Saturday’s workshop will welcome current community correspondents and anyone interested in writing or taking photos for the project. We will open with a journalism lesson and next strategize a plan for group coverage of this summer’s Juneteenth celebration. This workshop will teach basic journalism skills and provide a chance for anyone interested in the paper to ask questions and learn ways to get involved.

RSVP to Ashley Kang by May 16 by email or phone at ashley@mysouthsidestand.com or (315) 882-1054

The workshop will begin at 10 a.m. at the South Side Communication Center located at 2331 S. Salina St. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided.

Corcoran High School senior Delores Woody, who lives near the intersection of Midland Avenue and West Colvin Street, lost three family members to violent crime: two shootings and one stabbing. She’s heard that surveillance cameras were installed on the West Side, and thinks it could help deter crime on the South Side, too.

“That would work. I would support it, because I recently lost my own cousin to it, and my other one, here. Right there, at that pole, and the other one down here,” said Woody, pointing to the intersection, and then pointing a few hundred feet away. Woody said she also lost her uncle to a shooting in the neighborhood.

Richard Puchalski, the executive director of Syracuse United Neighbors, supports the installation of surveillance cameras in the Syracuse area. -- Photo by Cheryl Mowczan

Rich Puchalski, executive director of the community organization Syracuse United Neighbors, also supports installing surveillance cameras on utility poles on the South Side to reduce crime.

“A day doesn’t go by without people seeing something like that in the media,” Puchalski said. Before a Common Council vote in November of 2011, Puchalski collected more than 350 signatures in favor of installing surveillance cameras on the Near Westside. “People are concerned, and rightly so.”

Puchalski has recently met with Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler and other law enforcement officials to discuss installing cameras on the South Side. The cameras have helped lower gun violence and other types of crime on the Near Westside, he said, because authorities can monitor multiple locations on computer screens and dispatch police officials more quickly.

Woody, who has heard of a recent shooting on the East Side of Syracuse, said cameras should be installed there, too.

On Nov. 2, the Common Council unanimously approved spending $125,000 in federal stimulus money to install nine cameras at intersections between South Geddes and Oswego streets, an area on the Near Westside that accounts for nearly one-quarter of the city’s gunshot incidents, according to Syracuse police. Police used an $84,400 state grant to purchase five cameras for the Pioneer Homes housing project on the South Side. They should be installed sometime in May, Puchalski said.

“With the amount of gun violence, shots fired — our government needs to provide a sense of safety,” Puchalski said. “In some cities, their cameras are much more up there in terms of technology than we’re getting.” He cited cameras that can pinpoint the direction from which a shot is fired in cities like Rochester and Buffalo.

Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse police said South Side camera locations haven’t been determined, adding that too many streets in the area have high crime rates. Police are canvassing the area and seeking community input, noting specific streets with frequent gunfire reports.

Philip Prehn, a senior staff organizer at Syracuse United Neighbors, met with Fowler last November and they came up with a list of about 20 intersections with especially high crime rates.

“The ones we have been focusing most recently on in the South Side, we’re concerned about Midland and Colvin. And Midland and Ostrander,” Prehn said.

Anna Morris, owner of Anna's Beauty Salon at 430 W. Colvin St. in Syracuse. Morris says she hopes cameras are installed at the corner of Midland Avenue and Colvin, where her shop is located, as a deterrent to crime. -- Photo by Steve Davis

Anna Morris, owner of Anna’s Beauty Salon at 430 W. Colvin St., said the Midland and Colvin intersection has been a high-risk area over the years. She does not see a disadvantage in installing cameras in the neighborhood where she has lived since 1982. If you’re not doing anything illegal, having cameras around should not make a difference to you, she said.

“One thing about cameras, they’re not prejudiced. If it’s good things going on, you’re gonna see that. If there’s something bad going on, you’re gonna see that, too,” Morris said. “I think it would be of help.”

