HAWS salutes its residents
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
. THE CHRONICLE
Every year for the last decade,
the Housing Authority of Win
ston-Salem has rented out a spa
cious banquet hall, decorated it
? lavishly and shone the spotlight
on HAWS' most valuable com
?> modifies - public housing resi
dents.
?? T h P
2003 Resi
dents
Recogni
tion Ban
quet was
held July
31 in the
Adam's
Mark
Grand
Pavilion.
About 300
Evans
residents from 11 public housing
communities came out looking
. sharp - in shiny dresses and dark
colored suits - to receive plaques
? or to cheer on their neighbors.
, "We feel it is important to cel
. ebrate residents and celebrate
their accomplishments," said
Bumetta Evans, head of HAWS'
residents services wing. "It is one
of our favorite events that we do."
Dozens of awards were hand
ed out during the banquet.
.Awardees were honored for giv
ing back to their communities, for
volunteer service, for receiving
scholarships and for completing
HAWS initiatives such as the
< homeownership and family self
sufficiency programs.
"We really want people to
know that our communities are
Photos by Kevin Walker
Guests walk under a canopy of balloons to make their way
into the 2003 Residents Recognition Banquet.
thriving communities with pro
ductive citizens." Evans said.
Jacqueline Mclntyre was one
of four people who received
awards for recently earning col
lege degrees. Mclntyre. who is
the resident representative on the
HAWS Board of Commissioners,
also has made great strides in the
family self-sufficiency program
and is one of the first residents of
Gateway Commons, the former
Kimberly Park.
"We all have dreams," said
Mclntyre. who received an asso
ciate degree in business adminis
tration in May from Forsyth Tech
nical Community College. "This
is a part of my dreams that are
unfolding."
Happy Hill Gardens residents
Antoinette Crawford received a
community service award. She is
involved in a bevy of activities in
her community, everything from
neighborhood clean-up projects,
to working with young people.
Crawford, who grew in Happy
Hill, said she is not alone. Con
trary to popular opinion. Craw
ford said public housing residents
are a proud and ambitious bunch
who have found that working
together is always bound to gen-,
erate success. v
"We have downfalls (in pub
lic housing), but we try to bring
people up. We are trying to bring
our communities up." Crawford
said. "I am trying to give back all
they gave me when I was young."
HAWS cut no comers for the
Residents Recognition Banquet.
The Grand Pavilion was tasteful
ly decorated in red and white.
Jazz musicians were hired to set
the mood, while a catering staff
made sure that guests were satis
fied. HAWS is among a small
minority of housing authorities
that hold such an event for resi
dents. Representatives from sev
eral housing authorities from
other N.C. cities were on hand for
the banquet to see how HAWS
pulled it all off.
"Not many places honor the
residents. (They) mostly honor
the executives and the higher-ups.
We thank the housing authority
for giving us this," said Doris
Kimbrough. a resident of Healy
Drive Towers and a member of
the HAWS Board of Commis
sioners.
City Council member Nelsoa
Malloy has lived in public hous
ing for many years. He has been
honored at past banquets. Malloy
said that HAWS is doing the right
thing by putting its residents first.
"It is all about the residents."
he said. "There would be no
HAWS if it were not any resi
dents."
Evans is especially pleased
with this year's banquet. The
large number of awardees is due.
in great part, to a surge in the
number of people who are taking
part in and succeeding in the fam
ily self-sufficient program, which
gives people tools to help them
stand on their own. Evans said the
growing number of residents who
are taking advantage of the pro
gram is award enough for HAWS.
For a complete list of award
winners, see page C2.
Area fire departments are
to receive federal money
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Seven fire departments in
North Carolina will receive a
total of $486,236 from the
Emergency Preparedness and
Response Directorate of the
Department of Homeland
Security. The funds were
announced late last week by
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole
Locally, the Wallburg Fire
Department will receive
$98,226 and the City View
Volunteer Fire Department
will be given $28,323. The
funds are expected to be used
for fire operations and fire
fighter safety.
"Firefighters represent our
first line of defense against
terrorism. This assistance pro
gram will ensure that the indi
viduals trained to protect our
communities have the equip
ment they need to carry out
their duties," Dole said in a
statement.
The Firefighter Assistance
Grant Program is designed to
supplement departments'
budgets. It was passed by
, Congress and approved by
President Bush. The program
is designed to aid fire^depart
ure n t s
that
demon
strate a
need for
funds to
improve
response
e f f e c -
tiveness
and pro
tect the
fire
fighters
Dole
0
and the public they serve.
The 2003 Assistance to
Firefighters grant program
offers assistance in four major
areas: fire operations and fire
fighter safety, fire prevention,
emergency medical services,
and firefighting vehicles
acquisition.
