New Haven Independent

Posted by: Concerned Citizen | August 21, 2009 11:28 AM

No one is perfect, even with good intentions we all make mistakes. No one has perfect 20/20 vision, except often in hindsight. Clearly, the group headed by Mrs. Bracey (particularly Mrs. Bracey herself) wants what is best for the young people in NH. Unfortunately, they are fighting an uphill battle frought with political mischief.

While Lisa Hopkins has had some good ideas, she is also a ... rabble-rouser whose first interest is not in building a positive community, but in promoting Lisa Hopkins. How she took over the management of her Frances Hunter housing complex and ousted Rev. Eric Smith - a smart, committed and ethical man whose only interest was in developing an effective community group- is evidence of her cut-throat, self-serving style of -- by any means necessary.

While it is important to have the full support of the alderman for the area, that support has to be unconditional. The Q-House group of Concerned Citizens cannot allow themselves to be influenced by either Morehead or Hopkins. However, in terms of history, Hopkins seem to be much more detrimental to the process in that she will do whatever it takes to get her way. There seems to be no allegiance to principles, ethics or the community, but rather to whatever will get her what she wants, or whatever will serve her goals.

In fairness to her, here below is the complete paragraph she said to the NH Advocate during a 2007 Q & A session about many things NH.

Demolish a building.
The Q-house. The Q-house has been closed for almost eight years. I believe that the Stetson Library should be a community learning campus in our ward. By taking and tearing down the Q-house and getting access to public library dollars, and moving the Stetson Library over to that space where the Q-house is we could develop cultural enrichment, civic engagement and cultural opportunities for everyone. The thing with the Q-house is that it's like $1.5 million in debt.

We can each judge that statement for ourselves. Neither Morehead nor Hopkins should be attaching their campaign to the Q-House issue. What has either of them done to help the group that has been working to get the matter resolved in ways that are beneficial to the NH community? We need people who genuinely care and are committed to a place where people in NH can go and do the things they once did at the Q-House. the existing location is ideal given the density of the population in that area, and the lack of facilities.

Mayor DeStefano's City Hall has been derelict in its response and handling of the Q-House situation, but so has the NH community. For decades it was known that a succession of inept and unethical management pervaded the Q-H; yet, no one was held accountable and there was no effective intervention until it was too late to save the Q. Too many people were more interested in saving face in the broader commnuity than in doing what was best for the black community. As this group struggle to move forward it needs to keep that in mind. Let the chips fall where they may, but keep uppermost in mind the ultimate goal to create a place that will be of benefit to thousands of poor people in all of New Haven.

Posted by: Insider2 | August 21, 2009 2:18 PM

... The Q House did a wonderful job in providing services to the Dixwell Community and the Greater New Haven Community. The former management never received any support from this group or the community at large. Greene recieved much opposition from members of this group and not once has he or Eleanor Boyd ever been invited to meet with the group.

The City of New Haven should not be putting taxpayers hard earned tax dollars in a project like Q House when the Black Community has failed to support it. As a former parent and board member when Greene was hired he made it very clear to all involved the organization must become self sustaining or we would be closed in 3-5 years. He met with all of the members individually myself being the second from my recollection that he did not need anyone sitting at the table if they could not assist in raising operating capital.

He was called arrogant when he said at his very first board meeting that the mission must change. (Also many attended who had not attended in well over a year.) The Q house had to be more than a gathering place for recreation. Education was key and that programs would be established to assist children, students in their studies. He spoke of the Q house having to look at merging or working with other agencies to provide the maximun delivery of services to the community.
...

Under the former management the hours were changed to meet the needs of the community. We opened at 1:00 and closed at 10:00pm. He immediately started the homework center, we found money in the budget to provide buses to pick up children from school and before they were allowed to take part in any activities thay had to go to the home work center. He provided a program for kids who were suspended or expelled from school. His reason for such a program was "Why should a child be rewarded for failing to perform in school" the kids would be there from 10:00am to 2:00pm. He would send staffers to the schools to pick up the students course assigments.

He expanded the Girls At Risk program. Greene hired a full-time director and supported the program with 3 part-time staffers. Additional support came from the full-time Qhouse staff. We saw the Elderly Express Program come to life. It provided transportation to the elderly free of charge to and from their doctors appointments and took them to supermarkets such as Shaw's and Stop and Shop. The program ran 5 days a week. The Q house was the only organization that I knew of that provided an all day 7 weeks summer program (6:45am-5:30pm for the children. Greene was criticized for opening the program city-wide.

We saw the enhancement of the food bank. Upon Greene's forced city departure we saw a record number of 12,000 families served over the year of 2001. There were so many programs either developed or enhanced while Greene was the CEO.

