Local nonprofit Up Life foundation held an Easter celebration in the Williamsbridge Oval park in Norwood on Sunday, April 9, complete with a DJ, MC, balloons, games, goodie bags, dancing, and more for local families to enjoy. Kids were seen running around with bunny ears, blowing bubbles, flying balloons, and coloring “Up Life” on the park’s pavement in bright colors on what was a sunny Easter Sunday.

Up Life founder, Robert Salkey, said of the event, “This is my community so I wanted to give back, and make sure I get everybody to learn how to network with each other, how to build each other, learn and have fun.”

Salkey later explained, “I came out of prison, and I just wanted to give back and change my whole aspect of life and show the world that coming from the ghetto, coming from a place where we not used to so much, we just want to give back, and show them that it doesn’t take much to give back.”

He continued, “I just basically wanted to give the world a better outlook of life and show them that we could come together and be like a family, and giving back is not that hard, because somebody in the household might have something, two of things and another household doesn’t have anything. So, if we could take one thing from a house and give it to another person and just share with people equally, then we could become a better place.”

 

Asked what more could be done to support the local community, Salkey said, “We need support from the officials. We need support from the government. We need support. I’m a non-funded nonprofit. I’ve been rocking seven years and I do need help and I want to help. I love the world, and I love my people.”

José Cornejo went to school with Salkey at P.S. 94 in Norwood. “So, I’m pretty much his family,” he said. “I live around the neighborhood. My family owns a few daycares (Kindercare). My mother, she used to have a daycare since early 2000s. So, we support each other in everything we do. You just have to make a call, and that’s pretty much it from the neighborhood.”

Asked what he felt was needed most in the community, Cornejo said, “More for the kids, anything for the kids. I see a lot of stuff that didn’t happen when we were younger. Now, I’m a father of three and another one on the way, and I love my neighborhood but any changes to better them in our neighborhood, I’d be grateful…starting with the schools, education, everything. A lot of people don’t have the privilege of going away [to summer camps] but we still here..”

Chris Solano is a childhood friend of Salkey and said he was “incorporated with Up Life.” When everyone had gathered earlier during the event, Salkey had asked Solano to kick things off with a prayer. Prefacing with, “God first,” Solano spoke to us about his relationship with his friend who he called his brother. “His journey, his way of life, I’ve been praying for him and he prays for me,” Solano said. “I do my events. He does his events and we support each other.”

 

Given his focus on faith, we talked to Solano about a recent reported statement by the father of Raul de la Cruz, an emotionally disturbed man who was shot by police on March 26 when they responded to the Grand Concourse home of the man’s father in Kingsbridge Heights while his son was having a psychiatric episode. According to police, the situation escalated with De la Cruz displaying a kitchen knife and advancing towards them. De la Cruz is reportedly recovering from his shooting injuries, an associate of the family told Norwood News.

De la Cruz’s father later told Gothamist that his son had been under [medical] treatment but that he was an evangelical and that “they don’t believe in that sort of thing.” He reportedly stopped his treatment and changed his phone number so that his doctor wouldn’t reach him. We asked Solano if he was an evangelist and for his general thoughts on the case.

 

“No, I have no denomination,” Solano said. “I got a relationship with God. I go to church that is a no-denominational church. All God wants is for you to have a relationship with him so I don’t care if you’re Muslim, Catholic, Christian, it’s just having a relationship with God.” He continued, “I don’t think anybody should persuade somebody not to take something that’s going to help you with health. If it’s for health, you should take your pills, like you should take medications. Some people need help also. Go seek help, but the belief in God….God wants you to have a relationship with him. That’s something totally different than what your mental and your physical health is.”

Included in the following hyperlinks are some short videos of the group prayer which opened the event, a short speech by the MC and friend of Salkey, a toddler dancing, and some other young kids dancing.

When we asked Salkey what supports were most needed for the formerly incarcerated upon release, he said, “They have to be strong. Statistics say two thirds go back to prison, and I’m the one third that will never go back, and I’m gonna show my community that we’ve come together and be great!”