Response to installing surveillance cameras as a crime-prevention tool has been positive, according to an informal police survey of more than 200 residents on the Near Westside conducted before November’s Common Council vote. More than 90 percent approved of the cameras as a crime-prevention tool, and more than 80 percent said they would feel safer, according to a write-up submitted to Syracuse.com by Mayor Stephanie Miner and Fowler.

Larceny is the most prominent crime on the South Side, with 169 incidents reported between July and September of 2011. The most larcenies, 13, occurred on South Salina Street. The street also accounts for the highest number of burglaries — seven — compared to other streets on the South Side. Midland Avenue – one of the streets in the high-risk area where Woody lost her cousins and uncle — reported nine incidents of aggravated assault, the third most common type of crime in the South Side.

Cameras are becoming a norm across the country, said Morris, citing banks and grocery stores as examples of places where they are commonly installed to prevent crimes such as theft.

“In the society that we’re in today, it works as a form of information,” she said. “If something goes on, the most important thing is that you are watched and you can, you know, get caught. At this point, I see the advantage of it.”

* Update made to story from print issue: Correct name of the Owner of Anna’s Beauty Salon is Anna Morris

The program provides hearing aids at low cost for up to ten children per year in partnership with Hear 2 Learn, a pediatric therapy and service agency.  The grant will cover the cost of consultations with an audiologist, the hearing aids, and support and training once the hearing aids are fitted. Children aged 4 to 18 are eligible.

“There is a growing number of hard of hearing youth between the ages of 4 – when they age out of Early Intervention services – and 18 in our community who cannot afford hearing aids and who need support to maintain them as they grow,” said Debra Chaiken, Aurora’s executive director.

As children grow, they need multiple ear molds and fittings to accommodate their changing hearing needs. “Most insurance plans do not cover the cost of hearing aids throughout the life span,” Chaiken noted.  “Our hearing aid program for youth is modeled on an already successful program delivered by Aurora and Hear 2 Learn for seniors in our community. We are grateful to the Gifford Foundation for enabling us to extend this service to our local young people.”

Since 1954 the Gifford Foundation has been dedicated to the stewardship of the funds entrusted to its care by Rosamond Gifford.  The Foundation is committed to using its financial and human resources to build the capacity of individuals and organizations to enhance the vitality and the quality of life for the people of the CNY community.

Aurora of CNY, Inc. is the only non-profit that works exclusively with people in Central New York who are deaf, blind, visually impaired or hard of hearing. Aurora is a United Way agency of Central New York and Oswego and Cayuga counties. For more information, call Aurora at 422-7263 (TDD 422-9746).

– Write-up provided by Adele DelSavio from Aurora of CNY, Inc.

Aggie Lane has lived along Onondaga Creek for 20 years and has never experienced a single flood. “I’ve never had waters from the creek come anywhere near my house,” Lane said.

Lane’s property is on Midland Avenue on the South Side along Onondaga Creek, an area that has recently been defined as a high-risk flood area for the first time by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as a part of the agency’s new national flood map recalculations.

FEMA’s flood map recalculations could put 1,099 South Side properties into zones considered to be at high risk for flooding, said Riccardo Lopez-Torrijos, FEMA state flood mapping coordinator.

Mercedes Bloodworth of Syracuse United Neighbors has been working diligently in light of the new FEMA flood zone insurance hikes for residents all over Syracuse. -- Photo by Lena Budd

The recalculations began in 2010, and Syracuse city officials have been working since then to reduce the number of properties affected by the new mapping as much as possible, said Tim Carroll, director of Syracuse mayoral initiatives.

The addition of South Side properties along Onondaga Creek to the new flood maps has alarmed residents and city officials because the owners of these properties would be required by their mortgage holders to purchase flood insurance that could cost $240 to $1,260 each year, Torrijos said.

Lane said she thinks the cost of flood insurance is unnecessary, and she feels it is an unfair burden to place on South Side residents.

“This is an area where people have trouble with expenses like just paying their taxes,” Lane said. “I think if homeowners here are hit with these insurance costs, people will lose their homes.”