Had community politics and personalities had been set aside the the organization would have never closed. Had those who have been so critical of Greene supported him there would be no discussion of re-opening the doors.

Yet through all this not one word has been said by Greene.

Posted by: alex | August 21, 2009 2:27 PM

These same "concerned citizens" have had since 2003 to put together programs to replace the Q House programs yet have done nothing but have meaningless meetings. Meanwhile many others such as Shafiq Abdussabur, Shamon Antrum and some of the Stetson Library associates have been struggling to put on programs for the youth in the Dixwell area, often at their own expense.

If the "concerned citizens" are so concerned and want to create more programs they should just go ahead and do it instead of their interminable meetings. More funds and energy should be spent helping these people who are taking action and laboring to provide immediate relief to the youth of Dixwell. You can alredy tell that the Q House building is a tragic disaster and will never be rennovated.

Posted by: Common Sense | August 21, 2009 2:51 PM

Perhaps the committee should look at the management of the Farnam Neighborhood House in Fair Haven that once was located on Beach Street in the State Street (Goatville) neighborhood before Interstate 91 took it down. The Farnam House seems to do what the "Q" House needs to do. Just a suggestion!

Posted by: T.J | August 21, 2009 4:48 PM

I stopped by the meeting because Alderman Greg invited us to do so.
So I was SHOCKED to 1) see him sneak out of the building when he got wind of the hostility towards him from the Concerned Citizens Board Members
2) To hear the vice chair state that Greg's claims were completely inaccurate! What a blow! How could he knowingly circulate these lies to members of our community? Is this what campaigning is about? I "understand" smears on your opponent, but straight up lying to voters, taking credit where it is not due? What kind of a man is that?

He will not be getting my vote on that alone. I was also motivated to look up some of his other claims by doing research on City Hall Website, and see that votes he claim he cast, never occured or he was absent for (he also has the lowest attendance out of ALL the alderpeople). What a slap in a FORMER supporters face. I feel duped.

Posted by: Insider2 | August 21, 2009 5:04 PM

Oh by the way people Willie Greene was hospitalized Monday evening after suffering an apparent heart attack and internal bleeding. He is recovering and is expected to be released later this week. Please keep him in your prayers.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | August 21, 2009 5:56 PM

I wish them luck,But rember the city is the owner.
which means that politics have already intrudes. Due to the fact that they have take the kings meat and now must do the kings biding to keep this alive.I think that the city is hoping that this fails,Rember they have six months to come up with a plan to keep this building. If they could not rise the money to buy this building from the
Bankruptcy Court,How are they going to get the money to reovate and run the building? But I hope and wish them the best.

Posted by: Just the Facts | August 21, 2009 8:08 PM

TJ,

Fact 1: Alderman Morehead was present for the unanimous vote to buy the Q House

Fact 2: Alderman Morehead attended and spoke at the committee meeting where the Q House buy was approved, but he is not a voting member of the committee.

Getting the entire Board to agree to do something is not easy. Alderman Morehead did so with the Q House. For the Concerned Citizens not to care about the building anymore after 6 years of work is what actually "shocks" me.

Posted by: Resident | August 21, 2009 8:32 PM

I was at the Dixwell Managment team meeting, and Greg showed up late, apologizing that he had been at the Q House meeting which started almost half and hour late. Clearly Greg is devoted to the community and actively working to reach its residents. And as the article says, the greg-bashing at the Q House meeting only started after he had to leave, so how can TJ accuse him of running away if you were talking about him behind his back?

Posted by: Neighbor | August 21, 2009 9:02 PM

To Concerned Citizen:
Just FYI - the whole "ousting of Eric Smith" was a uninamous decision, NOT something Lisa Hopkins thought up on her own. Mr. Smith was not making any progress and the people involved in the case determinted new leadership was needed. That is a personal matter that if you're not a part of then you will not understand. Furthermore his attitude was a major factor. This is a guy who does not even have the decency to say hello to his neighbors. And that's all I'll say about that.
Knowing Lisa personally for some time now, I would not say she is all about promoting herself. She genuinely cares about helping those who cannot help themselves. If she's running for Alderwoman good for her! Morehead has got to go. We don't need anymore people who go around making false promises to get votes and then upon getting elected become puppets of the mayor. What has he done besides throw parties or bring in Ludacris to talk to kids? Are parents no longer good enough that we need celebrities to talk to our children and teach them between right and wrong, etc. New developments are still going up in our neighborhood and where are the jobs? What's up with the parking situation? There's a new splash pad, people drive here from wherever and the streets become so crowded that you can't turn until you've literally creeped to the middle of the road because you can't even see. Let's not even start on the amazing decrepit roads. New Haven is an Ivy League city but it doesn't even compare to any of the other Ivy League cities. Yale needs to start paying taxes as other Ivys do.
These are just a few things Morehead could have worked on and I hope Lisa addresses once she's elected.

