EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was published originally in the April issue of GCU Magazine, available in the purple bins around campus or digitally.
Photos by Ralph Freso
Luis Gastelum once lived near the intersection of 27th and Missouri avenues, just outside the gates separating it from the palm-tree-lined oasis that’s Grand Canyon University in inner city west Phoenix.
It wasn’t the safest place to grow up.
When he was in high school – his family moved through the neighborhood five times in five years – everyone told him to do his cross-country training near Bethany Home Road and Central Avenue because it was safer.
And after he followed the advice of a high school coach to take advantage of the free tutoring offered at GCU’s Learning Lounge, his mother wouldn’t allow him to walk through the neighborhood to get to the nearby K-12 academic help center.
“My mother had concerns about safety,” said Gastelum, now a GCU freshman majoring in accounting and a first-generation Canyon Rising scholar with a full-tuition scholarship. “She would rather drive me instead because, as a parent responsible for both my younger brother and me, she preferred the safety over taking the risk.”
Those safety concerns weighed heavy on GCU President Brian Mueller, who knew students were just trying to get to school to learn and get back home to their families.
In addition to GCU’s approximately 25,000 ground students, 7,000 K-12 students are enrolled at neighboring Alhambra Traditional School, Synergy Public School, Saints Simon and Jude School – among others – around 27th Avenue, bordered by Camelback and Bethany Home roads.
“This is a hotbed of Arizona’s future talent, a hotbed of Arizona’s future leadership, right here,” Mueller said. “And they were walking to school around very, very dangerous things that, right now, you don’t see.”
In 2012, the university started partnering with the city of Phoenix to make the neighborhood safer – it became one of the points in the university’s Five-Point Plan to transform the community.
That initial $2.2 million partnership has evolved into a GCU-led collaboration of 80 schools, businesses, churches, neighborhood associations, nonprofits and the city in transforming the 27th Avenue corridor from a crime hub to an invigorating community.
Over the last 10 years, GCU has made $170 million in capital investments in the area along 27th Avenue.
“It’s the best experience in terms of collaboration I’ve ever had, and I’m very thankful for all these partnerships,” said Mueller at the Renewal at 27th Avenue in February.
The event introduced 27Collab’s safety efforts, highlighted by the opening of a new police substation on 27th Avenue whose facility will be shared by GCU and Phoenix police and will include a communications and real-time operations center.
Despite the decade-plus investment in the neighborhood, community leaders said there’s still work to be done toward eliminating crime in the area, known as “the Track” or “the Blade.” It’s where prostitution was prevalent, and where the Royal Inn, near Interstate 17 and Bethany Home Road – just in the background of Alhambra Traditional School – became a crime center for drug trafficking and prostitution.
“That was such a blight in our neighborhood for so long,” said music educator Marvin Scott, program and community engagement director at Rosie’s House and co-chair of neighborhood alliance the Berkley Square Neighbors.
About three years ago, community leaders, led by GCU, started to do something to address those blights, meeting frequently, gathering members and forming the 27Collab last spring.
Those groups persuaded government representatives to realize their shared mission.
“The university is more than the four walls of a building,” said Dana Drew Shaw, GCU’s vice president of external affairs and government relations.
“It’s about the transformation of the community, and that’s really at the heart of what GCU is and what the mission is to serve others.
“And you see that, not just on our campus community, but as it has the ripple effect on surrounding communities, as well.”
Alhambra Traditional School Principal Andrew Feight said, “The first thing was to get everyone at the table and try to organize all of our efforts. We found out a lot of us are doing great things. We’re just doing them as silos.
“The big thing about the 27Collab is giving us an opportunity to get together and see what we’re doing and where we can add to each other and highlight it.”
Many at the gatherings recalled the support they received as children in the community and wanted to reciprocate when it comes to safety.
“A lot of our businesses in the area will get behind that,” Feight said. “And they’ll be more than happy to get behind a school. Whether that’s with a vigilant eye, whether that’s a mother watching out for kids, whether that’s contributing financially or giving staying power, there are a lot of opportunities for businesses.
“I always recall a conversation I had with a neighbor near the school, and she said, ‘I can’t contribute a lot. I don’t have a lot of money. But what I can do is sit at my dining table every morning and afternoon and keep an eye on the kids that are coming and going and reach out to the police if there’s an issue.’
“That’s a story I never would have known about had we not organized this. And that’s probably happening in 100 different places. So if we can highlight that, maybe we can inspire others to do the same.”
There's been an increase in the perceived level of safety, even when you're thinking about who it is we're seeing on a regular basis and who our children are being exposed to.
Elizabeth Davidson, a parent who works at Alhambra Traditional School
Those meetings, which included leaders already active in the community, helped GCU alumna Andrea Northup, the university’s assistant director of state and community relations, gain an understanding of the initiatives percolating in the neighborhood – initiatives she became familiar with in her previous role with Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona.
The 27Collab groups shared a similar vision and passion to transform the neighborhood.
“We had so many neighborhood cleanups,” Scott said of the push for change in the community. “We’ve got speed bumps installed. We had alleyway cleanups. We got gates installed in our alleyways. We have support from the police special crimes unit to help in support of our neighborhood and the closing of the Royal Inn (by the FBI, U.S. Marshal Service and Phoenix Police Department).”
Kristen Davis, a parent who works at Alhambra Traditional School, no longer is afraid to park her car.
“A few years ago, I couldn’t even park without encountering a high level of prostitution and homelessness,” Davis said. “My colleagues and I were often approached for money or other favors. I didn’t feel safe getting out of my car.
“And that’s literally no longer a concern. I feel this neighborhood is safe. The area has transformed into a safer, more welcoming place for families and educators alike. It’s coming along, and I think the word is getting out.”
But, she said, “It’s going to have to be an ongoing effort.”
Elizabeth Davidson, another parent who works at Alhambra Traditional, added, “There’s been an increase in the perceived level of safety, even when you’re thinking about who it is we’re seeing on a regular basis and who our children are being exposed to.”
Gastelum appreciates the tutoring he received at the GCU Learning Lounge and other countless resources devoted to his education. The support of the community, he said, has changed his life.
“I was almost committed to ASU,” Gastelum said. “But as I formed my community here with the Learning Lounge, I met a lot of the student LEADs (learning advocates). I made friends with them, and they helped me a lot. They introduced me to church, as well.”
Then there’s the recent safety push that “is going to change the dynamic of our whole neighborhood,” he said.
“All that made me think that this is my place."
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Related content:
GCU News: Neighborhood alliance, bolstered by GCU, unveils safety initiatives along 27th Ave.
ABC15: GCU, Phoenix police, other groups along 27th Avenue partner to fight area crime and prostitution
Arizona Republic: GCU opens new police station on 27th Avenue in partnership with Phoenix. Here's why