Mercedes Bloodworth, a homeowner of a duplex along Onondaga Creek and Syracuse United Neighbors community organizer, said the additional cost of flood insurance could be detrimental to the growth in the number of homeowners on Syracuse’s South Side. “Homeownership is pretty rare for a lot of residents on the South Side, and we really don’t need any more obstacles in our way,” Bloodworth said.

Approximately 47 percent of homes on the South Side are owner-occupied, Bloodworth said, and she fears that the additional cost of flood insurance could cause homeowners to move elsewhere.

“In so many ways, our community has been improving,” Bloodworth said. “We have new homeowners coming in, new houses being built, urban renewal projects. We don’t need the government setting back our progress.”

Bloodworth said in the last two years, the Syracuse Housing Authority has built 50 new homes on the South Side in order to promote homeownership. Of those 50 homes, 20 would be included in FEMA’s new flood maps.

“A lot of the homeowners have really had to work to be able to buy a home, and they’ve needed help from organizations like the SHA (Syracuse Housing Authority) along the way,” Bloodworth said. “Most of them are still struggling with their finances. We want to promote homeownership and help it grow, not make it harder.”

Bloodworth, a working single mother, said the proposed insurance requirement could jeopardize her ability to maintain homeownership as well. Bloodworth said she purchased her home for approximately $50,000, which is a price that she said is typical for homes on the South Side.

Lopez-Torrijos, the FEMA state flood mapping coordinator, said that the agency estimates that houses valued at $50,000 would have an annual flood insurance rate of $236 for the first two years and $535 for each year after that.

Bloodworth said she is worried about the additional cost of insurance that she could soon face.

“I’m in a better position than a lot of people around here because I have a steady job that makes me able to pay my expenses,” Bloodworth said. “But I still have a mortgage and bills to worry about, and I really don’t have another couple of hundred dollars to spend away.”

Bloodworth said as of right now, she is not aware of grants or loans available to help residents pay for insurance, but it is something that she and other community advocates and members will look into as the flood maps become finalized.

All the areas in the red fall into the flood zone dictated by FEMA. Residents in the zone are upset about having to pay more for flood insurance. -- Photo by Lena Budd

Eddie Brown, a Syracuse United Neighbors board member, has been advocating for the property owners along Onondaga Creek, in hopes of shrinking FEMA’s map.

Brown said Syracuse United Neighbors has been working with city officials since the start of FEMA’s flood map proposal in 2010.

“The old maps had it right,” Brown said. “Even with all the snow and rain we got last year, we didn’t have any flooding around here. We’re trying to get FEMA to consider that.”

Brown said he thinks the maps should be constructed based on the historical evidence of flooding and not through computer calculations.

“Paying for flood insurance in this area is just not necessary,” Brown said. “I know people who have lived here for over 50 years, and they can’t remember any flooding problems.”

Lane, the Midland Avenue homeowner, said even during Syracuse’s worst storms, she and her neighbors have never experienced flooding problems.

“Even in the big Labor Day storm of 1998, one of the biggest storms that ever hit Syracuse, we didn’t have any flood damage,” Lane said. “I remember the waters from the creek hitting the streets, but the water was nowhere near the houses.”

Carroll, the director of Syracuse mayoral initiatives, said during the past two years, city engineers have partnered with C&S Companies, a private engineering firm, to recalculate any data about the creek banks that could lower the flood levels estimated by FEMA.

“We have been looking into things like calculating the effects of trees, bushes and low bridges on the creek to prove that they don’t create as much back-up as FEMA estimates,” Carroll said.

Carroll said the city has been relatively successful in its efforts to reduce flood zoning in the area. The city was able to take about 105 properties out of the original flood zones proposed by FEMA, and the city plans to continue its efforts.

“FEMA has accepted some of our data that shows that Onondaga Creek can hold more water than expected, but we’re still trying to reduce the zones as much as we can,” Carroll said.

Lopez-Torrijos, the state flood mapping coordinator, said the new flood maps have little to do with changes that they have detected in the area. Instead, Lopez-Torrijos said the new maps were proposed because more advanced technology has been made available to measure flood risks since the maps were last updated in 1986.

