THE CONCORD NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER PROJECT
LYNN ROGERS
Lynn Rogers is the Director of Children and Youth Services at the Concord Center. She has been working at the Concord Center for 36 years and frequently wears multiple hats of a social worker, a coach, a bus driver, and a counselor. Her expansive role allows her to see people transform and grow throughout their childhood and adulthood. She sees the Concord Center as a “home away from home” and works very hard to create a nurturing, stimulating, and positive environment for the children. In our interview, Lynn shared that the Concord Center has acquired the status of an “anchor” in the Southside community and is a “place for folks from 3 to 93 years.” Lynn is currently helping plan a retreat for adults who grew up in the Concord Center during their early childhood in 1993, 1994, and 1995. She also shared that it is the Southside residents and community that motivates her to continue working at the Concord Center.
DANA ORR
Dana Orr is a case manager in the Family Social Services wing of the Concord Center. Dana has been working at the Concord Center for 35 years and enjoys working one-on-one with clients to identify resources to resolve their issues. Dana secures funding for the Concord Center and manages much of the documentation and paperwork that funding sources seek to keep track of how the grant is being utilized. In our interview, they shared how funding has become more sporadic and has generally decreased over the years, thereby, putting the Concord Center in a precarious position. Dana’s commitment to support the Southside residents and to make their lives easier drives them to continue working at the Concord Center.
SONYA CORK
Sonya Cork is the HIV Care Coordinator and Program Manager at the Concord Center and has been working at the Center for a little over 20 years. Sonya enjoys working one-on-one with clients and identifying resources that will make their lives easier. The Concord Center was one of the few institutions to bravely and empathetically destigmatize HIV/AIDS by establishing the HIV Care Coordination program nearly 20 years ago. Sonya is proud of this fact and is deeply committed to supporting vulnerable people using the funding and resources the Concord Center possesses. Sonya recognizes that the Concord Center has become an integral part of the Southside community. In our interview, she mentioned how Southside residents trust the Concord Center to make well-intentioned and wise decisions, keeping the safety and benefit of the residents in mind. This trust was only acquired through the consistent, thoughtful, and hard work of staff members like Sonya Cork.
ENOCH MITCHELL
Enoch Mitchell was born on March 9, 1910. He began working at the Communal Building in 1928 when he was just 18 years old. He worked there as a custodian for 47 years and was known for remembering the face and name of anyone who walked through the doors of the Center. He was there when the Center was bought from the Jewish Federation and became the Concord Center.
A Special Tribute to
Enoch Mitchell (1910-1985)
David Drake wrote in a 1972 newspaper feature:
“There have been many changes at the Concord Community Center over the years, but there has been one constant - Enoch W. Mitchell, the custodian… The kids that used to shoot baskets in the gym there now have kids of their own, staffers have come and gone, but 62-year-old ‘Mitch,’ who started there when he was 18, has remained.”
Enoch retired in 1975. In a newspaper column describing Enoch
Mitchell’s retirement, Gladys Sporenza wrote:
“And Concord Center, at least for a time, will miss part of its personality. But it has survived the ages. It’s programs are many and varied within ancient walls that speak of [an] earlier time. And soon, Enoch Mitchell will be a name settled into the Center’s rich history.”
Enoch Mitchell (left) teaches Denise Cosby (center) the correct way to hold her cue stick Image credit: Patty Haley 1962
Community Members
MIZ PETE
Miz Pete is a longtime resident of Indianapolis’ Southside. After spending so much of her time around the Concord Center, once the Communal Building, she had only pleasant memories of her time in and around the building. She talked about the blending of people from different backgrounds, once even stating that “for a long time [she] didn’t know [she] wasn’t Jewish!” As time has gone on, much of the Jewish community has moved North, but the Concord Center remains a vital part of the present community. She mentioned that the Concord Center has even “gotten better” and that she would “recommend a Concord Center to every neighborhood!” She went on to mention that the Concord Center has always been involved in issues that affect the neighborhood and aided in supporting its community members. This is still the case today. She mentioned the one thing that people living on the Southside had in common- they were all hardworking families that blended together and would look out for each other. This was so much the case that when she moved away for a stretch of time, she still spent every day frequenting the neighborhood. Miz Pete has been an instrumental piece of this project from its beginning, and it wouldn’t be the same without her insight into the past of the Concord Center.
JUDGE WILLIAM LEVY
Judge William Levy grew up on the Southside of Indianapolis in a home at the corner of Capital and Illinois St. His family, like many others in the area, were Jewish immigrants and primarily spoke Ladino. He remembers going to the Communal Building often with his family and childhood friends. He felt the Communal Building to be a safe space for immigrant families like his own. Levy’s family, like many others, lost their home when I-70 was built. He spoke of how safe the Southside community felt for everyone, no matter your race or religious background. Levy went to School 22, a building that was later torn down to make way for the newest Concord Center building, which was built in 1882. Levy later went to Manual High School and graduated in 1947. Levy and his family left the Southside shortly after. In the 2010 Neighborhood of Saturdays project, Judge William Levy wrote the preface titled, “Lest We Forget” about the Sephardic Jewish Community and their involvement in the project.
ANNIE CALDERON
Annie Calderon was born in 1923 to a 1st generation Sephardic Jewish family on the Southside of Indianapolis. Her father emigrated from Turkey at the age of 14 in the year of 1912. Among close friends and family, the family spoke Turkish and Ladino (a language spoken by many in the Sephardic community). She and her family lived on 1145 Capital Avenue and Annie remembers going to the Communal Building almost every day. She remembers going to the dances every Thursday night, stating, “that was our social activity every week was the live music dance. I mean, there was no fighting between the Christian and the Jewish teenagers. You had to get along otherwise you couldn’t go to the dance.” She studied at School 22 in her early years and later went to Manual High School and graduated in 1940. After graduating, she worked in her family’s store, the Illinois Department store, until it closed in 1982.
SADELLE RAY
Sadelle Ray was born on September 12, 1932, to a Sephardic Jewish family on the Southside of Indianapolis. She lived with her family on 1045 South Illinois St. Her parents, Clara and Albert, had emigrated from Monastir, Turkey and worked as tailors during the war. Sadelle and her family spoke Ladino and English among friends and family. She studied at Scool 22 during her early years and later at Manual High School. She describes the Southside community as though someone had "picked up a village from Europe and moved it here." She describes the Communal Building as a "safe place... a way to open the world up to us." She remembers going to the live music dances on Thursday nights, being a girl scout, and socializing with children from all backgrounds. While she knew she was Jewish, she mentions that she "never distinguished a person for their race or religion... if you were a good person and we liked you, our door was open." Sadelle left the Southside after marrying and studied at Butler for two years to become a secretary.
Enoch died on April 29, 1985 at the Methodist hospital with heart problems ten years after his retirement from the Concord Center and is still remembered fondly by multiple generations of Southside residents and Concord Center staff today.