Posted by: Alderman Greg Morehead | August 21, 2009 9:57 PM

Thanks to everyone that showed up to the meeting on last night regarding the Q-House.
I would just like to make a few comments...

T.J.--- You wrote-

I stopped by the meeting because Alderman Greg invited us to do so.
So I was SHOCKED to 1) see him sneak out of the building when he got wind of the hostility towards him from the Concerned Citizens Board Members
(I didn't sneak out of the meeting because of any hostility from anyone. I have been in other circumstances and situations where it was far worse. This is what I signed up for. I do know also that everyone is NOT going to be on my side and sometimes things may get tense. I know this and can handle it. The reason why I left is because I was there from 6:30 when the meeting was supposed to start and I left at 7:05 because I had to attend another meeting at 7pm.

You wrote--
2) To hear the vice chair state that Greg's claims were completely inaccurate! What a blow! How could he knowingly circulate these lies to members of our community? Is this what campaigning is about? I "understand" smears on your opponent, but straight up lying to voters, taking credit where it is not due? What kind of a man is that?

I never wrote any lies to the community now or before. This is what I wrote concerning the Q-House...

-Took office with the Q House as a priority, pushed his colleagues to action and has seen results: the Board voted unanimously to purchase the Q House out of bankruptcy.
-Has been a resource for the Concerned Citizens for the Q House in developing a sustainable plan to resurrect the Q House.(I put this because back in 2007, I traveled to Cincinnati and saw a model of a youth center that Bill Strickland has built. A company contacted me back then so that a model can be constructed for New Haven. The exact area in New Haven is still on the table, but they brought me out there because they knew the Q House was closed). Thats one of the ways that I have been a resource.
-Will unite the community and work with everyone to make the Q House what it once was.

What I put on that lit was ACCURATE and TRUE! It doesn't bother me that I don't get credit, but when I do things in the Ward or have meetings with key people regarding various things, I don't look to get a pat on the back, but I do it for the betterment of the Ward.
If I would've known I was going to be the topic of the meeting, I would've stayed and pleaded my cause and stated why I put what I put. I am a person that can back up everything that I say. I have never run from something when things get tough. I like dealing with things head on when it happens.

Next thing, what vote did I claim that I casted but didn't? Please, if you have something that you would like to talk about or something that you are upset with and you live in my Ward, please contact me directly. 203.507.7766. Everyone knows that I am accessible and can be reached to talk. I would love to set up a meeting and talk more in depth. With the absences that you are relating to, that was last year when I was out for my foot surgery. I also covered all of that in my newsletters last year and this year. Did you not get those? You can view them by going to www.ward22newhaven.com. Please contact me, I would love to see why you feel duped! Also, please let me know where you were sitting on yesterday because I know everyone that was there and when I left, there was only about 4 people present from our Ward.

Regards,

Alderman Greg Morehead

Posted by: perplexed | August 22, 2009 5:57 AM

Alex

Concerned Citizens have had meaningless meetings? What are you on? If this organization had not fought for this legacy...this article and this big step would not be happening. I must say the stetson has been a presence in Dixwell and has done more than its share to fill a void in the absence of the Q House; but, this effort by the concerned citizens has the potential to cast a much bigger net.

In the past Dixwell had more resources and services for all. What the hell is wrong with there being a menu to chose from based on the needs? Lets not sqaunder it because certain individuals have sour grapes! They fought for the opportunity that has been placed before them when many others fell off.

This bickering is embarrassing! By the way how dare you mention antrum in the same paragraph as shafiq and the stetson library!

Posted by: Willis Diggs | August 22, 2009 1:02 PM

I grew up in the 'Hill' in the 60's and enjoyed my participation in the different activities sponsored by the Q' House. As I grew up I continued to be a part of the Q' through my networking efforts. I have run and/or worked in several non-profits in town and it is no secret that politics can hurt or help, depending on leadership strategy. It would be a sad thing if politics and drama caused the efforts of the Concerned Citizens to fail, and a greatly needed service to the community lost. I support the efforts of those involved and wish them godspeed. If I can be of service in some way, I can be reached at the contact number/email posted.

Posted by: Willy D Greene | August 23, 2009 1:56 PM

Hello Everyone, Please know that I applaud each and everyone in the Concerned Citizen Group for what you are attempting to accomplish. However not only do you need to think concept the group and the community needs to also think and realize building as well.

Less than 1 year ago the cost to bring the building into this present day would have roughly been 3-5 million dollars. This study was done by an independent consultant to the City of New Haven. I commend the City of New Haven for its effort as well.