Lopez-Torrijos said FEMA used light detection and ranging technology that is able to determine the contours of land by using laser pulses directed from a plane flying over a patch of land. FEMA also used updated engineering technology to measure the flow and depth of Onondaga Creek.

Lopez-Torrijos said city officials have been given until the beginning of May to make their case against the new mapping, and then the city’s responses will be considered. Torrijos said the mapping will be finalized by the end of this year.

The city will have six months to include the new flood zoning into the law, Lopez-Torrijos said, and after that homeowners within the flood zones will receive letters from their mortgage lenders informing them of their insurance requirements.

Bloodworth said Syracuse United Neighbors will continue to fight the changes to the flood maps, but she has little hope that they will be able to repeal the maps completely.

“We’re not going to be able to get those changes to disappear, but we’re going to help the community as best we can,” Bloodworth said.

“It’s been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come,” she announced with a smile.

Linda Littlejohn, associate vice president of Syracuse University's South Side Initiative, speaks at the ground breaking for the South Side Food Cooperative. -- Photo by Amanda Marzullo

The Cooperative, affectionately known as The Co-op, has been in the works since 2006. It is intended to address the lack of accessible grocery stores on the South Side by creating an affordable source of fresh fruit, vegetables and other staples.

Speaking to the crowd at the groundbreaking event, Mayor Stephanie Miner said that pro-bono work by volunteers has saved the project hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Without the volunteers, this would not happen,” she repeated.

In addition to a number of community members, many SU professors and students have been involved in the planning and design. Sekou Cooke, an associate professor of architecture, created the design and incorporated ‘green’ elements to improve the building’s efficiency. These include a roof designed for solar panels, a water reclamation system in the basement, and pourous pavement to allow rainwater to seep into the ground instead of runoff into storm drains. Cooke says that working on the project made him feel that it was important.

“It opened my eyes up to a lot of the realities that were happening here on the South Side. It makes me feel like I need to be involved in more projects here,” Cooke said.

The new $3,000 building will occupy the vacant lot at 2327 S. Salina St. Organizers expect construction to begin this month so the Co-op can open for business by January of 2013.

Community members will have the opportunity to buy shares in the cooperative for $100 and receive a percentage of profits at the end of the year. Amatullah Yamini, a longtime South Side resident and owner of Salina Shoes, says she has already purchased a share.

“I was shopping here when they were on the corner,” she said, remembering how volunteers began testing the viability of the project by setting up a fruit and vegetable stand throughout the year.

“It’s come a long way,” she added. “I’d go there and get greens, oranges, bananas. If I didn’t see it, they’d try and get it next time.”

Looking out at  Salina Street, Co-op board member Howie Hawkins pointed out where grocery stores used to stand on the South Side.

“Up here on the corner of Brighton there was a grocery,” he said. “The last one left in 2009. That’s why they call it a food desert.”

He says that the co-op model, where members have the opportunity to purchase shares and have a stake in the profits, is significant.

“It means we own it. The community owns it. It can’t decide, like P&C did, to just shut down.”

The Eat to Live Food Cooperative is a project of the South Side Initiative and the Southside Community Coalition. The South Side Stand is a similar project. Funding for the Co-op has included grants from the CNY Regional Economic Development Council, Syracuse University and local non-profit foundations.

Linda Littlejohn, associate vice president of Syracuse University's South Side Initiative, SU Chancellor Nancy Cantor, Mayor Stephanie A. Miner along with other New York state officials at the ground breaking ceremony for the new Food Cooperative on South Salina Street. -- Photo by Amanda Marzullo.

May is Stroke Awareness Month and Crouse Hospital has partnered with 100 Black Men of Syracuse and Beauchamp Library to teach our community how to recognize, treat and prevent strokes. A free education seminar is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, at Beauchamp Library, 211 S. Salina St. 

The event is open to the public, but pre-registration is requested and can be made by calling 472-2464. Food and refreshments will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m., and free parking is available at the library and across the street at Key Bank.

