Dee Dwyer
Vibrant energy filled the Woodland Terrace community on Wednesday as children from the area clambered over obstacle courses, ate burgers and fried fish, got their faces painted, and chalked the sidewalks as a part of Woodland’s first annual petting zoo.
The event, organized by India Blocker, the founder of Indy. B’s Mentoring and Modeling program, was one of the first large community events of the summer following the lifting of citywide pandemic restrictions. After more than an hour of interacting with the animals—which included ponies, sheep, cows, and rabbits — organizers took them in out of the heat. But children raced around the field at Woodland Terrace, burgers sizzled on the grill, and a live DJ performed until the early evening for the gathered crowd of about 100.
The families attending the event said they felt relieved and happy to be back at a community event after a long year of being trapped inside by the coronavirus, which has hit majority-Black wards in D.C. harder than other parts of the city. They said their children needed distraction and joy, and they expressed gratitude to Blocker for organizing the event.
Blocker is a lifelong Woodland Terrace resident who runs a mentorship program for young girls that’s meant to provide a “safe and secure space for youth to be educated, trained, and appreciated.” Throughout the pandemic, she has also organized COVID-19 testing sites and community markets in the area.
Here’s what some attendants of the petting zoo had to say about the festival, their last year in lockdown, and their relationships with Blocker:
This event was created because our children barely go out and see things. I think that bringing events like this to the hood and showing them how it is it will make the parents want to take their kids out more. Since the pandemic began, this outlet is what they needed. Everyone has been in the house for so long and going through traumatic experiences therefore they needed something to make them happy. India not only inspires the youth but also the adults by showing us that it can be done. She’s also inspiring because she shows the younger generation that she cares. When you consistently do things for them it inspires them to want to do better. She’s always telling the youth at these events how important their education is.
This event is family oriented. Everyone is sitting around chilling. They get a break from all the crazy stuff that’s going on in Southeast at the moment. It’s a lot of love out here to me. I see everyone coming together from different parts of Southeast. The kids are having fun, it’s a good idea to throw events like this in your community because you never know what’s going on in their household. It might be crazy things going on those household. By India throwing this event it’s a release for the kids and adults. I feel wonderful about the things India does for her community. She always goes above and beyond, it doesn’t matter how much it costs. If she needs help she’ll get some people involved. She’s always throwing event. It inspires the youth because some of these kids don’t have dreams or don’t know what a dream is. They may have one but don’t know where to start, I was one of them. I had a dream to do the same thing like this for my community, Congress Park. India is 6 years older than me but has always been my big sister so I’m actually learning from her.
This event means a lot to the kids. It gives them something to do so they won’t be running around getting into the wrong things. It gives them a chance to be kids again, they don’t have to be around here following the wrong stuff. I was recently incarcerated, this is the first event I’ve been to. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to be out here giving back to the kids where I grew up at. This is inspiring to me, right now I’m in a transformational stage in my life to leave my past behind and to teach a lot of young people a different route than what I had to take.
I created this event because kids in the community have nothing to do. They don’t get out to explore different things. I felt like I needed to bring the activities to them. Everyone can’t afford to take their kids uptown to the zoo. What keeps me going is smiles on the kids faces and their energy also knowing that I’m making a difference in their lives. I brought out the moon bounces, the game truck, face painting, all the things I felt should go with the zoo setting. The impression I want to leave on the youth is you can come from Woodland and make a better life for yourself but you can come back and give to the ones who need you the most.
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