"This money will be a
great help to our department,
and we will use it to replace
our air packs," said Mark
Reid. chief of Wallburg Fire
Department.
Newell coalition will meet Aug. 14
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Coalition Com
mitted to Help Re-Direct
the Behavior of Chal
lenging African-Ameri
can Youth in Winston
Salem and Forsyth Coun
ty from Birth to 19 will
hold its fourth meeting ^
on Aug. 14 at 6:30 p.m. '
at Reynolds Park Recre- j,
ation Center, on 3
Reynolds Park Road. The |
public is encouraged to $
attend.
Dr. Virginia Newell, ?
founder of the group, is I
interested in the commu- M
nity's involvement in U
finding solutions to fc
decrease the number of I
young males in the crim- |
inal justice system.
Newell
Forsyth County receives
I ? Model Emergency Medical
Services recognition
! Forsyth County has been
'? recognized by the N.C.
Office of Emergency Med
ical Services as an Emer
gency Medical Services
'? Model System.
The county received the
! certification at the July 31
I ? meeting of the Forsyth Coun
ty Board of Commissioners.
The county also will be rec
ognized at the Aug. 12 meet
; ing of the State Emergency
Medical Services Advisory
! Council in Raleigh.
Compliance with require
' ments to receive this recogni
tion is voluntary for counties
; statewide. Drexdal Pratt,
; chief of the Office of Emer
gency Medical Services, pre
! sented the certificate of
recognition to county offi
'! cials. Pratt noted that Forsyth
County already met many of
the requirements of the
model system.
N.C. EMS rules imple
I mented in January 2002
; require all counties, to devel
\ op an EMS system applica
tion for review and approval
by the Office of EMS.
Sandra Reid appointed as
area administrator for the
Piedmont Region
I; The N.C. Department of
Juvenile Justice and Delin
;! quency Prevention has
.) announced that Sandra Reid
has been appointed as area
administrator for the Pied
mont Region of North Car
olina. The Piedmont Region
includes these counties:
Surry. Stokes, Rockingham.
Guilford, Forsyth, Alexan
der, Davie, Davidson,
;? Iredell,
Mont
gomery,
Moore,
Ran
dolph,
Rowan.
Cabar
rus,
Meck
lenburg.
Anson,
Rich
mond.
Sweat
? | Stanly and Union.
"1 am confident that San
dra will make an excellent
?; area administrator. She is
sensitive to the needs of
'! juveniles in North Carolina.
'! as well as her staff," said
! DJJDP Secretary George L.
Sweat. "I look forward to
working with her as we con
[\ _
tinue our endeavor to provide
the children, families and the
public with the best possible
juvenile justice and delin
quency prevention services."
Reid earned her B.A.
degree in psychology and
human services in 1985 from
Elon College. After gradua
tion. she began her career in
juvenile justice as a Juvenile
Court counselor in District
ISA. Over the years, she has
served as a court counselor in
the 18th and 15th districts.
In 1994, she was appoint
ed chief court counselor in
District 15A.
She attended N.C. Cen
tral University and received
her master's degree in
agency counseling in 1999,
and in 2002 she became act
ing area administrator of the
Piedmont Region.
"I knew that I wanted to
work (with) at-risk youth in
high school, and when I went
to college my aim was to be a
court counselor. I truly feel
that it's a ministry to work
with these kids and their
families," Reid said. "I'm
grateful to be in a position to
help guide policies and pro
cedures that will help to
ensure our services will be
available for all troubled
youth."
Ecologists honor professor
The Ecological Society of
America (ESA) has selected
Dr. Godfrey Uzochukwu,
profes
sor and
director
of N.C.
A & T
Wj-tte
M a n -
agement
I n s t i -
tute. for
this
year's
"Profile
of Ecol
ogists."
Uzochukwu
Uzochukwu is being hon
ored for his accomplishments
in ecology. A poster high
lighting's career will be
dispTay?B~ut the Education
Mosaic Mixer at the 2003
ESA Annual Meeting in
Savannah. Ga.. Aug. 2-8 and
on ESA's Wen site.
Uzochukwu was recog
nized as N.C. A&T's 2003
Administrator of the Year.
He coordinates and high
lights the environmental pro
grams of the university,
including the interdiscipli
nary Waste Management
Institute Certificate Program
as well as student scholar
ship and internship pro
grams.
Uzochukwu received his
B.S. and M.S. degrees from
Oklahoma State University
and his Ph.D. degree from
the University of Nebraska
Lincoln. He was a post-doc
toral scholar at Texas A&M
University.
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Forsyth)
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