By Mylika Scatliffe,
AFRO Women’s Health Writer,
mscatliffe@afro.com
The Squeegee Collaborative launched the next phase of the initiative with a community engagement session on Sept. 13, at New Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore.
Tension-filled interactions between squeegee workers and motorists have escalated in recent years. The recent grand jury indictment of a teen accused of shooting and killing a driver that confronted a group of squeegee workers after an altercation near the Baltimore Inner Harbor on July 7 brought the situation to a head.
Just 14 at the time of the shooting, the indictment of the minor included eight adult felony charges that could cause the teen to spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
On July 14 the Squeegee Collaborate launched.
According to the website for the mayor’s office of African American Male Engagement, the purpose of the group is to have a cross section of young people who squeegee, business owners, community members, nonprofit and government stakeholders to work together to reimagine the city’s comprehensive squeegee strategy.
For the last two months, the Squeegee Collaborative has met weekly to unpack the root causes of why some youth opt to squeegee on the streets of Baltimore. Often, they are on street corners cleaning windshields in lieu of going to school, and figuring out how to provide alternative options, resources, and opportunities.
“This is an issue that has been kicked down the road for more than 40 plus years and I refuse to kick it anymore. The buck stops here,” said Scott. “The Baltimore I am moving us toward is one where no one needs to stand on a corner asking for money. The Baltimore I envision is one where all of our children understand that we are committed to putting in the work to show them their lives matter. We want nothing but the best for them.”
The Squeegee Collaborative is led by the mayor’s appointed co-chairs, Joseph Johns and John Brothers, along with Deputy Mayor of Equity, Health and Human Services, Faith Leach.
Johns is also the president and CEO of the Center for Urban Families, while Brothers is president of the T. Rowe Price Foundation.
They have convened weekly over the last couple months with individuals, equally dedicated to identifying the challenges that lure children and young adults into squeegee work. They have been discussing solutions and opportunities for squeegee workers to earn income and develop life skills that prepare them for adulthood.
“The common denominator for everyone here is that we all care about Baltimore,” said Brothers. “We don’t want to be here a year later discussing the same thing. We’re bringing the collaboration to the community so we can ‘lock arms’ to solve this issue.”
“This is a work session. The mayor’s vision is for us to come together to solve this very serious issue,” said New Shiloh Pastor, Rev. Harold Carter, as he kicked off the meeting with a welcome address.
After the introduction and welcome, the meeting was kicked off by hearing from a few young people who do squeegee work on Baltimore streets.
They were facilitated by Dr. Kyla Liggett- Creel, associate clinical professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work.
“We want to hear directly from the youth about their experiences,” said Liggett-Creel. She initiated the discussion with the workers by asking what they wanted adults present to know about them.
Davion Hodges, a young man who started squeegee work at age 13, began with a simple statement. “Squeegee kids are not bad at all.”
Liggett-Creel’s next question was why young people want to squeegee.
“We need money for bills. [My] mother might be late on the rent, and we need the money now,” said Hodges.
He went on to describe some of the positives and negatives of squeegeeing– it’s tax-free money and they get hang out with their friends.
When asked about the negatives he mentioned negative interactions with members of the Baltimore Police Department and remarks from racist drivers who they allege throw objects from their windows.
When Creel asked him to elaborate on some of the negative reactions, particularly the racist remarks, Hodges declined. “I don’t want to talk about that. I’d rather just focus on the positive.”
Hodges began by selling candy and water from his home, but that turned into squeegeeing on the streets of Baltimore. He then dropped out of school. Today, he is preparing to graduate from welding school.
Augie Chiasera, M&T Bank president for the Baltimore region, discussed how the struggle of squeegee are often not told.
Chiasera believed that a lot can be gained by simply talking to them on a human level. He described meeting Hodges at a community meeting one day and he asked him for a business card.
“I gave it to him, and he called me the next day. We talk regularly now, and when I hear a squeegee kid, I think of Davion -a smart, hard working kid trying to do what we all are doing: make it in this crazy thing we call life,” said Chiasera.
Also taking part in the panel were Lester Davis of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield and Ebony Thompson, deputy solicitor for Baltimore City.
“These kids work hard because they have to. They have to work because we have failed them as a society. They are children that just want to be seen and heard and have their humanity recognized,” said Davis.
Thompson described how multiple previous administrations attempted to deal with the squeegee situation. “We have to learn from what didn’t work in the past,” she said
The last part of this community engagement session was for everyone present to break into small groups and brainstorm solutions with the following questions in mind: What are the services young people need? Safety is a top priority for workers and motorists. What are some accountability measures for both sides? A member of the collaborative, whether it was a business leader or a squeegee worker, contributed to each table’s discussion.
The engagement session concluded with each table recapping their ideas and review of a guide on how those present could go back to their communities and lead similar engagement sessions to tackle the root causes of why kids choose to squeegee. The discussion guide can be found at the collaborative’s website at aamebaltimore.com
“From the beginning, our work has been rooted in equity and with a strong desire to tackle the broken systems that contribute to the challenges faced by squeegee workers,” said Leach. “We’ve been getting to know these kids for the last year. They are baring their souls.”
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