Rooftop Pastor On A Cross-Country Fundraising Walk

A Chicago faith leader known as the Rooftop Pastor is scheduled to begin a cross-country walk to raise money for a local community center.  Reverend Corey Brooks is the founder of New Beginnings Church in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood.  He started his Walk Across America Monday in New York City, and will conclude in Los Angeles next year.  Brooks hopes to raise 25 million dollars in private donations.   It all started on a crumbling, dilapidated rooftop on the South Side of Chicago. Pastor Corey Brooks climbed to the top of a crime-infested, rundown motel and camped out for 94 days to protest the violence that had taken too many lives and stolen too many futures. Out of that bold stand Project H.O.O.D. was born — a movement of merit, faith, and the pursuit of the American Dream that has been changing lives across the country.

Now, nearly a decade later, Pastor Brooks is stepping out again — this time on a 3,000-mile journey to restore the soul of America.

On Monday, Pastor Brooks laced up his walking shoes in New York City and begin “One Million Steps to Restore Merit, Faith, and the Pursuit of the American Dream” — a coast-to-coast march to raise $25 million in private funding to complete the 90,000-square-foot Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center on Chicago’s South Side — debt-free.

“This isn’t just a walk,” says Pastor Brooks. “It’s a rebellion. A protest. A prophetic movement. It’s a call to bring Jesus, the American principles and the American Dream back to the long-neglected neighborhoods that America has written off.”

The mission is both religious and civic. Brooks believes that much of the destruction of these neighborhoods is rooted in the devaluing of merit everywhere, especially education, the breakdown of family, the erasure of faith from the American culture, and the belittling of the American Dream. He says part of the funds will go toward completing a leadership and economic opportunity center in Woodlawn.  Brooks gained popularity in 2012 when he slept on a motel rooftop to raise awareness of violent crime in the city and to fundraise to buy the motel, which was used as a location for drugs and prostitution.

He also added: “Merit is what built this nation — and it’s what the Left has tried to destroy for 60 years. They say, ‘You didn’t build that.’ They say success is privilege, not persistence. But I say Merit is inclusion. Merit is freedom. Merit is advancement. Merit is diversity. Merit is the American Dream. And we must fight to restore it.”

50 Cities. One Mission.

Over the course of 365 walking days, Brooks will pass through 50 cities — hosting rallies, tent revivals, and community conversations in each one. From forgotten corners to big metros, the walk will call America to awaken.“This walk is my altar,” Brooks says. “Every step is a prayer. Every mile is a protest. Every city is a chance to declare: we are not victims, we are visionaries. We are not statistics, we are builders. We are not broken — we’re becoming.”