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A Response Trumpeting Senator Sampson's Open Letter Greetings: The clarion call trumpeted by Senator Sampson's Open Letter (Canarsie Courier, December 28, 2006) should be used as a blueprint for action to assist our community in dealing with the barriers and challenges of creating and maintaining safe, productive and viable neighborhoods. Historically, many have "sounded the call" only to not deliver the goods or become invisible or riddled with bureaucratic excuses when they are called on their promises. That is definitely not the case when it comes to Senator Sampson or simply John, as he is affectionately called throughout the district. John has proven to be the most accessible elected official that serves our community. It is common to see him using the community's services side by side with his constituents. Whether he is dining in one of his favorite restaurants or attending a local house of worship, his Canarsie-centric activities allow him to truly have his finger on the pulse of the district. He is and will always be a friend to the Breukelen Houses. In his letter he spoke directly to many of the issues and challenges experienced by Breukelen residents. He spoke about how societal or in-grained community conditions prevent the fruitful pursuit of life, liberty and happiness; how the lack of access to quality programs or interventions allows for the continuation of unemployment; lack of educational achievement; self- or outer-inflicted brutality; criminalization of young people needing services and opportunities, instead of incarceration and other non-restora-tive sanctions; and how the maintenance of these conditions create situations where crime and poverty flourish, grow and become passed through generations as easily as eye color, facial characteristics or other genetic features. It is time to break that cycle and the new Breukelen Tenant Associa-tion wants to join that effort. In his letter Sampson not only identified specific issues but he proposed solutions to address those concerns. Increased participation from members of our community is a key. In the Breukelen Houses we have 1,596 apartments with an average of four residents per unit. This amounts to approximately 6,400 tenants that will benefit from the solutions and services he proposes. As Chair of the Breukelen Houses Advisory Board it is my responsibility to determine the needs of the community and assist with designing programs to meet its needs. So I am publicly appealing to all concerned residents, merchants, businesses, religious leaders and politicians to accept my invitation to join our Advisory Council. This will give us the platform and opportunity to create a replicable model of programs, services and interventions that can minimally be used in our various Canarsie neighborhoods and maximally through-out the borough. Samples of the programs that our community has been surveyed and assessed as needing are; + Intergenerational vocational and job readiness programs that lead to employment with stipends for participants + GED preparation + College Preparation workshops + Reading and Math Skills Courses + Improved Educational Supports for existing Sports and Recreational Programs + Gym and Comprehensive Physi-cal Fitness Program + Mentoring Programs to pair positive adults with young people needing role models for site based (community center) or workplace (exposure to the adult's occupation) mentoring. + Creation of a Youth Court to train young residents to serve as jurors, judges, and attorneys, handling real-life cases involving their peers referred by local police, as well as area schools (suspension intervention). This design uses positive peer pressure to ensure that young people committing low level offenses or school-based violations pay back the community and receive the help they need to avoid further involvement in the justice system (decriminalization and restorative effort). + Fatherhood Initiative Programs to encourage males to become active on the lives of their or others children. + Voter Registration and ongoing voting education to explain who the candidates are, track and accountability records. + Structural improvements to our community center so that it can safely handle and service the needs to the over 6,000 documented residents requiring assistance...and much more. So we join John Sampson as he moves forward with his initiative of "reinvesting in our community." In fact, we will make our community available to serve as the template for the reinvestment effort. Although there are many success stories that come from the Breukelen Houses that receive little or no acknowledgement or publicity, we have a demonstrated and documented high prioritized need for solution-oriented ideas emanating from Senator Sampson. If anyone would like to join the Breukelen Houses Advisory Board please contact me at 718-812-5927. It is one thing to sit idly by and talk about action resulting in positive change and another to prove those words by and talk about action resulting in positive change and another to prove those words by doing. Let's do this together as we move into that latter part of the millennium decade. Very Truly Yours, Barsun Harris - LMSW Breukelen Houses Advisory Council Chair
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