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Stay Healthy Longer

Community recreation centers offer many programs that help benefit both the body and the mind. Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly have lower blood pressure, delayed onset of diabetes, lower heart disease rates, and overall increased longevity. Exercise also helps increase white blood cells and aids in strengthening your immune system.

Reduce Stress

The benefits of sports complexes not only help the body, but they also create a less stressed mind. Stress greatly affects the community at large, and people who regularly use recreation centers have lower stress levels than sedentary people. Another benefit to the mind is overall happiness. People who exercise regularly are more than twice as likely to consider themselves happy.

Benefits to Families

Couples and families that play together tend to stay together. Family ties are improved by spending leisure time with each other. This effect even works with parent-child relationships. The sports facility management team usually has unique ways to help families participate together to increase family ties.

Reduce Crime Rates with Children

Juvenile criminal rates can decrease up to 25% when the community has a recreation center for adolescents to attend. A community recreation center gives children a safe place to play, keeping them off the streets.

Recreation Centers Increase Property Value

Houses that are located closely to newly built community centers or sports centers notice increases in property values. Studies have shown that people not only love going to recreation centers, but they are also willing to pay to live closer to one.

Keep Your Employees Alert and Around

Employees who exercise regularly used almost half as many absences as employees who did not engage in physical activity. Employees who had actively paid for membership for physical recreation are more alert on the job and have a lower turnover rate than employees without similar benefits.

Cultural Diversity

Sometimes, cultural differences can cause some problems in community relations and in workplaces. Participating in group activities can help to increase cohesion in both the community and the workplace. Sports tourism also brings more cultural diversity to many types of different events.

Boost Your Students' Performance

Students who actively participate in recreational activities have increased retention rates. In tests given to more than 33,000 students, researchers verified the link between active lifestyles and retention levels.

Child Care

A lot of recreation centers are offering programs that help parents keep their children busy and having fun. Many sports complexes are including areas for after-school childcare to help keep kids out of an empty home while the parents are out working. Some sports facilities offer many summer programs that can also help further physical and mental growth in kids, which can benefit families with two working parents. Proper facility planning can keep kids off the street while helping them prepare for their futures.

Public Safety

Some recreation centers offer classes that teach CPR and first aid procedures that can greatly benefit the community. These classes usually cost very little to attend, and some even offer free enrollment. Recreation centers are also seen as safe spots since the large crowds can deter violent situations.

Tourism

Sports facilities can hold large tournaments that can bring people from neighboring states. This increase of people can help bring more revenue into a city a few times a year. Local businesses along with the recreation centers see an increase in revenue during these large events.

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Why a Recreation Center? | Sports Facilities Advisory

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Community recreation centers offer many programs that help benefit both the body and the mind. Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly have lower blood pressure, delayed onset of diabetes, lower heart disease rates, and overall increased longevity. Exercise also helps increase white blood cells and aids in strengthening your immune system.

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The New Media Bureau | University of Cincinnati

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Community arts centers fill a range of niches in Cincinnati's cultural makeup

By Desire' Bennett

For nearly 20 years, Annabelle Johnson has watched members of the Over-the-Rhine community grow and learn through the arts. "This is like their second home," she said, referring to the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, one of a number of community-driven arts centers that are part of Cincinnati's neighborhoods. "We are family. That's what I call them."

And she sometimes tells them this when they walk through the doors of the Peaslee Neighborhood Center to attend various arts classes. Johnson, who is a human rights activist and receptionist at Peaslee, believes having a place like this for people in her neighborhood is important because "they come in here to learn."

Peaslee, located at 215 East 14th street, was started in 1984 when a group of local women organized it as a way use art as an instrument for educational empowerment. "Art is a tool that people can use to express their thoughts about their community," said Peaslee co-founder Bonnie Neumeier, "but even more it's trying to give a space for one to participate in it-it is a tool for empowerment in our neighborhood."

"Art can [also] be used as an instrument for educational empowerment for our people," Neumeier added. "There's art and then there are arts centers. Nothing against [places like] Music Hall-they're wonderful, but I believe that arts centers are more about the people's art and rises up from the members of the community."

Slideshow by Lauren Justice

On the other side of Over-the-Rhine, Elementz Hip Hop Youth Arts Center provides an outlet for young people between the ages of 14 and 24 to "unleash creativity and respect through hip hop," according to center director Brother Abdullah. "We believe that the youth have respect within them," he added, "and a lot of times it just needs to be brought out through creativity by having a place and a staff that are conducive to that."

Elementz gives participants the opportunity to participate in various hip hop cultural artforms such as graffiti, dance and rap. Social worker Anthony Jones, who refers many of his clients to the center, sees value in this approach. "I think that this facility gives hope to inner-city kids to do different things that are positive," he said. Jones often refers his clients to Elementz because he believes it gives them an outlet to focus on the good in their lives instead of "highlighting the things that they do wrong."

