New Leadership Roles Announced for Commission
Allen and Purzycki Named Co-Chairs of Commission;
Executive Committee and Board Members Added
Posted: Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Members of the Wilmington HOPE Commission, as part of the development of short and long-term strategies, participated in a strategic planning session last week on the issue of juvenile crime. Chandlee Johnson Kuhn, Chief Judge of the Family Court, and Tyrone J. Jones, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, co-chaired the session aimed at exploring ways to help reduce the incidence of crime involving juveniles.
Representatives of the local court and legal systems, as well as the juvenile justice system, joined HOPE Commission members for a round-table meeting held at the Chase Center on the Riverfront. It focused on identifying and assessing current policies and programs regarding juvenile crime and barriers to reducing both incidents of crime and recidivism rates.
The meeting also focused on the implementation of new policies and programs aimed at reducing juvenile violence. Participants spent a good deal of time identifying partnership opportunities both within and outside of the Wilmington area. Chief Judge Kuhn said, “We must work together to repair the existing disconnect and distrust between the community and those agencies charged with protecting the community.”
In other HOPE Commission news, Tony Allen, Communications Executive for Bank of America and Mike Purzycki, Executive Director of the Riverfront Development Corporation and were elected as co-chairs of the HOPE Commission.
Allen, a resident of Wilmington’s Westside and former President of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League said it is important that the Commission move in directions that provide sustained impact for those whose lives will be affected by the Commission’s work. “Too many young people, especially black youths, are engaging in behaviors that involve gun play and drugs,” said Allen. “Our challenge is to begin to engage the entire community and change these behaviors, and at the same time help to promote a continuum of rehabilitative services for youth and adults who are adjudicated,” Allen continued.
Purzycki, a former New County Councilman, said those involved in the HOPE Commission are establishing an organization that will sustain its presence and impact throughout Wilmington’s communities for the long term. “Improving the lives of citizens living in our inner cities is one of the great social challenges of our time,” said Purzycki. “The Hope Commission is committed to strategic methods in being an effective agent for progress in Wilmington’s neighborhoods.”
Dr. Robert Laskowski, Christiana Care President and Commission member, said, “We are confronting and attempting to resolve issues that directly affect lives and support the preservation of life. These are issues and values not bound by color, gender or geography. As Wilmington Mayor James Baker has said many times, we need citizen engagement throughout Wilmington and beyond our City’s borders in order to re-direct attitudes, actions, behaviors and beliefs.”
The Commission in recent weeks has also welcomed new Board Members and Executive Committee Members. The Executive Committee now includes Chandlee Johnson Kuhn, Chief Judge of Family Court; Deneen Stewart, General Counsel at ING DIRECT; and Reverend Derrick Johnson, Pastor of Joshua Harvest Church in Wilmington. Named recently as Board Members of the Commission were community activist Nnamdi Chukwuocha of the Twin Poets, and Dr. Lillian Lowery, Superintendent of the Christina School District.
Purzycki said the Commission plans to complete its short term plan of action in late spring with an eye toward implementation in early summer. The HOPE Commission was formally established in November of 2006.
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