Valley coalition appeals for community action in 4 areas

By Sean Barron

About 400 attended Sunday’s strategy session of the ACTION organization.

BOARDMAN — The days of inhumane treatment toward many immigrants and lack of health-care coverage for tens of thousands of Mahoning Valley residents must end.

The time also has come to add a new dimension to fighting crime in Youngstown, and to establish a two-year community college in the Mahoning Valley.

Those were the main calls to action that resounded through a packed 90-minute public meeting Sunday at St. Charles Church, 7345 Westview Drive.

An estimated 400 elected officials, law-enforcement personnel, community and neighborhood leaders, clergy and others attended the session, hosted by the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Out Neighborhoods (ACTION) and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.

The core items several speakers addressed were crime and safety, civil rights and better treatment of immigrants, universal health care and a two-year Mahoning Valley Community College.

Kicking off the event were the Rev. Leonard Williams, chairman of ACTION’s Crime and Safety Committee, and ACTION member Doris Primm, who spoke on crime and safety in the community.

Both encouraged participants to deal with problems such as drugs and gangs by filling out “hot-spot” cards that can be obtained at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. The cards should document crimes or suspected criminal activity and be sent to the ACTION office, which will turn them over to law enforcement, the Rev. Mr. Williams noted.

The proactive approach also needs the support of police; elected officials, churches and the community must get behind the overall effort, Primm and Mr. Williams said.

Many complex factors contribute to crime, but it’s imperative to view this and other issues as regional, not just confined to the city, Mayor Jay Williams told the audience. Also, the region has what it takes to achieve a level of success seen in other parts of the country, he continued.

Quoting Scripture, Williams likened the city and surrounding suburbs to a body and its parts, saying what happens to one affects the others.

“If Youngstown does well, the surrounding communities do well; if Youngstown does poorly, the surrounding communities do poorly,” the mayor said. “We’re all part of one body, the Mahoning Valley.”

Many children of immigrants study hard and play by the rules, yet still face few opportunities to pursue their education beyond high school, explained Adrian Labra, a Canfield High School senior.

Labra told of two immigrant friends, one of whom carries a 3.8 grade-point average, adding that “it’s unbearable to see doors shut for them.”

“Students should not be blamed for their country’s poverty and conditions that forced their parents to come here,” he said.

The vast majority of immigrants with or without documentation want to contribute to our society and work hard, added George Garchar, associate director of social action for Catholic Charities Regional Agency.

Thousands of Mahoning Valley residents have little or no health-care coverage at the same time average medical costs are increasing at double the rate of wages, noted the Rev. Robert Johnson, pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Youngstown’s South Side.

The area has only one free clinic, which served a few hundred people in the region in its first year, he explained. More such clinics are needed to help those who are uninsured, the Rev. Mr. Johnson continued.

“One clinic can’t handle the number of people who need our services,” he added.

High unemployment is a main ingredient for higher crime, and establishing a two-year community college will help more young people move forward and become more marketable, said Mustafa Ali, chairman of ACTION’s Jobs and Economic Development Committee.

Ali pointed to a comprehensive study performed by Youngstown State University that cited the need for and benefits of such a facility. Attendees will be able to prepare for a four-year college by obtaining diplomas in fields including occupational therapy, nursing, culinary arts, cosmetology and radiology, he noted.

“We need this for our people,” Ali added.