THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406120104
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940612 LENGTH: NORFOLK
``This is the work of everyday people working hard to transform this community into one which we all can be proud of,'' said Nelson White, president of the nonprofit Park Place Community Development Corp., sponsor of Saturday's We Love Park Place Festival.
{REST} He promised that the festival was only the first of continuing public events to pull residents together for neighborhood revitalization.
Park Place, a long-troubled inner-city neighborhood ringed by more affluent communities, has struggled to preserve itself against a tide of crime, drugs and poverty.
Over the years, many efforts to revive the neighborhood were criticized as too little, too late, or the product of a small circle of civic and City Hall leaders.
Now, activists like White are urging more Park Place residents to get involved.
``You've all heard the African proverb: `It takes the whole community to raise a child,' '' he said during a mid-day speech.
And Alphonso Albert, executive director of the community development company, acknowledged mistakes in the organization's first year of operation and his seven months at the helm. Semi-closed meetings led to bitter feelings among those left out.
``Did we learn a lesson? Yeah, I think it kind of alienated them,'' Albert said. ``But when you broaden your scope and be more inclusive . . . you'll have a wider range of community leadership, a wider range of ideas, and you have more people in the community involved in the revitalization process.''
Albert said the organization will expand its board of directors to include more neighborhood residents. Until now, nonresidents, such as city officials and businessmen from other parts of Norfolk held the majority of seats.
The group, he said, also will include more residents in activities, such as workshops to plan housing and renewal projects, recreation programs and youth gardening. There even will be contests for the best-looking home landscaping.
``Pretty much everything that we do has to have broad, community appeal, and the need has to be for the whole community to access it,'' Albert said.
The community development company, a brainchild of Mayor Mason C. Andrews, also is reaching to two groups that many civic leagues overlook: young adults and teenagers.
Donald Belin, 27, a self-employed small renovation contractor, said the neighborhood's traditional leadership once ignored the needs of men and women in his age group. His organization, the Park Place Natives, now works closely with Albert on ideas for training unskilled adults and ways to create more jobs.
For example, Belin wants the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority to include companies like his in contracts to remodel Park Place houses.
``He has presented some concerns that are very real,'' Albert said. ``Involving those guys in the process, I think kind of turns their attitudes around and makes them contributors.''
Tarrod Cunningham, 16, is among three teens involved in planning recreation events. For the festival, the kids organized games for younger children.
But the teens have their sights set on greater involvement. For example, they want seminars to discuss community issues.
``Adults don't think like we do,'' Cunningham explained.
Cunningham said he is concerned that housing programs may go too far and push the neighborhood out of the reach of lower-income families.
He also wants landlords to take more care in selecting tenants so Park Place can become safer from drug dealers and criminals.
Sam Nellum, a patrolman assigned to the community policing program in Park Place, attended the festival in uniform but spent time playing with kids.
``A lot of the kids, when they walk out of their front doors, the people that they are seeing are not role models but the guys involved in criminal activities,'' Nellum said after giving a small boy a wagon ride. ``They need individuals they can look up to.''
Nellum believes police also are being better accepted by adults. ``A lot of citizens are beginning to get involved in their own blocks. When they call, they're giving us better descriptions of crimes and suspects,'' he said. ``A few months ago, we didn't get that. It's all about trust.''
But Nellum, who has witnessed heated arguments among Park Place factions, said the neighborhood still has a ways to go in community participation.
``I think activities like this are great,'' he said of the festival. ``But I think it's hopes and prayers and wishes. As you see, we could have a lot more people out here . . .
``But if we continue to hold fast, we'll get it done. We'll get over the hump.''
The festival drew several corporate and City Hall sponsors. Among them was Letitia Batey, community investment coordinator for NationsBank.
``That's what Park Place really needs, a sense of community,'' said Batey, who has worked on similar efforts in her own inner-city neighborhood, Olde Huntersville. ``It will be a lot easier for outside entities to come in to help when the community is together.''
by CNB