Local Self-Reliance

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Tri-City manages the co-op. Thus, rents are kept low and—in cases where it is neededthe community group helps residents secure rent subsidies. As evidence of the success of this project, Tri-City has purchased another 200 housing units in the neighborhood. These units, now called Amity Village II, are scheduled for co-op conversion next year.

And there's more. In April of 1972 the TriCity group opened a community education center—the People's Center—which has since become the focus for a number of community projects. The Center, for example, houses a day-care program for 30 children aged two to four, and an after-school program for 65 children between the ages of five and nine.

At the same time, the Tri-City Women's and Children's Health Action Project provides VD screening for women, cancer and high blood pressure tests, and help with gynecological problems ... all for free. Children are given no-cost physical examinations, plus tests and (where applicable) immunizations for tuberculosis, lead poisoning, hearing impairment, and vision problems. And—to make a good thing even better—all of these programs are open to residents of the whole neighborhood, whether they are Amity Village people or not.

Dolores Anderson—manager of Tri-City's maintenance crew—explains that all these programs are "growing by leaps and bounds", that economic development is Tri-City's byword, and that the group realizes that the real keys to revitalization are jobs and skills. The management contract with Amity Village, for instance, has enabled the organization to hire a black contractor—on staff—and to provide training opportunities for local residents.

The city of Newark has recently granted Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) funds to Tri-City, and these will enable the group to run six or eight maintenance-trainee programs. The nonprofit corporation hopes to expand this (and other) services beyond the cooperative and into the rest of the neighborhood.

At this time, of course, many contractors still refuse to work in Newark. Tri-City hopes to fill that gap, to provide essential services, and—at the same time—to generate jobs, income, and security within its target community.

The citizens' group is also looking past the basic rehabilitation work that occupies them now. Since the cost of energy has become a significant part of the cost of housing, Tri-City has extended its concerns to cover improved insulation and alternate energy sources. Three buildings in Amity Village I have been insulated to date . . . and the crew has purchased a portable insulation blower to help it do future jobs faster, easier, and more efficiently. In addition to that, Tri-City has installed its first domestic solar-powered hot-water system on top of the cooperative units on 18th Avenue. That initial system (which should be in operation by the time you read this column) is meant to demonstrate what might be done more extensively in the future.

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