"There are some who are starting to come out of their shell and become more creative in their dance moves, storytelling and songwriting," Abdullah said. Through these collaborative efforts, teens that may otherwise be on the streets are in the studio working together for a common goal. "I've seen a lot of people, over the years, learn how to do songs together," Abdullah said. "[They] learn how to work together or at least learn to be in the same environment without bumping heads."

Hughes high school senior Terrence Smith, who plans on attending UC to major in pre-med, also has dreams of being a choreographer. He said he's grateful to have found the center. "This place is helping me to stay away from drugs and the streets," he said. "Here, I'm more in my element."

Erin Deters, program coordinator of the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, located on the corner of Clifton and McAlpin Avenues agrees that community arts centers can foster that feeling of belongingess. "I think that there are a lot of really great, big arts organizations in Cincinnati," Deters said. "We have a wonderful art museum and contemporary art museum, but I think it can be a little bit hard to feel ownership and participation for everyday citizens."

"[Community centers] can be a neighborhood revitalizer [that] gives kids-and adults-something else to do so it's a good community gathering space," Said Cincinnati councilmember Laure Quinlivan, the head of council's Quality of Life Committee. "It's a way to bring the arts, especially to kids, who may not otherwise have an opportunity to experience the arts - whether it be due to transportation problems or [other circumstances]-they might not ever come downtown to where the major arts centers are."

According to a study on public participation in the arts conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2008, arts participants are more involved in their communities in a variety of other ways, including taking their children to out-of-school performances and collaborative art-making.

Happen, Inc., a non-profit arts center located in Northside, offers programs that are specifically designed for parents and children to interact with one another through the arts. Tommy Rueff, founder and director of Happen, Inc., believes it is important to foster these relationships. "Our goal is to create a bonding time and to do that through the arts," said Rueff. "We've stuck to our mission from the very beginning of bringing together families through creative activities."

Northside resident and Happen participant Jenny Rush believes that this mission is effective. "We took our son to do the egg decorating and he had a great time and there were tons of kids there," she said. "In the first hour it seemed like a hundred people came through. It was packed."

Happen Inc. has had much success with the programs that it offers, but like many other nonprofit organizations, this success does not come without effort. "It's not different than any for-profit organization financially," Rueff said. "It's always a battle. You always have to be financially concerned about your future and what you're doing. "[But] outside of that, it's always being able to keep up with the demand. If I do something, I really want to do something great [and] make sure that there's a level of quality with all of our programs."

Through those programs, Rueff tries to teach Happen participants that creativity is power. "Everybody's blessed with that power and if they realize that they have it and they use it-not just for art-but in everyday life, that power of creativity can become like a super power and it can lead into so many different things within the community."

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Local Community Centers Serve Important Role

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For nearly 20 years, Annabelle Johnson has watched members of the Over-the-Rhine community grow and learn through the arts. "This is like their second home," she said, referring to the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, one of a number of community-driven arts centers that are part of Cincinnati's neighborhoods. "We are family.

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Why Do We Need a Community Center? | Wilton NH

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Community centers are not just for seniors, not just for kids, not just for families. They can offer an enormous variety of educational, social and recreational activities, tailored to what the members of the community are interested in. Community potlucks, singles nights, afterschool programs and tutoring, health, wellness and exercise classes, crafts, lectures, dances, music performances...to name just a few examples.

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With one-third of low income individuals in Windsor living in very low income neighbourhoods, a rate that is highest in Canada, the United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County and our partners recognize that to help with neighbourhood renewal, community centres play a vital role as an anchor. They are places where people of all ages can gather to enrich their bodies and minds, as well as foster feelings of community and civic pride. For the Glengarry-Marentette neighbourhood, Windsor Water World is that anchor. For a neighbourhood that has struggled, and been identified by United Way and its partners for programs and support, the loss of such a community pillar would be a setback to the improvements we are seeing.

Although Water World is no longer home to a swimming pool, which has driven down overall attendance at the facility, it is home to after school programs and other neighbourhood activities. In 2014 these after school programs had over 12,000 visits from school-aged children. The fitness facility is only one of two in the downtown core and has nearly 400 members who pay an annual membership fee that is nearly half the rate of other nearby facilities. The centre is also home to the Ontario Early Years Centre (OEYC) which provides early childhood education and parental support free of charge, four days a week. Additionally, rooms and facilities in Water World were rented out to the community for use in events, meetings, parties and gatherings over 190 times in 2014. In fact, Water World is seen as such a vital hub that until the recent closure announcement, United Way and its partners had been examining opportunities to offer new programs housed in this facility.

