The-Leader_2004-07-29

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69th Year, No. 30 Freeport, N.Y. 11520
The Community Newspaper
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Freeporter crosses "the pond
99
FREEPORTER RUDI HARBAUER,
left, joined Captain Jerzy of the Polisii fishing vessel Antica (right) for a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. See page 6 for more.
HEVN inclusive, not exclusive
by Laura Schofer
No more gang violence in Freeport? Residents hope so. That's why they've agreed to lend their support, time and expertise to a new group in Freeport that hopes to preserve a quality of life for all residents by preventing the growth and reversing the negative influence of gang and youth violence in the community.
The group is called HEVN - Helping End Violence Now - and they held their second me^ng in Freeport on Tuesday, July 21, atihe Refuge Apostolic Church. The first meeting was held on June 29 at the same church. HEVN's Executive Director, J. Raymond Mackey, Sr., told the 30 or so people who attended this meeting that "there are no quick fixes to the problems facing our communities."
Bishop Mackey opened the meeting with a prayer. He cautioned residents by saying that gang "activities are escalat­ing- There was a shooting in Uniondale last week and another this morning in Hempstead." Nassau County Detective Davis, a member of the Federal Gang Task Force and HEVN member, con­firmed Bishop Mackey's statement, adding that "we don't know yet it if this
morning's shooting was gang related, but a young man, in his late teens or early twenties was shot. He's alive."
Bishop Mackey gave a brief history of his involvement in the problem of youth and gang violence, beginning back in 1996 "when we began to notice a rise in gang and youth violence." He told resi­dents about the first HEVN meeting in 2001 and how the program is modeled after the Boston 10 Point Coalition. "That was a community with a big problem; 85% of the youth were involved in gang activity and now it has dropped to 2%. We invited them to speak with us in Roosevelt. We heard how they united the community. 67 churches and community and government organizations came together to tackle the problem and it worked. They came and spoke with us and we developed it to work here on Long Island. Now we are here in Freeport, to develop a community clus­ter," he said.
Bishop Mackey said that each cluster or group is unique because each commu­nity has its own needs and problems to address. He stressed the importance of including all the different groups in the community - churches, schools, commu­nity organizations, government, law
enforcement - all working together. "We cannot look at one organization to solve our problems. It is a problem for the whole community. We must go back to the core, to our families. We are going to need more than a band-aid."
Members from HEVN's Roosevelt cluster were in attendance to lend support to Freeport residents. HEVN hopes to create other clusters this year including ones in Hempstead, Uniondale and Westbury.
"In Roosevelt we identified 22 prob­lems," said Bishop Mackey. "Here in Freeport you must identify your prob­lems, and then decide how to address them. You must look at the resources available and the missing links. It is very important that you deal with the commu­nity in a wholistic manner."
Bernard Smith, President of the Northeast Civic Association, told resi­dents that there are "already 22 organiza­tions in Freeport that deal with the gang and youth problem."
Ted Levy of Freeport Pride spoke about two of the programs under his direction. "We have an alternative sus­pension program for at risk youth," said Mr. Levy. "These kids come to our agency and we expose them to different
things and hopefully show them how to look at situations differently. Sometimes we take trips to prisons or have them talk to former gang members. We expose them to the idea of college and to positive role modeling. We also do an assessment to see if they are in need of counseling."
Mr. Levy also spoke about the more than 150 students at Freeport High School who are involved in an anti-drug, anti-violence program. "These kids learn about violent issues and conflict resolu­tion. Then our kids tell others why they are not involved in gangs. It works," said Mr. Levy.
"My understanding is that one organi­zation won't come up with a solution. I think you're telling me that each organi­zation must address a different part of the problem. Is that correct?" asked resident Janet Buckner.
Bishop Mackey shook his head. "Yes."
A young man named Alex James, who is a minister in training, told resi­dents how he adopted a gang member "as a brother. I go to his house and I see that there is no father. It's in the house, this virus. He's looking for love. We see 'colors' ; we identify him (continued on page 3)