When Melanie Young set out to reactivate the Sunnyside Super Neighborhood, her goal was to bring the community together and amplify its voice.
What she didn’t expect was the overwhelming response.
”I’m texting people back. I’m sending emails on my lunch break. Sometimes, I don’t even eat. I’ll just sit at the computer and respond,” Young said.
One of those eager to join the cause was Cavesha Fleming.
“Once I attended the meetings, I saw how passionately all of the residents spoke about how much they care about Sunnyside, how much they care about what is happening, new developments, different things they wanted to see in the community I knew I had to be a part of that movement to impact some positive change,” Fleming said.
Patrick Ashiru, another volunteer, said his connection to Sunnyside runs deep. Civic engagement has been a part of his life since childhood.
“My mom was really, really big into the neighborhood and the community. I grew up around civic club meetings and super neighborhood meetings and running into police officers on National Night Out. She really instilled that this is our community. And if we want things to be better in our community, we can’t just abandon it,” Ashiru said.
As the number of volunteers continues to grow, Derrick C. Fleming, Cavesha’s husband and a key member of the movement, said it’s the different perspective that makes this movement so powerful.
“We do have a lot of different voices with a lot of different perspectives but we also have to have a funnel so we can have organized meetings, an organized plan, an organized strategy,” Fleming said.
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The volunteers are essential in organizing meetings, leading neighborhood cleanups, and bringing fresh ideas to the table.
Their unique perspectives are invaluable to making real progress in the community.
With the energy and commitment of volunteers like Cavesha, Patrick and Derrick, Sunnyside is on it’s way to becoming a more connected and empowered community.
For Young, this is just the beginning of a long journey toward lasting change.
“This is lifelong work , right? You know, you meet people that have been doing community and civic engagement outreach for decades. This isn’t something that you do and it’s one and done, right? Show up once , show up a hundred times but the work will never be done,” Young said.
