CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Corey Brooks has been camped out for nearly three weeks atop the ice-ridden roof of a shuttered motel that he says was a haven for drugs, prostitution and violence in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods.
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CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Corey Brooks has been camped out for nearly three weeks atop the ice-ridden roof of a shuttered motel that he says was a haven for drugs, prostitution and violence in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods.
Brooks, the leader of New Beginnings Church, has not left the roof since Nov. 19 and says he is staying until he raises enough money to buy the building across the street from his church, which he hopes to turn into an education center to fight crime and gangs.
“I am up here to try and bring awareness to the murderous violence and crime in my neighborhood,” Brooks said, inside the surprisingly spacious and warm tent. “We helped get this motel shut down and now I am occupying the roof and not leaving until we raise $450,000 to buy it.”
So far, he says, he and his supporters have received about $60,000 toward buying the dilapidated Super Motel on Chicago’s South Side, which closed nearly sixteen months ago. A sign, attached to a barbed wire fence, still reads “Free HBO and rooms available.”
Nearly all the rooms have been destroyed, though, the pipes ripped out, the windows shattered and mattresses tossed into the outdoor hallways. Room doors remain open, offering glimpses of debris.
“The plan is to tear this awful building down and turn it into a community center that can be inspirational, profitable and helpful to the people in this area,” Brooks said, sitting on a leather chair next to a space heater inside his much tidier tent.
While it’s still not an ideal location to be camping outside in one of America’s coldest winter cities, there’s a temporary generator at the base of the hotel providing the power that gives Brooks, 42, the luxury of a flat-screen TV and a computer that he uses to post on Twitter and other social media about his rooftop vigil. But what about a refrigerator?
“Well, I am fasting for 40 days, no food, just drinking water and tea and taking vitamins to supplement,” said Brooks, who has lost more than 20 pounds in less than 20 days.
Brooks and his church started an organization called Project Hood that they hope will help raise the necessary funds and raise awareness of the prolific violence in the neighborhood.
“I think Rev. Brooks is a little crazy, but I tell you what, he is really trying to do something big here and we need it, the kids in this neighborhood need help,” said retired Air Force Col. Renita Alexander, who moved to the neighborhood in 2008 and is a member of the church.
While homicides are down slightly this year in Chicago, in the Woodlawn and Englewood neighborhoods gang violence and drugs still plague the streets. This year alone Brooks has presided over 10 funerals for slain young men under age 25.
“The last funeral I did that really pushed me to camp up here was horrific,” he said. “We were putting a 16-year-old to rest, people paying their respect to him while he lay in the casket,” when outside the church, multiple pops rang out — a rival gang had opened fire on the day of mourning.
Brooks said right then he asked some of the young men standing by the casket to hand over their guns. Four of them did. And while no one was hurt, he saw it as his breaking point.
“I am on mission from God up here on this roof,” he said while slowly walking along near his tent. “I’m not crazy, just trying to save these people and help stop the murders and the hell.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP Photo/Robert Ray)
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