The CommUNITY group held a town hall discussion that attracted a large panel of local officials
Pam Kilgore began moderating Tuesday night’s town hall to address youth programs and community involvement in Washington with an essay from one of the school district’s fifth-graders who rattled off a list of ways to improve the city.
He wrote in his essay on “What does a better Washington look like to me?” about how community watches, looking out for others, working closely with police to solve crimes and creating better jobs could help to accomplish that goal.
“If everyone pitched in,” he wrote, “Washington would be a better place to live in.”
But while the discussion that attracted more than 50 people to Washington High School’s gymnasium generated ideas on engaging the city’s youth, it also raised more questions than answers on how to solve the growing heroin and prescription drug epidemic that is gripping many communities.
“When are we going to say enough is enough? When are we going to quit holding hands and quit saying it’s OK when it’s not OK,” city resident Nikole Ardeno said of some addicts who don’t know about or refuse to take advantage of rehabilitation programs. “It’s time to stop talking. We need to stand up as a community to get things done.”
That prompted a lengthy back-and-forth discussion between Ardeno and Cheryl Andrews, the executive director of Washington Drug & Alcohol Commission, on treatment programs and how to encourage addicts to get help. Andrews said, even with rehabilitation, the current system is stacked against many people who don’t have the ability to get transportation to a job or make enough money to live.
“Our system is broken and it’s nobody’s fault, but it’s everyone’s problem,” Andrews said, adding there are both recovery stories and relapses. “Putting them all in jail isn’t working. I’m not saying that treating everyone will work, but the funding is limited.”
The focus of the town hall sponsored by the CommUNITY group was also designed to discuss how to reach out to local youth and find programs to keep them engaged and entertained. Washington School District Superintendent Roberta DiLorenzo said they have numerous programs for students, but they’re seeing a decline in participation that goes beyond just this area.
“It’s in the best interests of the community when they become connected,” DiLorenzo said. “Building those connections is a social requirement for them, and not enough of them are doing that.”
Robert Griffin, president of the NAACP Washington chapter, pointed to families and local churches as powerful forces for impressionable kids. Mary Jo Podgurski of Washington Hospital’s Teen Outreach Center echoed that thought by stressing the importance of working with students when they’re younger.
“It’s not the agency’s responsibility; it’s not the city’s responsibilities,” she said. “It’s all of our responsibilities. If we can get our adults to model by example, we can fix a lot of these problems.”
Ester Barnes of Southwest Training Services, one of several local groups to stage tables in the gym with information, wanted people to see the good achievements by kids that often don’t get the same attention as crime.
“The negative things that some youth are doing are overshadowing the great things most of our young people are doing,” Barnes said.
This was the second town hall meeting, the first occurring in February to discuss crime and violence, and CommUNITY organizers expect more in the coming months.