CHICAGO — Would you leave the suburbs to return to your old neighborhood in the city, even if you knew it was filled with gun violence?
That's what Sheila Holmes decided to do, departing the western suburbs for her native North Lawndale because she preferred its "friendly environment."
"In the suburbs, nobody knows anybody really. It was too distant, so I moved back to a community I'm comfortable in and familiar with," said Holmes, an adjunct professor of psychology and school counseling at City Colleges of Chicago and Concordia University.
Holmes returned with her teenage daughter, also named Sheila, and recently was named "Parent of the Year" by Turning The Page Chicago, a North Lawndale-based organization that brings neighborhood residents together.
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North Lawndale through Oct. 2 had seen 159 shootings and 22 homicides this year, according to DNAinfo data, but Holmes said she refused to let the violence affect her. Instead, Holmes said, she wanted to help change her community by being a leader.
Neighborhood Square users had different takes on whether Holmes made the right decision to come home to the West Side.
NSQ user "shawn-mc" wrote: "So she places her kids back in harms way because the suburbs weren't friendly enough, forget about the safer schools, better living condition and longer life expectancy for her child, this was about how she feels."
User "TomWest" provided: "Good for her. Neighborhoods will get better when good people stay, and work together."
"AmyNobleSquare" agreed, noting: "So many people who don't come into contact with urban black communities think they're meaningless wastelands, and that in itself is judgmental and racist (ahem, people commenting from the North Side — maybe you need to meet more people from these communities and see what it's like for yourself). These communities don't need people fleeing, but staying to commit to improving the community. Homes is taking ownership over her community, improving it one person at a time. ... Anyone who thinks urban black communities are void of any good can see the proof right here. These neighborhoods don't need people to leave, but to stay to help improve. I don't blame those who want to leave, but the only way the violence and poverty is going to improve is by more community efforts."
NSQ user "mccluredons" saw both sides of the argument: "Her heart could be in a right place, but we have to give our youth a chance for a better life and share more exposure in the world. Taking them back to live in this area is paramount to going back to living in the rural South. I grew up in Lawndale, went to school there attended William Penn Elementary. I used to live on 19th and Hamlin. I am a full-time author, and I plan on coming back to Lawndale to lecture on the growth of diversity and change. But I have no plans to move back to the West Side. I do wish her the best and it is her decision. I just can't see how the children will grow with exposure in life by living in a community without many resources for the better. Children are affected by what they see on a daily bases, not just by field trips. Environment plays a significant role in development."
User "Reality1967" chimed in with: "Complete and utter foolishness. Endangering your child and risking the one life you have to make a point."
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