City Councilor Holly Edwards stood on the stage and recited a Langston Hughes poem to commemorate 10 years of accomplishments for the Public Housing Association of Residents (PHAR): “I too sing America, I am the darker brother; they send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes but I laugh and eat well and grow strong. Tomorrow I’ll be at the table when company comes…”
“PHAR has made sure that in our first decade the residents have been at the table and there is more to come,” says Edwards.
Last night, the city’s public and affordable housing issues took a back seat at the 10th anniversary party for PHAR. The celebration took place at the Legal Aid offices.
“PHAR is making sure that public housing living conditions are as healthy and positive as possible, through the annual planning process of the housing authority, and approving the activities of people and seniors with disabilities living in Crescent Hall,” says Edwards.
PHAR members, sponsors and supporters also gathered to celebrate 18 graduates of the PHAR’s Resident Leader Internship Program, a six-month intensive learning opportunity for selected public housing and Section 8 residents. Each class of interns attends workshops on the operations of the city government, learns the city’s history and the importance of community organization and organizing, and gets aquainted with public housing and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development policies. During the internship, the residents come up with and complete a project whose goal is to improve city’s neighborhoods.
“PHAR has taught me to go ahead and take the extra step," said Ashley Thompkins, an internship graduate and a PVCC student. "Change starts with us first, it starts with me and it starts with you, and everybody around you,” she said.
The 18 graduates, including Thompkins, are: Stephen Abercrombie, Tondra Ayres, Rosa Barber, Susan Chambers, Sherri Clarke, Shymora Cooper, Emily Heule, Harold Folley, Janie Johnson, Janyce Lewis, Taunya McDonald, Audrey Oliver, Janelle Parrish, Thomas Richards, Timothy Smith, Tina Washington, and Cheryl Williams.
Some of the graduates of the Resident Leader Internship Program posing for posterity.