Geneva Hayden, a community champion, does not don a cape, but has achieved the feat of transforming homegrown into a verb by creating several dynamic youth programs many of which started in her living room. Hayden engages maligned, misjudged and ignored youth, listening to their frustrations, concerns and fears and creates programs that offer solutions.
In 1994 after twenty-five years as a teaching assistant at Danforth School, Ms. Hayden launched her second “career” as a community organizer. That year she developed Communities United to Rebuild Neighborhoods (CURN), a grassroots community action organization to respond to the needs of residents of Syracuse’s Southside.In 2004 Hayden created Light a Candle for Literacy a free library and after school program for community children.
In 2007 Communities United to Rebuild Neighborhoods (CURN) partnered with the Community Foundation to establish a scholarship. The scholarship is awarded annually to a graduating African American from the Southside of Syracuse who plans to further his or her education.
The programs might have different names but the end goals are the same; building healthier communities by contributing to the development of children, who will become productive citizens, productive workers and purposeful adults.
The People’s Peace Award acknowledges ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the name of social justice and peace.
LVGS extends its sincere congratulations to Ms. Hayden!
[This article excerpted from the December 2010 Syracuse Community Choir News]
