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Pride, Happiness at Opening of UNO Community Center
By Rebecca Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
05:38PM / Friday, May 15, 2015
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Mayor Alcombright talks about Davis' efforts in keeping UNO going.

Davis has her sons hold up the artwork created by her grandson.

The center was dedicated to Davis, who received a plaque.


Cutting the ribbon at the UNO Community Center are Mayor Richard Alcombright, left, Robert Davis, Susy Wadsworth, Shirley Davis, Bigs Waterman and Jack Wadsworth. See more pictures here.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Even after the food had been eaten, the speeches made, the mural unveiled and the ribbon cut, Shirley Davis was still running around taking care of everyone else instead of savoring her moment.

That moment? The grand opening celebration on Friday of the brand new United Neighborhood Organization community center on River Street — a project Davis had dreamed about for many years.

"It means everything to me," Davis said as she briefly paused from greeting well-wishers and looked around the building, which formerly housed the Homestead Bar.

But now, instead of bar stools and beer kegs, the space consists of one open and airy room complete with a full kitchen, storage closet and bathrooms. Now, instead of drunken conversations, the space will allow for community potluck dinners, children's programming and classes like cooking and jewelry making.

"It's amazing. I never dreamed it would look like this," Davis said.

Starting June 1 and running through August, the center will have staffed drop-in hours of Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon, Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in addition to special evening and weekend programs, said Annie Rodgers of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, which partnered with UNO to make the center a reality.

The NBCC staff and board of directors joined a contingent of local residents and officials for the celebration, which included lunch (most of which was cooked by Davis herself) as well as the unveiling of a mural that Davis' grandson, Jim, had painted.

Before unveiling the mural, James Davis Sr. (the son of Shirley and father of James Davis Jr.) said his mother had taught him so much about how to make a difference in the world. Two lessons in particular stuck out, he said.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," Davis said, recalling how his mother had been determined to take action when their neighborhood — which had been considered one of the nicest in North Adams — started to deteriorate with litter, vandalism, alcoholism and drugs.

Instead of waiting for someone else to take action, 60 residents and officials met for the first time on Oct. 1, 1990, with the goal to increase respect for the neighborhood and each other, decrease the severity of problems in the neighborhood and improve the environment of the neighborhood. In its second meeting, the name of the organization was created. And now, 25 years later, UNO is still going strong, serving residents of Bracewell Avenue, River Street, Hall Street, Liberty Street, Chase Avenue, Freeman Avenue, Houghton Street, North Holden Street, Grove Street, Chase Hill, Brook Terrace and Eagle Street.

And that's the second lesson his mom taught him: Anyone can make a change.

"You don't have to be a politician," Davis said. "You can just be a housewife and do things and move things."

Alan Bashevkin, outgoing director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, was also at that first meeting in 1990. On Friday, Bashevkin served as master of ceremonies, introducing Mayor Richard Alcombright and Davis herself as well as brief remarks by contractor Francis "Bigs" Waterman and benefactor John "Jack" Wadsworth, who along with his wife, Susy, bought the building and decided essentially to gift it to the community center after a conversation with the mayor. Wadsworth, a graduate of Williams College, is a principal of the Porches Inn and has also purchased the two lots on the corner of Houghton and River streets to create open space.

Wadsworth said he didn't look at his role as philanthropy exactly, despite the fact that Alcombright said in addition to the Wadsworths wrapping their money into the project, they "wrapped their hearts around it, too."

"It's not philanthropy. It's called impact investing," Wadsworth said, recalling how humbled he had been to get to know people in the neighborhood during the process, including Davis herself, who gave him a big hug the first time they met after the donation of the building. "Better late than never is how proud we are to be here now to see this happen."

Pride was definitely the prevailing emotion in the air on Friday, especially from Bashevkin, who knows what the center means not only for the UNO neighborhood but for the city of North Adams as a whole.

"What you're seeing here is not the next youth center in North Adams. What you're seeing is not a multi-service agency that's going to be filled with social services here," he said. "What you are seeing is a partnership ... where neighbors will set the agenda for that they need, and where the UNO neighborhood will have its own neighborhood center to share coffee, break bread and build bridges within the neighborhood.

"I look forward to seeing neighborhood centers like this all over North Adams."

 

"Cutting" the ribbon at the new UNO Community Center on River Street #NorthAdamsMA #impactinvestment http://tinyurl.com/jwgv9el

Posted by iBerkshires.com on Friday, May 15, 2015

 

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