The group of adults had been meeting for weeks at a restaurant in Southeast Washington, trying to find ways to protect children who live in neighborhoods plagued by violence. They did not come up with any groundbreaking solutions — just a day trip for D.C. kids to a farm in the Virginia countryside. But that proved to be just fine.
Call it a breather, a break for youngsters who, because of where they live, are most likely to be victimized by gun violence or stereotyped by others as prone to violence.
One hundred of them, ages 13 to 18, had boarded two school buses and took a 100-mile ride to Mount Jackson, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley. There, Andy Shallal, CEO of Busboys and Poets, welcomed them to his 40-acre spread for a day of food and games.
Shallal said he began asking what more could he do to help after a new employee was gunned down following his shift in front of the Busboys and Poets location in Anacostia.
“I had conversations with my employees, who are in contact with a lot of youngsters, and asked them what young people want,” Shallal recalled. “And they said love.” Inviting youngsters to his farmhouse for a day of food and games would let them see that adults cared, Shallal said. “It would be a show of love,” he added.
Shenandoah would make for the perfect setting. Lush trees and thick grass carpet gently rolling hills. Farmland and meadows stretch to the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, as far as the eye could see.
You didn’t have to be from Southeast Washington to be impressed. But being from Southeast could possibly make you more appreciative.
“It’s really quiet,” said Axaria Quigley, 15, as she sat on a porch swing with a classmate, chatting with Shallal. The reason hit her in the next instant. “No arguing. No shooting. No stealing. No killing.”
Shallal said he hoped his guests would be awed by the experience. “We realize that many of the kids have never really been out of Southeast Washington, let alone outside of D.C.,” he said. “I wanted them to have the chance to visualize a bigger world, one that they may recognize from social media but then realize it’s much too big to fit into the palms of their hands.”
Although most of the youngsters live in similar neighborhoods, they were a diverse group. Tivon Wallace, 16, said he was “well traveled.”
“Half of my family is from the country, the other half from the city,” Tivon said. Then something caught his eye that he’d never seen before — at least not like this.
“I can see the sky!” he exclaimed, looking up at the celestial blue backdrop that arched over him and the rest of the world. “No buildings blocking my view. Wow.”
But did Shallal really believe that this one day of wonder could change lives and the circumstances that were ruining so many of them? Homicides in the District are up 17 percent over this time last year, with more and more children turning up as victims. In June, there were 140 reported carjacking incidents — a record high.
City officials are debating various tough-on-crime proposals. And there are more nonprofit groups at work on social issues than ever before. But nobody seems to have any answers.
During the two-hour bus ride from D.C., the youngsters were asked to name the three most serious problems facing their communities. Their answers: too many guns, too much fentanyl and not enough money.
“I don’t think anybody has the answer, but I do think that what we are doing with the kids today is part of the answer,” Shallal said. “I think we underestimate pivotal moments in a child’s life — where that one thing happens that can take their lives in a completely different direction. If one confrontation can cause someone to kill, why can’t one interaction cause someone to turn their life around? If giving a kid the ‘wrong’ look can make him feel bad about himself, imagine what the ‘right’ look can do.”
Shallal said he believes there are other change agents available that we simply have not taken full advantage of — such as day trips into nature.
The research bears that out. Benefits of regular walks in the woods include improved attention, lower stress, better mood and attitude, even an uptick in empathy and cooperation. Residents who live in public housing complexes that are landscaped with trees and other greenery report a higher sense of well-being than those who live without trees. Elementary school pupils were described as acting “more pro-socially” to classmates and strangers after a field trip to a nature school than they did after a visit to an aviation museum.
To be sure, taking urban kids out for a gulp of fresh country air has almost become a do-gooder’s cliché. But the benefits are undeniable.
The kids certainly appeared to be enjoying themselves. There was a saltwater swimming pool, volleyball, corn hole tosses and horseshoes. Axaria picked up on a mellow vibe.
“The violent tendencies that some people have, it’s not like that here,” she said.
Looking around at the mountains and green spaces, she asked Shallal: “Where does civilization begin around here?”
He said it depended on what she meant by “civilization.”
Tivon chimed in, “Cars, people.”
Axaria added, “Shopping.”
The town of Mount Jackson, Shallal explained, had a population of about 2,000 — what you might find in one city block — located on open space the size of a D.C. ward.
“Houses are far apart, no sirens, people not always in your business — that’s the kind of place I’d like to live in,” Axaria said. “No sirens or car horns honking all the time.”
The trip to Shenandoah had given her a vision of a new way of living. All she had to do was survive D.C. to realize it.