A Queens Project that Does it Right

Building Movement Reflection. Case Study: Queens Community House

I read the case study of the Queens Community House (QCH) published by The Building Movement Project (www.buildingmovement.org).  Values of inclusion and social justice were the building blocks of this organization when it was established in 1975. QCH satisfied the mandate of having a community-wide, “inclusive” element as part of a low-income housing project spearheaded by then-governor Mario Cuomo. Over the years it has grown to reach over 20,000 residents at 21 different sites, and is no longer solely the focal point of the original Forest Hills community where it began.

Reading the case study, I was struck not only by the power of its leader, Irma Rodriguez, but of its flexibility as an organization to change with the times and therefore, succeed.  Despite the cynicism that is often prevalent in discussions about social service organizations, Queens Community House is a shining example of how to do it “right.” By reaching out to other organizations to form coalitions, by offering programs that empower their residents to act on their own behalf and by demanding that their own staffers actively commit to community building, QCH illustrates that human service organizations can make a huge impact on the people they serve. It is a great example of a mission driven organization that evolves from one generation to the next and illustrates the importance of organizing growth in order to sustain the organization itself. When they veered too far from their original core values, they course corrected. It took a great leader—Irma Rodriguez – to recognize that they had gone off kilter and bring them back on track, on numerous occasions.

On a personal note, I have been to the Forest Hills community that first launched QCH and have interviewed residents there as part of various political campaigns I helped. Mario Cuomo, Ed Koch, David Dinkins, even Mike Bloomberg have all taken credit for the good that has come out of these Queens projects. It had been my experience that many of these projects looked great at campaign time, but had little true, sustaining value to the communities they were meant to serve. My initial reaction, as I began reading, was wondering if the “true” political side of the story would be present. It wasn’t; but reading this case study gave me renewed hope.

“We see services as a means, not just as an end,” says Irma Rodriguez, Queens Community House’s executive director. I believe her. They‘ve gone back and forth over the years in terms of what took center stage: social services or tenants’ right s or community building or advocacy for families and children. The bottom line is, since their inception in the 70s, they have faithfully maintained their goal of being a connecting body within the community. They’ve been an active collaborator; flexible enough to change with the times, deepening their relationship to the community and helping the community stay intact. Kudos to Irma Rodriguez! Long live the Queens Community House!

The Horace Mann Community

    The communications between and among alumni of the Horace Mann School, following the release of Sunday's New York Times story on prep-school predators, has been remarkable. The astounding outpouring is indicative of the motto we all learned there: "Great is the truth and it prevails..." even if it takes awhile to come to light. Numbering in the thousands, the comments on the paper's site, among Facebook friends and in emails between fellow classmates, the notes of outrage,  emotional conflict, sadness, anger and support  point most interestingly to the strength of the community itself. 

    "Once an HMer, always an HMer" some say. We look out for each other. We have a common ground, a shared history that runs deep.. One of my high school friends came to this apt conclusion: we are the stewards of the school. It is up to us, as alumni, as stewards,  to help turn tragedy into opportunity. It is up to those who can to help not only shed light on the past but make a future path more traversable for the victims, for those hurting and those current students and alumni who may need help to make sense of this.
     Synchronicity is the appearance of two or more events that seem to occur together by chance.  It's really so interesting to me at this juncture, as I am about to change my career path entirely to focus on education, that this occurred now. In August, I begin a Masters/PhD program that specifically deals with social change in education and the behavior of "communities"  as they pertain to teaching/learning environments. Well if what has transpired in the last few days isn't right up that alley, I don't know what is. How's that for synchronicity? 

     I keep going over and over the whole thing from the perspective of the culture in which we thrived versus the culture of today. It's difficult to view the past through today's lens, as they are, for sure, not "apples to apples." Our days were marked by a unquenched thirst for freedom, independence, breaking stereotypes, going beyond boundaries -- intellectually, sexually, physically-- smashing mores and taboos. We questioned. We asked. We experimented. And some got hurt. 

     I just read some research on the fact that in educational studies, the "psyche" of adolescent girls in academia wasn't even covered as a subject until the 1990s. So what we all were going through in the 70s to early 80s was truly ground-breaking -- from breaking the paradigm of the one-gender school behavioral system to elevating girls in academia to the sexual revolution to trying to figure out what gender "equality" was all about. 

     Clearly there were black holes into which jumped some deviant opportunists, predators.

     This is all so very interesting and sad...yet it is setting the stage for a giant leap forward…

     Yes, we need to be the stewards.

   
     So fucked up isn't it?? But so, so powerful.