SAN DIEGO
When longtime Mount Hope resident Demetrius Gonzales describes the neighborhood he has called home for more than 40 years, he uses few words.
“Lost, forgotten and left behind,” he says of the southeastern San Diego neighborhood of mostly single-family homes.
Little has changed there to improve the lives of residents over the decades, he says.
“Things are the same . Where are the jobs in the community? Education? There’s nothing,” Gonzales said.
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Community activist Charles Alexander says the neighborhood has long been ignored by the city. There are few jobs in the area and an obvious lack of resources, he said.
The Cultural Spring Project Director Emma Horsman (left) and Project Co-ordinator Emma Scarr MORE than 700 activity packs have been distributed across six communities free of charge thanks to an award-winning arts project and support from the council. The Sunderland-based Cultural Spring commissioned six artists to produce 720 activity packs and then worked with a range of community organisations in six council wards to distribute the packs. Emma Horsman, project director of The Cultural Spring, said: “We’ve been working with artists and creative organisations to create and distribute art activity packs since the first lockdown, but this is the most we’ve delivered in one go.