Last year at this time I was finishing up my fifth year as Executive Director of Sunnyside Up-CNRC in Morgantown, WV. It was one of the most exciting and energizing jobs that I ever had. In 2007, Morgantown Mayor, Bill Byrne asked me to consider working at Sunnyside Up and I had a feeling that it could be something special. Over the five years as Executive Director, we were able to complete over $100M in projects and were the first non-profit to successfully complete a Tax Increment Financing Project in West Virginia. The neighborhood continues to evolve with the opening of the $30M Beech View Place and the building of the $70M University Place on Grant Avenue. While all of that was interesting, what made the job exciting was the opportunity to work with some incredible young people. Before I had even started working at Sunnyside Up, I was contacted by a young Student Governor named Erica N. Rogers. She asked me if she could help out in the effort to revitalize the Sunnyside neighborhood. I was so impressed with her energy that I made a vow to never turn down a student who was interested in helping the Sunnyside Up organization. What a great decision that was! First came Jason Parsons, a WVU Student Body President who had a passion to serve and is someone who I believe is headed towards great things for our state. Following Jason, was Chris Lewallen, a young man who I continue to respect. Chris was also a WVU Student Body President and committed himself to helping in the Sunnyside Up mission. About that time, I met Nelson France, one of the most energetic and passionate people that I have ever known. Nelson also ran for a seat on Morgantown City Council, one of the first WVU students to attempt a run for office. As we reached out for help, there was always a steady stream of students looking for an internship or just wanting to help out to make the community better. Marlyn McClendon was interested in recycling and we did a fun project to encourage residents to recycle. Nina Chase was a budding landscape architect and worked on designs for the streetscape along with bringing lots of her student friends to help with cleanups. Lauren Brennan helped with some design work on a brownfield site and was always ready to help with anything. Justin Belton designed a database for businesses and worked with us on cleanups and other tasks. Charlie Russell was the first president of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Associaiotn and the first student representative on the Sunnyside Up Board of Directors and was always there for our activities. Collins Youngblood helped organize a race through Sunnyside to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness and also headed the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association. Rachel Watson organized a workshop for landlords which had a record turnout. Max Schultz and Jon White, both WVU students, worked for Sunnyside Up through ManPower and cleaned and painted hundreds of dumpsters and swept hundreds of sidewalks and right-a-ways. Lauren Paslawsky designed and produced the nationally recognized "Learn Not To Burn" campaign sponsored by Sunnyside Up to discourage malicious burning in Morgantown. Lauren who is incredibly talented is currently working with me at Amazing Cities in Clarksburg doing public relations and social media marketing. There were literally thousands of WVU students who assisted Sunnyside Up over the five years of my tenure and I appreciated each and every one. I intended to do this thank you last year but on September 7th of last year I was rushed into the Intensive Care Unit with a Pulmonary Embolism that took several months to recover. God has a way of looking out for you and putting people in your life to assist you in your journey. I was blessed to have these young people in my life and I hope that they always remember to look on the "Sunnyside" of life!
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 02:47:14 +0000
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