For these reasons and more, the loss of a community centre like Water World would pose a significant and negative impact on the surrounding neighbourhood. There is a broad catalogue of research that shows the connections between barriers to local access to programs and facilities in neighbourhoods, with a rise in indicators of poverty and poor health, such as declining childhood literacy rates or a rise in obesity rates.

The loss of local after school programs which encourage childhood literacy and education, local fitness facilities which improve the health and wellbeing of residents, and facilities for community events and functions may not only impact the local neighbourhood, but the city as a whole. The potential consequences of this are illustrated in the United Way's 2014 Cost of Poverty report which estimates many of the costs borne by taxpayers and society if poverty is not addressed in our community. Poverty is linked to poor health, reduced productivity, and criminal activity. United Way estimates that the burden this places on governments and taxpayers equates to somewhere between $459-629 million annually in Windsor-Essex.

Although the closure of one facility may not immediately increase these costs, the truth is that all of these costs can be eliminated. We can help lift people out of poverty by providing supports like the Windsor Water World community centre which acts as a hub for the community and enables access to programs and service for those who need it most.

Currently there is no other facility in the Glengarry-Marentette area that could offer all of the services provided at Water World. With no announcement of an updated timeline from the Catholic School Board to redevelop the location, it will likely be some time before it is available to the community again. With space for social, health and after school programs at a premium in the downtown core, the gap created by this closure will place additional strains on local residents as the programs will be forced to relocate farther from the neighbourhood.

We would ask City Council to reconsider the recommendation to close Windsor Water World, as it sets back the progress being made to the development of a thriving neighbourhood in the city's core at a time when we should be looking for innovative ways to eliminate these costs.

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With one-third of low income individuals in Windsor living in very low income neighbourhoods, a rate that is highest in Canada, the United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County and our partners recognize that to help with neighbourhood renewal, community centres play a vital role as an anchor.

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In 2005, the Center asked several people whose work involves community building this simple question, and got some not-so-simple answers.

To me a community is a group of individuals connected to each other by one or more attribute(s). The element that links them together is at the core, and is the essence of the group. Just as denoted by the root and the suffix of the word (common-unity), a certain segment of the population is united by a familiar thread. In the field of Public Health, we see community as a group of folks that are at risk of being infected or affected by certain types of diseases based on their demographic, social, and economic status. A community is a familiar thread used to bring people together to advocate and support each other in the fight to overcome those threats. As human beings, we need a sense of belonging, and that sense of belonging is what connects us to the many relationships we develop. Communities are also rich in resources, that is where their collective aspect comes into play. We are all members of many communities (family, work, neighborhood, etc.), and we constantly move in and out of them, depending on the situation. Community is where we find comfort in difficult times. When things are not going well in one community, we have the option to move to another. For me, the community is where one finds the balance between physical and mental fitness.

Most people in today's world rely on a community for practical purposes. The necessities of life rarely come from one's own hands, but rather from a complicated "web of mutuality," as Martin Luther King, Jr. once phrased it. While most people need to be part of a community for life's necessities, most people want to be part of a community because there is something indescribably lovely about being a part of a group of people who share something more substantial than geographical location. . . something they feel passionately about. Something that, when shared, makes individuals seem less lonely. A community is a safe place.

But there is something potentially dangerous about communities. A community that is safe, comfortable, and trusting can be so enticing that individuals can forget about the world outside of their community, or regard other communities with subtle prejudices.

I am a member of the Sudbury community, an affluent suburb of Boston. While I work to give back to my community, I also need to spend some time away from Sudbury, to know what life is like in Bolivia, in the American South, or in Roxbury, the inner city neighborhood where the Food Project does a lot of its work. I need to go to these places to remind myself that this way of life I am used to is not the only way or the best way. I need to be reminded that, while I give to my community, other communities are no less deserving. I need to be reminded that when I form a connection with someone based on common experience, it is not because that someone is from Sudbury. It is because we are both human beings, and I am part of a global community.

In the silence of an early morning walk recently, the crystal song of a scarlet red cardinal atop an oak tree awakened me more fully. As I stood listening to him and his mate in a nearby tree serenading each other, a couple walking their dog joined me. Without speaking a word, it was clear we were enchanted by the gift of their song, and we joined together briefly in a community of celebration for the gifts of Nature.

The new light, the morning hymn, and the momentary connection with other travelers evoked images from other communities. Each of these whether for learning, work, healing, prayer, or friendship creates for us a safe experience of belonging, purpose, and shared values. In them, each of us encounters who we are and what our gifts are.

In the Sufi tradition, it is taught that the primary purpose of life is to awaken to the essence of who we are. Once we do so, we are invited to lovingly embrace this realization. The gift of community is that it offers each of us the fire of affirmation and support to achieve this. . . even on those days when we feel no fire.

