed out cans of soda and bottles of juice from a cooler while Dustin brushed the meat with barbecue sauce.

Haley and Dustin have lived at Country Club Apartments for about 9 or 10 months and said their family has been attending Inner City Church for four or five years.

From 2011 to 2016, Oklahoma City police responded to and confirmed 72 aggravated assaults or assaults with a deadly weapon at Country Club Apartments, more than any other address in the city, according to an analysis of police records.

Dustin and Haley said the church and the Dream Center and the resources they offer, including youth wrestling and mentoring programs, make a positive difference in the community.

“There’s some little kids out here that their parents don’t pay attention to them,” Haley said.

Dustin added that some of the kids who come to their home to play ask if they can eat at their house because their parents don’t make food for them.

“Church really helps the people here,” he said.

On this particular Saturday in February, local residents lined up to fill plastic foam trays with food. Several men tossed a flying disc and a football on the lawn with a group of boys. Inside a nearby gymnasium, other volunteers were assisting residents who stopped by to collect groceries as part of a food pantry program. Rows of folding tables were lined with beans, crackers, pasta and other food items, and volunteers helped by serving as personal shoppers.

In total, volunteers served 125 families through the food pantry and served more than 200 sandwiches on that Saturday, Parsons said. They also visited five Adopta-Block sites — Country Club, Hillcrest, Grace Living Center and the neighborhoods north and east of the church.

Parsons said they started the adopt-ablock program about four years ago at Country Club, but they’ve since expanded their efforts to include other nearby locations. One of their goals is to help infuse hope into the community.

By building relationships with residents, they are able to keep better tabs on problems that might be arising, Parsons said. If they encounter residents who are dealing with difficulties, they can act faster to get those people connected with a solution or a resource.

“There’s a lot more that you can do by being present and going out to them and bringing the solution with you instead of waiting for them to figure out where to come for the solutions,” Parsons said.

Travis Judd, 43, associate pastor at Eastpointe Community Church, is a regular volunteer with the adopt-a-block program.

Judd said picking up trash is something that needs to be done, but it is more of an avenue to connect with people, especially young people.

The area has a high turnover rate, Judd said, so he doesn’t always see the same faces. But there are some people who have made an impression on him whom he has made a point to come back to and follow up with, including a young gang member whom he used to visit when he volunteered.

“The whole goal is reaching that young generation so that we can break cycles and habits for the future,” he said. “We may not always get through to the adults because they’re stubborn, but if we can get the kids changed, then we can change future generations.”