The dismissal bell rang at Genevieve Melody STEM Elementary School in West Garfield Park on a recent afternoon and children streamed out of the blond brick building. Cornell Moses Jr., 6, bounded out a doorway, stopped to give a school aide a hug, then sprinted across the sidewalk to his mother and older brother, 10-year-old Camarion Linzy.
Caprisha Norfleet called to her sons as they chased each other down the sidewalk: “Run over here!”
Norfleet grew up near the school and is raising her boys with the help of a community of family, friends and neighbors.
But violence has spiked in the neighborhood, and she’s looking for a safer place to call home.
Caprisha Norfleet, 28
Delivery driver, Mother of two sons
I’ve lived here, I guess, 25 years, since I was 2 or 3 years old. My mom was working as a (certified nursing assistant); my dad was in and out of prison.
I’m a delivery driver, little box trucks. My boyfriend, who has passed, wanted to be a truck driver, and I wanted to learn how to fix the trucks. So after he passed, I said, ‘I think I should go ahead and learn how to fix diesels, and that’s what I’m going to do.’
It was pretty good growing up here. It was pretty fun. You got to play rope, jump around, just play. There was not too much to worry about then. I honestly don’t know what changed, but it changed.
You have to be way more protective than back in the day when we could play until the street lights came on. Now we can’t let them out without watching our children.
I have witnessed stuff in the neighborhood. When I was 6, my cousin, he wound up getting in an altercation with someone. I didn’t see the shooting, but I saw the body.
I have family, friends who have been shot. Over the years, I’ll say I know maybe 20 people who have been shot. My kids haven’t seen anything like that. I keep them safe.
I actually witnessed my boyfriend get killed by his friend. That happened in 2021, in March.
It’s rough raising kids, but at the same time with the help of the community, it’s pretty easy. As long as you’re from here, you’ve been here, people will help you.
We hear the gunshots. When they hear it, I say, ‘Them firecrackers, they are really popping them firecrackers out here.’ I don’t want to say, ‘Oh, there are gunshots, they’re shooting.’
When you hear shots, you don’t go to the window, don’t go to look and see. Just bypass it, don’t even worry about it. Just ignore it.
I normally don’t let them play outside on the blocks. I normally take them to, like, a park in Oak Park or the movies. Maybe an amusement park, the libraries. I try not to stick in the area where I know there’s the most drama. I try to go into a suburban-type area, where I know we won’t be around other stuff.
We are getting ready to move to Danville. My brother is there. It’s quiet. It’s way better. They teach them way more than the regular public schools here because they’re so crowded.
When we visited Danville, they liked it. ... You can let ’em out, they can run and play football in the field with the other kids. Go to the park. Play hide seek, and just run around with the other children in the complex. So it’s very free, very free. It ain’t nothing like here.
There’s not so many kids that can come out, and if they come out, they’re stuck inside a yard or a backyard. And that will still make you worry, even if they are in a secluded area.
I think I’ll be moving probably toward November. I won’t miss it here. If I do, I can always visit.
