The MLK Neighborhood Association offers a safe haven and a sense of family.

Just before Christmas, president of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Neighborhood Association, Bennie Dotie, spoke to the crowded room in the center. “If it's your first time coming out, please come again because you're welcome here, you're welcome, you're welcome. So come down and enjoy and have some fun with us.”

A group of four ladies were next at the podium to announce their birthdays, “Today is my birthday,” declared Carol Hamilton, “I am 79 years old, young, however, you want to say it. I'm just blessed to be here and I thank God for this day. I appreciate everything that you've done and said, and I pray that each of you will have a wonderful, joyous blessed Christmas.”

Shortly after director of the center, Beverly Humphrey, and Bereatha Moore started handing out presents to everyone there, including one to Hamilton, “The community center means that we are able to gather together and fellowship and do things that help each of us to become better and keep us going every day.”

It was just another day, albeit a big one, for the center whose mission is to offer “a variety of services that enhances the quality of life by nutrition, education, fellowship and recreational activities,” according to their website.

On their Facebook page there are photos of their recent trip to Longview, the recent mural of Martin Luther King, Jr. in front of the building created by local artist KaDavien Baylor, a weekly bingo night and so many more events, “Community is the essence of human connection. Community is where we find our true purpose,” read one post.

The association has a document, from the 1980s, that tells of its history. It states that the history has been passed down orally. “In the early thirties, during the Shehann period, there were sharecroppers, namely Charlie Jackson that farmed the land,” it reads. “During the forties, citizens began to move in and began living with no public transportation. A group known as the Welfare Band was organized to seek ways and means of improving their living condition”.

It was this group that was recorded by the state in 1941 with T.J. Hawkins listed as their president. Later the group was renamed as the Cooper Road Civic Club, then again in 1985 to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Club.

Humphrey has been the director since 2017. “It seems like a big family in a lot of ways,” she says of the center. She says she has learned a lot from the people here, mostly seniors. “I enjoy being with the seniors, I have learned a lot… it's been so much fun and love and joy down here.” Besides the activities that include cooking, quilting, and bingo; the Caddo Council on Aging also provides meals Monday through Friday.

“It's a great need for the community,” said Dotie, “It gives them a safe haven place to come every day”.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Martin Luther King, Jr. Neighborhood Association in Shreveport