Photo by Chris Sykes Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman and East Orange Democratic Committee Chairman Leroy Jones, center right, stands with City Council Chairman and 3rd Ward Councilman Ted Green, center, 5th Ward Councilman Mustafa Brent, right, 1st Ward Councilwoman Amy Lewis, center left, and members of her immediate family on Thursday, Dec. 15, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony and grand opening of the new Dean W. Britton Computer and Community Center located in the Doddtown Plaza Apartments on Long Street, courtesy of Naimah Hall's Passion for Purpose non-profit charity organization, Mayor Lester Taylor, the city of East Orange, the City Council and Carthage Realty Advisers. Britton was Lewis' son, who accidentally died, and the center is named in his honor.
Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman and East Orange Democratic Committee Chairman Leroy Jones, center right, stands with City Council Chairman and 3rd Ward Councilman Ted Green, center, 5th Ward Councilman Mustafa Brent, right, 1st Ward Councilwoman Amy Lewis, center left, and members of her immediate family on Thursday, Dec. 15, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony and grand opening of the new Dean W. Britton Computer and Community Center located in the Doddtown Plaza Apartments on Long Street, courtesy of Naimah Hall’s Passion for Purpose non-profit charity organization, Mayor Lester Taylor, the city of East Orange, the City Council and Carthage Realty Advisers. Britton was Lewis’ son, who accidentally died, and the center is named in his honor.
EAST ORANGE, NJ — The residents of the Doddtown Apartments on Long Street in the Doddtown section of East Orange’s 1st Ward now have a new Computer and Community Room named in honor of Councilwoman Amy Lewis’ son, Dean W. Britton, who was known as the “Hood Angel.”
The room was opened with the help of Naimah Hall and her Passion for Purpose nonprofit organization, the city of East Orange, the Orange Recreation Department and Carthage Realty Advisers.
“This is a community center being dedicated to or in the memory of my son, Dean William Britton Jr., who left this earth too soon at the tender age of 22,” Lewis said Wednesday, Dec. 14, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Computer and Community Center. “Dean was in his last year of college and he received an honorary degree from Cheyney University. Dean was coming home one day — he came home for the summer from school — he was drinking with some of his friends and he lost his balance because he was so impaired, and he hit his head and he was gone forever.”
“Unfortunately, my son just did not realize how intoxicated he was,” continued Lewis. “He stepped off of a ledge that he assumed was land and it was actually a hole that was more than 6 feet deep and he fell and hit his head and he actually drowned, because he was facedown.”
Lewis said her son’s accidental death was hard for her and family and friends to come to terms with, at least until Naimah and Passion with Purpose and Carthage Real Estate stepped in and stepped up.
“He had so much to live for; he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management and he had a bright future ahead of him,” Lewis said. “But again, we want to send a message to these children that, in a split second, the decisions that you make can cost you your life. It’s a bittersweet moment for us but, again, we lost a loved one. My sons, they were very, very close and it was a tremendous loss to us in a different way. Each of us mourn him in a very different way. So this — this wonderful thing that Naimah and the Carthage Real Estate firm have put together for him in his honor, to dedicate this to him — I am truly, truly grateful.”
Hall accepted the gratitude but said being able to do something that helps a grieving family after the loss of a loved and also benefits the wider East Orange community and is a “win-win” all around.
“I did this because, basically, it is a struggle and, if you’re familiar with the Doddtown area, the library is closed down, so the children don’t have access to computers or books,” said Hall on Saturday, Dec. 17, as she was volunteering at the Joi’s Angels Holiday Party and Toy Giveaway at Calvary-Roseville United Methodist Church. “So the center that is open, it’s a free center. You’re allowed to come in and get tutoring and different things that are going to take place. But, again, it’s free of charge for printing. If you have projects for school, you can come to the center.”
According to Lewis, the new center will also be actively involved in the campaign against bullying. She said Dean was nicknamed the “Hood Angel” because, even though he was a popular athlete from a big family, he was always ready to help out other children in need by standing up to bullies for them or inviting them home for dinner, if he knew they weren’t going to be able to eat at their own homes.
“They have anti-bullying programs here and they’re going to make sure that these children are aware,” said Lewis on Thursday, Dec. 15. “I just want to send a signal to the individuals who are bullies in the city that anti-bullying is something that we support and that we’re going to embrace.”
Victoria Chambers, the property manager for the Doddtown Apartments, said she appreciates Lewis and her family’s sentiments and gratitude, but donating the space for the new computer and community center in Dean’s honor was a real pleasure. It’s also very practical.
“We donated a computer room to the community over in the second building, where we had the ribbon-cutting,” said Chambers on Wednesday, Dec. 14. “The person that’s in charge of that is Naimah Hall. We donated to her Passion for Purpose, so it’s like an outreach community, where all the kids come in and utilize the services. That’s what we want. The more kids, that merrier. We want to welcome all the children.”
Chambers said the new Computer and Community Center would also fill a void in the 1st Ward Doddtown community that needed to have something for children and young people to do to keep them out of trouble, off the city streets and out of harm’s way.
“If you notice, a lot of people are not aware of Doddtown, because it’s so small and they don’t have a lot of programs for children,” said Chambers. “So we thought that would be something that they need and something that they would want to uplift the community. We just want to let the community know that it’s here; it’s open now and you can come and utilize it for whatever kind of networking that you need to help you get on your feet. It’s life skills, so everybody come out.”
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