HARLEM

PRAYER TOUR GUIDE

GENTRIFICATION


“The Apollo Theater is a living piece of black history. Located in the heart of Harlem on West 125th Street, the theater has operated as a refuge for black audiences and performers from its opening in 1934. Artists from James Brown and Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill have graced the Apollo’s stage. In 2002, Michael Jackson gave his final onstage performance at the Apollo.” - IBW21.org

Right now there are plans to change the face of 125th street by building brand new office towers as high as 29 stories, more than 2,000 new market-rate condominiums, as well as hotels, bookstores, art galleries and nightclubs. Studies  indicate that as many as 71 African American owned businesses and their 975 workers might be displaced by these plans. While neighborhoods getting better and growing are good, culture and people being pushed out is not. Harlem is facing a point in history where its preservation of culture is threatened by the progression of the future. 

PRAYER POINTS:

  • Preservation of cultural landmarks within the neighborhood

  • Guidance over city leaders of future developments in Harlem 

  • Tensions between developers and those who call Harlem, home.


EDUCATION 

Harlem is facing an educational crisis with many students underperforming and falling behind in academia.  Students in District 5 DOE schools scored abysmally on last year’s state tests for grades 3 through 8. Only 19% of their students tested proficient in math, with 31% deemed proficient in English. Parents are worried about the school systems here and students are being underequipped. This district is struggling due to:

  • Reports of lax discipline, chronic bullying, and near-daily fights.

  • The lowest school attendance rate in the DOE of 83%

  • Disinterested staff, low academic standards, and frequent violence.

PRAYER POINTS:

  • Guidance for the DOE to address the struggling school systems in this district.

  • Safety over students 

  • Teachers who love Jesus and express the love of God in their classrooms

DC+ Partner

Before our Dream Center + program, all of our outreaches were run internally by our Dream Center NYC and Leadership School we once had. We have served in Harlem since 2016 in various ways ranging from homeless care outreach to community markets, and giveaways. This year we had a church commit to serving our Harlem neighborhood by taking on our existing East Harlem Community Market location. We believe the pathway for building relationships and seeing genuine discipleship take place within our communities is going to happen through the local church. We find it an incredible honor to be able to partner with our DC+ church in East Harlem, Apostles Uptown.

Right now we are at Marcus Garvey Park, a Dream Center legacy site where we used to do homeless care outreach. As we sit here in the park we want to take a moment to recognize the past work God hss done here while also praying over the future of ministry in the neighborhood. Our East Harlem Community Market takes place just a few blocks from here so we would like to pray over the following:

PRAYER POINTS:

  • Wisdom over our East Harlem DC+ partners Apostles Uptown as they discover new ways to serve their community. 

  • Continued commitment from our their church so that their Community Market may have longevity 

  • Growth in their impact in the neighborhood and that people would visit their church and come to know Jesus.