The Road to the Finals

Written By Peter Sloggatt
Long Islander
July 19, 2001
Provided by Burrelle's Information Services

A community of diversity.

That's how Huntington was characterized for judges in the finals of the 2001 All America City competition held over three days in Atlanta, Georgia. That diversity was evident in the people who made up Team Huntington, a contingent of residents, government officials and business and civic leaders who made the trip to Atlanta to represent the town. They were black, white, Hispanic and crossed the economic spectrum as well... just like Huntington's population.

The team went before a panel of 12 judges and told the story of a town which faces many challenges. Although it is perceived of as an upper-class community, Huntington is fact has many faces. Not far from the million-dollar houses that dot the shoreline are neighborhoods crowded with illegal apartments. They are home to the region's working poor, many of them immigrants whose numbers have been growing steadily in recent years. And not far from the charming village of Huntington is Huntington Station, a region literally decimated when federal funding dried up midway through an urban renewal protect. The community's downtown had been razed, both its identity and economic vitality becoming part of the rubble. In their place came crime and poverty.

But Huntington is a town with a history of social responsibility. Its non-profits, government partnerships, the strong business community and church programs have long striven to use the community's resources to face the town's problems head on. And as the presentation made by Team Huntington to the All America City competition judges last month proved, the town solves those problems.

Such social consciousness is exactly what the All America City judges were looking for. The contest is sponsored by the National Civic League and underwritten by Allstate Insurance Company to foster civic responsibility and encourage citizens to get involved in grassroots-level problem solving. The League is a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded over 100 years ago by Theodore Roosevelt, Louis Brandeis and other turn-of-the-century progressives. Its original mission - strengthening citizen democracy by transforming democratic institutions - still stands. One of the ways it encourages civic pride is through the All America City award.

The All America City competition annually selects 10 communities from applicants nationwide and rewards them for their innovative solutions. Huntington made history when on May 1, 2001, it was named a finalist in the prestigious competition.

The news that Huntington had reached the finals - after three unsuccessful entries in previous years, came on the very day that Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce was cutting the ribbon on temporary headquarters from which it is operating since a devastating fire destroyed its old building. It set in motion a Herculean effort to raise funds, put together a presentation and assemble a team to deliver the story of Huntington to it the judges.

The team was made up of community leaders, government officials and representatives from three programs chosen by the chamber of commerce is the best examples of how Huntington residents come together to solve problems. The application that earned Huntington a place in the finals told about the Dolan Family Health Center, the Huntington Station Enrichment Center and the Tri-Community Youth Agency, all of which were formed to solve specific community problems and enrich the lives of residents most in need of the help - the poor and working poor.

In a carefully scripted presentation, the team told the judges how an effort to battle the negative social impacts of the failed urban renewal project had resulted in the creation of the Huntington Station Enrichment Center. In introducing some of the center's participants to the judges, executive director Dee Thompson invited them to show the judges "how the Huntington Station Enrichment Center works to empower people."

And they did. Second Precinct police Officer Chris Mangi told of the safe site for day laborers which gives immigrant workers a place to gather for work and tap into the many resources available through the Enrichment Center. Yvette Stone told how the center's education program helped her to leave a dead end job as a convenience store clerk and become a nurse. And the children of the Boys and Girls club cheered the help that they get from the center's programs.

Team Huntington also told the judges of another initiative that resulted in the creation of Huntington Hospital's Dolan Family Health

Center. "It all started on Millie Willer's porch," stated a video voiceover. A number of community residents had gathered to discuss a growing problem - a lack of affordable health care. Huntington Hospital's emergency room was being heavily taxed because families with medical services were turning to the hospital to meet their primary care needs. The Dolan Center staffed by professionals, many of them volunteers, provides needed care to the working poor and frees emergency room personnel at the hospital for the emergencies they are there for .

The final aspect of the application process that brought Huntington to the All America City finals was the Tri-CYA Youth Agency, which serves those school districts in the town with the most troubled youth. From homework help to counseling and advocacy services, the agency serves those members Huntington's diverse population most susceptible to becoming trapped by drug use, violence and sexual peer pressure.

Director Debbie Rimler described a program in which young people plan and develop their own programs. As a result, "youngsters who never handed in homework do so now," she said. Patrick Moodie and Trevor Molloy told of their organic garden project, which helps stock area food pantries; Matt McRare told how he learned to fix bicycles; and LaTangie Brown told of the step team she created which helps girls channel anger through dance.

When Team Huntington first began to practice their presentations in the weeks before the judging, they were a loosely connected group of individuals who knew little of each other's programs. While an ever-evolving script was refined and polished, so too was the team. Louise Wallace Rhodes, a drama teacher at Five Towns College, was tapped to work with the group on presentation. Between monotone deliveries, scripting difficulties and just plain stage fright, she and the team pulled off nothing short of a miracle. The fumbling in rehearsals, miscues and monotones all disappeared when it came time to go before the judges, and every team member was able to shine at his or her brightest. What's more, the team itself became just that - a team. And it was as a team that individuals saw their own pride in their community swell.

Huntington did not walk away with the big prize - the All America City designation - but team members gained something far more valuable: a pride in their community and the knowledge that there is no problem, large or small, that cannot be overcome through team effort. Which... hey, isn't that just what the National Civic League had in mind?

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