Ronald Moon Jr. has a house in the same Cincinnati neighborhood where he grew up. But instead of turning the family home into a rental property, he decided to make it a community center for the children in the neighborhood.
For the past six months, Moon, who quit his job to try to create his dream recreation center, had been over at the house cleaning up. Only problem was, people kept breaking into the house. Earlier this week, Moon happened upon the burglars—three men and two women—who beat him, leaving a gash along his head and arm, as well as several cuts and scrapes on his face, the Inquisitr.com reports. Some 30 minutes after the altercation, a bloody Moon created and posted a video about the incident.
"This is what they did to me," he said, referring to his injuries. Moon then broke down in tears.
"I want to try and do something good for my people. I'm just trying to do the best I can for my people," he said. "I'm tired of seeing this hurt. The pain we feel is real. The hurt we feel is real."
Moon posted the video to YouTube, which has been viewed over 500,000 times.
Despite being beaten, Moon noted that he still wants to see the project through and still loves his community. He created a GoFundMe page that lists his ideas for the project and asks for volunteers. Moon's vision is for a community center that will be a place for the neighborhood to share "ideas, skills and resources." He hopes that it will one day be a place that can host storytelling, poetry, creative writing, yoga, meditation and dance activities, among others.
"If someone can teach it and another can learn it, it is precisely what this place would be interested in housing," he wrote on the crowdfunding page. Moon listed $5,000 as the goal he hoped to achieve in one day after posting the page; people who have heard of Moon's commitment have donated some $35,000.
Moon notes that all money received will go to restoration of the location, "application fees and food for volunteers." His long-term goal is to turn the home into a "[501(c)(3)] [nonprofit organization] to sustain this resource for years to come."
Read more at Inquisitr.com.