The presentation will be made by members of the Crouse Hospital Stroke Center team, and will focus on what you can do to avoid a stroke and how to think F.A.S.T. to survive.

The acronym F.A.S.T.  is an easy way to learn the signs of a stroke as follows:

• Face – Ask the person to smile; does one side of the face droop?
• Arms – Can the person only lift one arm?
• Speech – Is the person’s speech slurred or garbled?
• Time – Strokes come on quickly, so call 911 immediately. Don’t drive the person or yourself.

As a follow-up to the presentation, on Saturday May 19, Crouse Hospital will provide a free stroke/heart health screening from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Beauchamp Library.

Each evaluation includes readings for total cholesterol and glucose levels, as well as a blood pressure reading and a personal risk profile. No fasting is required. Results are received in approximately 15 minutes and are reviewed with a Crouse Hospital healthcare provider. Screenings are for adults 18 and older, and are not effective for women who are pregnant or nursing.

Stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. It is the number four cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States. It kills more than 133,000 people each year. Plus African-Americans are at increased risk of stroke due to their higher prevalence of risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and previous heart attack and/or stroke.

Crouse Hospital is a New York designated Stroke Center and has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Silver-Plus Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

– Write-up provided by Charles Anderson, VP of Administration & Chair, Health and Wellness Committee for 100 Black Men of Syracuse

Anna Shipe knew that mentoring children alongside the city pool on Valley Road during the summers was a call for something bigger.

“We would have 30 to 40 kids over with us talking and there would be no one in the pool, even on the really hot days,” Shipe said.

Shipe is now principal of Eagle Wings Academy, a private Christian school on the South Side that she helped start in 2008, along with her husband, David.

Her office is not far behind a steel pink door in the basement of Grace Baptist Church, only feet from where the 24 children who attend the school start off their morning with Bible class. “This is one of the best parts,” Shipe said. “We have so much flexibility; we can start our day with the Lord.”

Eagle Wings Academy is made up of 24 students. The school is located at 423 Valley Drive in Syracuse. -- Richie Calabro, Staff Photo

Eagle Wings serves students in kindergarten through ninth grade, but it is unlike many other private schools in the area. The children do not pay tuition, their school is one large room broken into several smaller rooms, and children from different ages take classes together. “The great thing about Eagle Wings is the small class sizes that allow teachers to build personal relationships with the students,” said William Rutan, who is in his first year at Eagle Wings. He teaches reading, writing and gym.

The school has three full-time teachers and two part-time ones. The average class size is between three and seven students, depending on the subject. “Small numbers and individual attention is what made this place so attractive,” said Rutan, who used to teach at Grant Middle School. “I learned … having higher pay at Grant wasn’t what was going to make me happy.”

Hope Lont, who teaches science, said small classes allow teachers to address many problems. “A lot of our students have needs that are a little more intense than what can be handled in a public school environment.”

Lont, who taught at Dr. King Elementary before a brief move to Florida, believes that Eagle Wings is so successful because it has a focused mission. “Here, all of the teachers are able to share time and information with each other as well as communicate. We can figure out what works and what doesn’t for each student.”

Students also realize the benefits of a smaller environment. “You get more attention. You can stay after if you need help and the teachers will even drive you home when you’re done,” said Ian Vire, a ninth-grader.

Eagle Wings is funded solely with grants and donations from people, as well as gifts from churches. “We have quite a bit of churches out there who are helping us out,” Shipe said.

Shipe, who doesn’t take a salary, is in charge of running the school, as well as applying for all of the grants the school needs. Eagle Wings was recently awarded a Gifford Foundation grant, allowing it to hire an academic coordinator with the $7,623. The coordinator will help put together a full curriculum for all grades as well as develop a structured report card system.

The school is a member of the Street School Network, which is a group out of Denver that helps start faith-based schools for troubled youth in metropolitan areas. “They came out here for a few days and really liked what we were doing,” Shipe said.

