Rooftop reverend | The scene

Chicago 11/30/11Rev. Corey Brooks, of New Beginnings Church of Chicago, stands outside his tent atop an abandoned Super 8 Motel on South King Drive in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. Through the rooftop demonstration, Brooks is trying to raise awareness and funds that will allow his congregation of 3,000 to purchase the motel and turn it into a center for social services and community operations.

Photo: Allison Williams

Wednesday, November 30, 3pm Gunfire broke out on November 12 as the Rev. Corey Brooks presided over a funeral for a 17-year-old who was murdered in Woodlawn. “That was the last straw,” the 42-year-old says. On November 22, Brooks took a cue from the Occupy movement and launched a three-week anti-violence campout on the rooftop of a shuttered Super 8 Hotel at 6625 South Martin Luther King Drive. Once a notorious den of prostitution and drug dealing, the motel closed last year after a four-month protest by New Beginnings Church, the 2,500-member parish Brooks founded in 2000, led to a police raid and tickets for sundry building-code violations. Brooks hopes to raise $450,000 to buy the motel and turn it into a community center for Woodlawn. “Violence is the manifestation of other social ills,” he says, “unemployment, lack of education, malnutrition, not knowing how to handle conflict.” The center will provide job and conflict-resolution training as well as nutrition education. As of press time, the rooftop rev had raised around $30,000. A generator-powered lift lets visitors deliver food and blankets, and a portable heater helps the pastor battle the cold temps. As for his Thursday and Saturday sermons, he’s been delivering them via streaming video shot inside the tent. (Donate through Wednesday 14 at ProjectHOOD.org.)