On Inauguration Day, our president challenged every citizen to join in a "new era of responsibility," and to take steps to help each youngster succeed. On Monday evening, Jan. 26, Team Haverhill will offer city residents a perfect opportunity to respond. The second annual "Possible Dreams" community event will take place at 7 p.m. at the Northern Essex Community College Technology Center, and the public is invited.
One major initiative to be unveiled Monday night is a citywide mentoring network that will link Haverhill's public schools, four youth-serving agencies (YMCA, YWCA, Boys and Girls Club, and Girls Inc.), Team Haverhill and the United Way in a coordinated community campaign. According to Team Haverhill's Julie DeRoche — an educator and one of the project initiators — well-supervised mentoring relationships can make an immediate and dramatic difference to a youngster struggling in school.
"We have terrific efforts already underway in Haverhill, but we can make this a unified, communitywide priority," DeRoche said. "The timing is great because January is National Mentoring Month, and President Obama is one of the headliners for that volunteer recruitment campaign."
Other initiatives to be featured Monday night include playground renovation, downtown revitalization through shoe-themed public art installations, and community exploration of our "better history" — as Obama put it — through a project that examines how the shoe manufacturing era still shapes community character today.
The "Possible Dreams" event reflects our new president's challenge in other important ways as well. The special "World Cafe" format of this gathering reflects Obama's emphasis on grass-roots community improvement and on healthy dialogue as a way of building "social capital."
Last year, 120 people, including many new residents and many elected officials, participated in a lively, rotating conversation format that fostered new relationships, civic networking and shared goals. Some results were immediate; because environmental concerns surfaced strongly in last year's event, Team Haverhill responded with a new recycling initiative, in partnership with the Mayor's Recycling Committee and the Haverhill Environmental League.
Advocacy will continue in 2009 for an expanded, user-friendly, and cost-conscious curbside pick-up program, referred to as single-stream recycling.
Major studies show a practical pay-off from building civic connections, especially in older, smaller cities whose earlier industrial base has diminished or died. An MIT report in 2007 identified "perennial challenges" faced by cities much like Haverhill, including "a lack of civic engagement and institutions, inadequate governing capacity, and a chronically negative mind set." At the same time, the study (called "Voices from Forgotten Cities") found that such communities can regain their resilience and attain steady progress when they foster leadership at every level; strengthen civic connections; increase social inclusion; build shared visions; and follow through persistently to create both visible improvements and positive perceptions.
Anyone with a stake in Haverhill can reserve a spot at "Possible Dreams" by e-mailing possible.dreams@comcast.net.
Team Haverhill is an independent, nonpartisan, civic-action group dedicated to making Haverhill a better place to live, work and play. Learn more about this organization at www.teamhaverhill.com.