Danae Pilalas, a kindergarten teacher who moved to Syracuse from Arizona last summer, finds teaching at a ministry school one of the most appealing parts of Eagle Wings. “Here, you teach the students what they never heard before. Five-year-olds don’t know what the Bible is. The challenge is to teach them that it isn’t just another storybook,” Pilalas said.

Communicating with parents is one of the hardest parts of Pilalas’ job, she said. “Many times, there are several layers of parents or guardians that I have to go through if I want to speak with someone.”

Teaching different ages of students in the same class also poses a challenge. “The variety of grade levels is the hardest part when compared to a regular public school, like Grant,” Rutan added.

The children are taught Bible every morning when they arrive. Throughout the day, they receive all of the major subjects — math, science, language arts, history, gym and art. “We have to make sure we cover all the subjects for the state,” Shipe said.

Students also go out on projects where they help those in need. Shipe has her own SWAT team, or “Servants Without a Title.” Shipe recalls one trip when she and the students went to an elderly woman’s apartment to help her clean. “The apartment was filthy. It looked like someone had just emptied a garbage bag all over the place. But the students didn’t even make a remark. They grabbed some gloves and started cleaning.”

Shipe says of her job: “I know it’s what the Lord is asking me to do. We have a fantastic staff, and we are actually having fun.”

Omanii’s Lemonade Heaven restaurant doesn’t just serve the best lemonade in town. It has helped resurrect the lives of a dozen South Side felons over the last 18 years by giving them a place to work.

“Before I was surviving, now I am living,” said Westcoe Williams, 54, the head chef at the restaurant.

Manager Leon Bellamy prepares the kitchen for opening alongside ownder Omanii Abdullah. | Hannah L Cordell

Omanii Abdullah, 62, owner and founder of the restaurant, says he has a mission to help those like Williams.

“I want to give them a second chance to prove to themselves that they can get off the streets, and stop committing crimes or selling drugs.”

The need to help is substantial: Over the last five years, local courts handling serious offenses — such as murders, sex crimes and DWIs — have sentenced hundreds of people per year, 850 to jail and around 640 to state prison annually, according to James E. Makowiec, deputy chief clerk for Onondaga County Court and for the Supreme Court in the Fifth Judicial District.

Williams is one of 12 to get such a chance from Abdullah.

“When I came out of jail in 2006 I knew I needed a job to support myself and also get my three children back,” Williams said. “So after asking around in many places, Omanii agreed to sit down with me and one of the first things he asked was if I had ever been in trouble with the law, and I said ‘yes’.”

Williams said he was kicked out of a training program at LeMoyne Manor in Liverpool — where he earned a culinary and hospitality certificate — after he’d spent 18 months in prison. He was sent back to Jamesville Prison for three more weeks, and he headed to the South Side to live and work when he got out.

It was a struggle. His parole officer was pushing him to find work.

“I’m not prejudiced but I went and talked to more than 20 people for a job and as soon as I told them I was a felon, but that I did my time, they rejected me,” he said.

But not Abdullah.

“This job saved my life,” Williams said. “That day that I came in to meet with Omanii, he told me he would give me two days to see what I had and (I) came back here to the kitchen and started cooking. And the third day I got a phone call and came to meet him and he handed me an envelope with a bonus.

“After being rejected so many times at different places because I was an ex-felon, to find a man that saw something in me, and wanted to help, was such a feeling of relief that changed me,” Williams said.

Chef Westcoe Williams said his job at Omanii’s Lemonade Heaven stabilized his life. | Hannah L. Cordell

Williams was imprisoned for selling drugs and charged with criminal possession of a controlled sub- stance with intent to sell.

He was on parole for five years.

Williams’ wife, Yolanda Williams, 50, met Williams at the LeMoyne Manor training program and remembers when he came home with the news of his new job.

“He came in and told me he had found a job and I felt so happy,” she said. “Right away, I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh, now we can slowly get this, we can buy that’,” Yolanda said.

Yolanda is unemployed, and Williams’ paycheck is their only income. Although Yolanda does not know Abdullah personally, she’s seen the results of his employment policy.

