WHERE ERICA LIVES

Hope And Struggle Side By Side In Hard-Hit Philadelphia Neighborhood.

It was a cool Thursday evening in Kingsessing. Everywhere, children
could be seen sitting on stoops, playing ball, or walking with moms
along Kingsessing Avenue.

This is the neighborhood of Erica Pratt, 7, who was kidnapped from her
home last Monday, then managed a nationally celebrated escape Tuesday.

Perhaps Erica's brave bolt to freedom touched a chord with many in
part because it offered hope that escape is possible for children
threatened by violence, drugs and hate in a place such as this
Philadelphia block.

But the truth is that far too many do not survive, and there are far
too few ways to help them.

On Thursday night, a few doors down from the house where Erica lives,
Vikki Price, 54, talked about another, even grimmer neighborhood
event: the shooting death of CeeDee Mansaray a few blocks away on
Wednesday night. He'd just turned 16. Police suspect the killing was
related to, what else, drugs. "He was the same age as my daughter,"
Ms. Price said, distraught.

Eddie Magic, 53, founder of a local drill team and a supervisor at the
Francis Myers recreation center at 58th and Kingsessing, said he and
several teens at the center walked to the murder scene that night.

"CeeDee lay dead with blood running everywhere; we knew him as an OK
kid," he said. "You talk to somebody one day; next day he's dead...
and we move on."

Ms. Price didn't like how the media were depicting her neighborhood,
as a pit of drugs and violence. Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson
says parts of Southwest Philadelphia were among the most dangerous
blocks in the nation a few years ago, and remain a hot spot for trouble.

Police are doing their part. The program of bulked-up street patrols
called Operation Safe Streets played a role in Erica's rescue.
Suspects in the kidnapping have been arrested.

But her trauma will continue at least until the trial, or a plea
bargain.

The deeper question is: Will it end for her then, or ever? What about
for the other children playing in Kingsessing that summer night?

Census figures show that in Kingsessing, the infant mortality is among
the highest in the city; many children screen for disturbingly high
lead levels; teen pregnancy is high and more than a quarter of the
households have no father present.

Woes abound, but hope endures. Mr. Magic notes that he's been
mentoring children at the Myers center for 30 years, and most do not
die young. The aging, well-lit center, which was packed with children
this week, is getting a new roof, an upgraded gym and a new teen center.

Operation Safe Streets has had some impact in Southwest Philly, as
elsewhere in the city. "But the police cannot cover every corner,"
points out local resident Stacy Adams.

People are now donating to an education fund for Erica. Pity there's
not such a fund for every struggling first grader.

The investments to save the Ericas of America's most ravaged
neighborhoods can't just be ad hoc, spurred by a sensational news
story. Lawmakers and leaders need to remember that when they debate
proposals about child care, preschool, after-school programs and
affordable housing.

The city is on the right track, scraping together every dollar it can
find to set up round-the-clock "Beacon"schools in challenged
neighborhoods.

And hope endures in people such as Mr. Magic, who managed to raise 10
kids in Southwest Philadelphia. The job facing the rest of us is to
give such hope some help.