However when the City of New Haven moved its services to one central location the Q house was left with sole responsibilty of finding additional funds to maintain the city side of the building which once flourished with an array of city-wide services.

The City of New Haven has done the right thing in the purchasing of the building. Also in doing so the city has met its financial obligation and moral responsibliity and has in essence fulfilled its fiscal responsibilities to the organization.

The Concerned Citizen Group has been charged with raising $50,000.00. To the group I say the money is already there and is being held in trust by the Greater New Haven. The Greater New Haven Community Foundation should provide monetary assistance or make available to the Q house the endowment plus the interest that they have been investing on behalf of the organization for the last 10-15 plus years.

It is very important to understand completely to demolish the building will lend to a concept only and once the building is gone given both city and state financial difficulties the building will most likely never be rebuilt.

The old building is the foundation and should be presevered if it is clearly the mission of the group to see the doors re-opened and the services of the organization re-established. Furthermore the key to a successful endeavor is to determine from our community as to how real is the financail comittment in order to see the Dixwell Community Center re-emerge as a leader once again in providing the much needed educational,recreational,human services delivery to the Dixwell and Greater New Haven Community.

If a true and measured fundraising effort can-not be realized to be a self sustaining organization from the Black Community even with the assistance of the city and others the doors being once again close.

(Just a bit of history) In just about every grant that has been prepared by th City of New Haven, The Housing Authority of New Haven,The New Haven Board of Education The Q house and its history of services to the Dixwell and Greater New Haven Community for the last 40 years has been used to secure millions of dollars for services for the City of New Haven and others. The unfortunate side of this not one dollar was/has ever been given directly to the Q house.

Nevertheless I stand ready to assist in any manner that the group deems to be the most effective.

Posted by: Richard F. Jones | August 27, 2009 1:47 PM

Willie Green:
I do agree with you, as you stated that once the Q house is torn down,the chance that it will be rebuilt are very very slim. This action would be like a slap in the face to all those that came before us (grand parents) that put their sweat and blood into getting the Q house off the ground. All of those that were involved left us a legacy and now it's time for us to leave something for the next generation. The Q house has been the foundation of the Dixwell neighborhood for the past 50 years and should be
preservered under a new administration.

Has anyone done a walk through to see what condition the building is in? Has anyone done a feasibilty study to compare the cost of new construction vs rehabilitation? Has anyone consulted with any architects/engineers? Are there any black engineers/architects in New Haven that could possibly do a joint venture. I believe that these are the type of questions that the Concerned Citizens Group should be asking.

As I stated before the Q house should be developed
into the Dixwell Technology Center, and the Dixwell Center for the Arts. The technical center could provide our youth the skills that are and will be needed to compete in today's job market,such as drafting,computers, carpentry,plumbing,electrican. Courses can be taught that will provide the opportunty for a person to become a general contractor. Basic courses can be taught such as every day life skills, interviewing skills, balancing a check book,resume writing skills,basic reading and math skills,etc.

Finally, I do believe that the plans should include a Dixwell Auqatic Center which should hold a gymnasium and pool.This could develop into
an opportunty for someone to receive to become a future olympian. YES I DO DREAM BIG!!!!!!

NOW,community at large must get their act together
and make this happen. The Concerned Citizens can ill afford to let this opportunity pass by.

In closing,think off all the folk from the past that left us a legacy,its NOW TIME FOR US TO DO THE SAME.

I would be glad to assist anyway that I could,perhaps doing a site visit.

Respectfully Submitted:
Richard "BO" Jones
Former New Haven Resident

Posted by: Willie Williams Jr | September 16, 2009 9:14 AM

What Fool Would Want Their "Concept Branded"?, It's Not Working In New Haven Connecticut. Let's Look Back In The Past 25 Years of Mismanagement,Missing Money,Paying Employees Who Did Not Work,There Was No Teaching Going On In: Math ,English, Art, Dance, ,Computers, Acting...Lets Show The Paper Records. If People Work In Connecticut, You MUST! Pay or You Are Penalized. If You DO-NOT! Pay Workers Compensation, The State of Connecticut Will Pay You A Visit, If The Corporation Does Not Pay Social Security, It's Bad. The Personnel In Administration Had No Knowledge of Office Administration. Hiring People You Like, Instead of Hiring Whom Ever Can Get The Job Done.

Posted by: Stephen Caldwell | September 30, 2009 2:16 PM

The Q - House has been a part of my families history for 3 generations. It would be a shame to see it fade away. Allthough I no longer live in New Haven; I still call it home. When I am there I would like to see the active "Q" that I remember. If there is any way I can be of help just let me know. The children need a positive and safe place to find themselves like we had in the Q-house. A place to play, learn, and grow.