“Mr. Omanii gave my husband a second chance to get his life together, and he now has more self-esteem and is more confident in himself, “ she said. “Omanii gives guys a second chance, something that not many people are willing to give because they see a felon first, before a person.”

Abdullah started Omanii’s Lemonade Heaven 18 years ago by putting a hot dog stand on the corner of South Crouse and East Fayette streets. “People who bought hot dogs every day would tell me that I should open up a restaurant, and I told them I would when I retired,” Abdullah said. There are two hot dog stand locations in the city; the restaurant is on South Avenue.

Williams said he had to learn to adapt to cooking at a fast pace because the restaurant is busy seven days a week. He learned all the recipes and picked up his speed from Leon Bellamy, 29, the manager of the restaurant and Abdullah’s godson. “Leon taught me and guided me the way he learned when he was younger and now I am probably a little faster than he is in the kitchen,” Williams said, smiling.

The kitchen is no bigger than a standard living room and has one stove, a sink, a refrigerator, and shelves holding spices and hot dog bread.

Most days, Bellamy — who has been involved with the restaurant since he was 10 — has to go grocery shopping to restock, leaving the work in the hands of Williams and others.

“I’m in charge of everything and I am never at one location because food might finish at one place and so
I have to run to stock them up or go grocery shopping because food and products run out,” he said.

“Having Williams in the kitchen at the restaurant is great because I don’t have to do all the cooking by myself, and he has adapted and learned very quickly,” Bellamy said.

In the kitchen, Williams stirs the cheese for the chili cheese fries in a pot and has a smile on his face when he says that this job has helped him reclaim his life.

“When you are in the streets, you have no respect for anyone and you definitely have no respect for yourself,” he said. “But this job, this family that I have gained here, has helped me regain my life back and I like to say that I am stable now in my life.”

Waitress April Laftin assists patron Monique Orr and her sons Terrance and Tylique. The restaurant is family friendly with most customers returning often during the week. | Photo by Hannah L Cordell

Hollis “Larry” Mathis is a foreman for the city of Syracuse in the Department of Public Works. He has worked there for more than 35 years. Isaac “Ike” Wynn has driven for Centro for nearly as long. They are the founding members of the group UAD.

For Mother’s Day, the duo is going to produce a show, which will be held Saturday, May 12, at the Palace Theatre on James Street.

It will feature more than 20 of the area’s favorite artists, musicians and singers.

Some of the talent includes Michael “Mike” Houston (of Michael & Anjela Lynn, with the Talented Ones), Rick Linzy (of the Soul Mine band) and longtime local favorite Donna Alford (of the Soft Spoken band). The show will be hosted by Julius Edwards, a talented emcee and the new executive director of the Dunbar Center.

Over the past 15 years or so, Ike and Larry have produced a great number of shows. Generally their shows have a purpose. “This show is to salute and give honor to mothers,” Larry said.

“It’s all about family, too,” he added. “Everybody in the show has a family-like tie with UAD.” They have sung in the group or “they’ve just been close to us.”

Rick Linzy, Larry Mathis, Ike Wynn and Saul Brown of UAD. -- Photo provided by Larry Mathis

Larry and Ike’s relationship dates back to the 1970s, when they began singing together.

Their name UAD stands for Uplites, Avatar and Destiny, which incorporates the initials from some of the groups in which one or both of them have sung.

Their first show under the UAD moniker was held in 1997. They performed in tradition, as a four-man singing group similar to the Temptations, the Manhattans or the OJays. The group uses tight vocal harmonies and choreographed dance steps to entertain audiences. The performers are also known for wearing highly stylized and coordinated outfits.

Darryl Brooks has been living and performing in the Rochester area for more than 13 years, but has sung with Ike and Larry periodically since the 1970s. He acknowledges that being compared to the Temptations and other groups is fair, though he quickly points out that the uniqueness of UAD is that “each individual in the group is given the spotlight.”

Larry confirmed that. In fact what’s new and unique to the upcoming Mother’s Day show is that UAD has stepped entirely away from the traditional singing group’s format and will not perform as a group at all. “All of the performances in this show will be solo,” Larry said.

