ONE-ON-ONE | Veronica Foster Pulling weeds in community lets seeds grow

Q. You're the seed coordinator for the South Side's federally funded Weed and Seed program -- which means what?
A. The seed part is helping this community grow again. I like to compare it to a garden patch where first you pull the weeds out. The first time you do it it's a real hard job and then as you progress it's easier and easier. In the meantime planting seeds to help the area grow.
Q. How is it accomplished?
A. Collaboration. I form partnerships with other social agencies in town. Weed and Seed doesn't have a lot of money of its own so the government tells us to pool resources.
Q. Why were you picked to do the job?
A. I can't give you the answer to that. I interviewed for the position and a couple of weeks later I found at the steering committee meeting that I had been chosen.
Q. What do you think they saw in you -- what kind of qualities?
A. I'm a very community-minded person. I've been very active in the community, although I was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, I stayed involved in community work. I love doing it -- maybe that came out during my interview.
Q. Do you find the work rewarding or a bit frustrating?
A. The work is very frustrating because it's the kind where you don't get to see results for a while. It's become much more rewarding since I got my children's programs up and running -- that's how I know I'm succeeding at what I'm doing, by the attitudes of the children coming into this building (Martin Luther Lutheran Church on Clearmount Drive).
Q. Tell me a little bit about the after-school programs.
A. We contracted with YUMADAOP, which stands for Youngstown Urban Minority Alcohol and Drug Abuse Outreach Program. They do excellent after-school programming. On Tuesdays we have 10- to 12-year-olds come over here, most from Sheridan School, from 3:30 until 7 o'clock and then they're bused home. We feed them a hot meal and they do drug and alcohol prevention lessons, group activities and sports activities in the gym. On Wednesday afternoons I have the 13- to 15-year-olds who come from Hillman.
Q. How many children are involved in the programs?
A. I have 38 registered for the two nights. On any given night we might only have 15 or 16. We're growing this program. Then I made arrangements for summer programs.
Q. These programs are only for children within the South Side target area?
A. Most do come from the target area but if a child wants to come who is outside my boundaries I'm not going to tell them no.
Q. Any other programs?
A. Yes -- GIFT -- Girls in Focus Today. I designed the program with a social worker in town who works with young people and the intake officer of the juvenile justice center. We have eight-week sessions with young ladies who are 10- to 15, most from Hillman, on Mondays.
Q. What kind of feedback do you get from residents in the target area about the success -- or lack thereof -- of the extra police patrols weeding out crime?
A. The people in this whole community are frustrated by crime and this area we're in has the highest percentage of crime so it's going to take more than a year to change that. We just reported at our steering committee that we reached a lot of our goals for the first year and we're real pleased with that. In response to your question about feedback, curiosity. What are you all about? What are you going to do? Most of it is positive. People who have been working with us are pleased. People who are not as involved are frustrated because they think it's going to happen overnight and it's not. I can understand that.
Q. When you get a chance to talk to the residents, what are their typical quality-of-life concerns? Loud music? Drug sales? Prostitution?
A. People have a hard time believing this, but when we go to block watch meetings, the biggest complaint is loud music. It's a big problem. Other things are trash in yards and illegally parked cars. These are issues that improve the quality of your life. If you have to sit on your porch and look out at trash and old cars sitting around, that's not a fun time.
Q. Are you getting a good response from the city in getting the trash cleaned up and the cars off the streets?
A. Well, you know resources are slim so it's very difficult asking people to focus on just one side of town. We have a close working relationship with the housing code enforcement office.
Q. How do you motivate the residents, get them involved in restoring their neighborhood?
A. That's the hardest part to the whole thing is getting people motivated. I don't have all the answers. I think at this point in time in the area I'm working in we just have to keep hanging in there to let them know that we're not just going to leave. We're here for a few years and we do have goals and that we're going to continue working hard to achieve them and come on, jump on board and work with us.
Q. You've said before that people need places to shop and things to do in their neighborhoods. Has the South Side's retail and recreational outlook improved in the past year?
A. I would have to say probably not, but I don't have the figures in front of me. We don't have a concerted effort yet and before that happens we are going to have to take care of the crime problem. As bad as the crime problem is, the perception of crime is even more difficult to fight.
Q. You have a life aside from Weed and Seed --
A. Not much of one.
Q. What happens in that other part of your life?
A. I have a very peaceful, quiet life. I'm not involved in social organizations. When I go home it's for a quiet evening with my family. If my 17-year-old son is home that's even better. I'm very family oriented.
Q. Are you glad you took on this challenge?
A. Yes, I am. It has been a challenge but I love doing this kind of work. I'm always out and about doing things.
XTHE WRITER/ Patricia Meade, Vindicator crime reporter, conducted the interview.