But at that time we can recall the words of Thich Nhat Hanh: "I ask all of you to hold up your hands and tell me the truth. Do you believe, as I do, that someone in our hamlet is keeping the fire alive?"

Community - meaning for me "nurturing human connection" - is our survival. We humans wither outside of community. It isn't a luxury, a nice thing; community is essential to our well being.

Inclusion in the social life of society is community's foundation. By inclusion I mean universal access to entry, starting with legal protections against exclusion - racial discrimination, for example - but going far, far beyond. Inclusion means access to jobs with fair pay, decent shelter, effective schools, and reliable health care. If you deprive "a man of a job or an income," said Martin Luther King, Jr., "you are in substance saying to that man that he has no right to exist...it is murder, psychologically..."

Yet today the ethic in ascendance is exclusion. We have allowed the government to let the minimum wage lose a quarter of its value in thirty years. One out of every five jobs in the U.S. will not lift a family of four out of poverty. And we've allowed health care to become unattainable by so many that America now ranks 42nd among the world's nations in infant survival.

This profoundly disturbing assault on community calls us to accept an irony: We must risk exclusion - alienating or at least disturbing others - to become advocates for inclusion in community. That may mean speaking our minds even if doing so triggers discomfort in others, reaching out to those excluded even when it feels awkward, engaging in visible civic public action such as a vigil or door-to-door education even where we risk angry rejection.

Appreciating that community is essential to human well being calls us to a particular kind of courage: walking with our fear of exclusion in order to stand up for inclusion.

Community is about growing with others. I grew up surrounded by a culturally rich and loving community which has shaped my identity and pride as a black Latina woman. I have been blessed to be around young people and families ever engaged in improving the vitality of their community. Now, thirty five years into my life, I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Everyday, I get to meet with young people. I have the opportunity to be there in their lives during some of their most difficult and distressing moments. Because of who these young people are, and because of the love I have received, I strive to be the best physician I can be and to serve those who need me most.

In the process, my spirituality has been a central stabilizing and informing force in my life, one that has been very personal, very quiet and that has nevertheless guided every one of my life choices. This interface between community, medicine, and personal faith started with an early and long-standing fascination with the world around me. My mind was ignited by a love of science and medicine, and reliant on the power of community and deep respect and appreciation for healing. This attitude towards the world was inspired by my grandmother my mother, and the elders around me who took the time to care. This is what community is about... taking care of each other.

I accepted the invitation to write for the BRC newsletter as a way to reflect briefly upon my own questions about community-building after twelve years of teaching and developing Asian American Studies in both university and street settings with students from urban immigrant/refugee communities. I was first drawn to Asian American Studies, and ethnic studies in general, because of its revolutionary commitments to community-building, justice-centered education, and hands-on, practical work. I have always felt that the best places to learn/teach are not behind the closed doors of an ivory tower but where people are experiencing marginalization and exclusion from decision-making power and resource-rich opportunities.

Several years ago, that was all theory. After I listened carefully to how young people and their families experienced problems first-hand and after I realized that they had always been at the forefront in fighting for a just and healthy community for all, I had begun to see things from their perspective and apply myself to keeping their-our-dreams alive. Since I started working at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, I have become a U.S. resident, and like many of the students and community members that I work with, I also found my life becoming more and more tied to the political and social situation of immigrant communities/communities of color in U.S. society.

So, why is community important? Because community saves us from the isolation and alienation we fear. Because in the real world people have no choice. Because community is about finding each other and a place we can call home. But we are also compelled to build community not only because we are survivors in an existing world order but because we bring differences to a society that erases our differences. By dealing with differences we confront the question of the social and economic foundations of our society. By building community we put some order in the fragmented world.

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What Is Community, and Why Is It Important?

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In 2005, the Center asked several people whose work involves community building this simple question, and got some not-so-simple answers. To me a community is a group of individuals connected to each other by one or more attribute(s). The element that links them together is at the core, and is the essence of the group.

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With a calendar overflowing with work, school, and church activities, it can be hard to find time to spend with friends.

Enter the community center.

Do you find that you see neighbors and the parents of your children's friends ONLY when you visit your local libraries, community, and recreation centers? Do you schedule play dates after library storytimes? Or enroll your children in the same dance class so that you can hang out with your friend while the kids are in class?

Some people don't take advantage of community and recreation centers at all, some folks find themselves at the library several times a week. How important are these places to you and your family?

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How Important are Local Community Centers to Your Family?

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With a calendar overflowing with work, school, and church activities, it can be hard to find time to spend with friends. Enter the community center. Do you find that you see neighbors and the parents of your children's friends ONLY when you visit your local libraries, community, and recreation centers?