Ike still enjoys the traditional singing group approach but is welcoming the change. “You know the guys like Brooks, Rick and Mike (Young) and me are going to be old school anyway, but some of the younger guys like Seth (Marcel) and maybe XL are going to bring that new flavor,” he said. “It’s going to be a good show.”

Jonathan “Blaze” Dale, 34, is another of those younger guys that Ike mentions. He is the bass player for the Brownskin Band, Brownskin will perform and act as a backup band for all the artists in the show. John appreciates this opportunity to play behind some of the “more seasoned veterans,” he said.

“It’s a blessing,” he added. “Five years ago I wasn’t doing this. My goal is to the keep the bass lines as close to the originals as possible. Back in the day, bass players were funky. I’m going to try to keep that.”

The following that he and his fellow band mates attract are generally a little younger than the typical UAD crowd, so the audience could be diverse in age.

With a focus on family, as Larry suggested, we might see some younger people bringing their mothers out for an enjoyable evening. That is what Greg Collins, the youth pastor from Tucker Missionary Baptist Church, wants.

“This is a Mother’s Day show but a lot of people don’t celebrate Mother’s Day,” Collins said. “In my heart I know who I’ll be singing to, and that’s mothers. I’m going to be singing songs that some of the mothers will appreciate.”

Collins, who will perform a tribute to artists, said he’d like to be introduced as “the pastor who sings love songs” because “that’s what God is all about, love. And that’s what I plan to sing about.”

A few others on the show’s bill are Paul Lee (of Bobby Green and A Cut Above), Busty Baker and James “Saul” Brown (of the After FX band).

Have a Friendly Five suggestion?
Contact Reggie at reggie@softspokenband.com
or (315) 479-9620.

After about five years of planning, the South Side Food Cooperative, a division of the Southside Community Coalition, and the South Side Initiative are gearing up to build a food co-op in the neighborhood. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled May 4 at 2327 S. Salina St., to initiate the construction process.

According to the Southside Community Coalition, the food co-op will help counteract a problem with food insecurity. The South Side of Syracuse is a “food desert,” which is an area without access to fresh fruits and vegetables within a mile radius.

Joseph Bryant, board president and spokesman for the Southside Community Coalition, said the predicament is harmful to residents because many people in the community do not have access to a car to travel to grocery stores.

“Taking the bus to a grocery store is difficult,” said Bryant, who estimated the co-op will open in January 2013. “Having access to fresh food is necessary to the neighborhood.”

According to Howie Hawkins, president of the food cooperative board, construction is expected to be completed at the end of the year. By then, purchasing healthy food should become a little easier for South Side residents, he said.

The Eat to Live Food Cooperative plans to make fresh produce a high priority. Hawkins said the co-op will purchase food from local farmers and the Central New York Regional Market. People will be able to shop from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, he said.

Community members also can get involved in the business end of the store, Bryant said.

“Because it is a cooperative store,” he said, “residents will also have the opportunity to buy shares.”

Customers will be given the opportunity to purchase membership certificates, Hawkins said. For a flat $100 fee or 10 payments of $10 each — with a $15 initiation fee — customers can become members and invest in the cooperative. At the end of the year, the store’s leftover earnings will be returned to members in proportion to the amount of purchases they made.

“The way to think of it is like getting your change back at the end of the year,” Hawkins said.

Members will also have an opportunity to participate in governing the cooperative. They will be able to vote on members of the board, make suggestions at board meetings and post comments on the store’s website.

The cooperative will employ three full-time employees and one general manager, Hawkins said.

For more information or to purchase shares in the food co-op,
contact Margie Gantt at magantt@syr.edu or (315) 443-1979

Three tracts in Syracuse's South Side have been identified as food deserts -- places where at least a fifth of the population lives at or below the poverty line and where there isn't a supermarket within a one-mile radius. -- Source: Food Deserts identified by USDA Economic Research Service and background map provided by Environmental Systems Research Institute