When Dr. DeForest "Buster" Soaries Jr. became pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, N.J., 13 years ago, he found himself in a desperately poor neighborhood.
The crime rate was the highest in the state, nearly 45 percent of the teens in the neighborhood failed to finish high school and unemployment was 30 percent.
The term economic empowerment was invented for just such a neighborhood. Yet we often wonder what empowerment really means, and if it can be achieved in our own blighted areas, such as East Tampa. Doubt seems to be as big a foe as crime, poverty, unemployment and drugs.
Soaries will offer a blueprint of hope when he gives the keynote speech at the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa luncheon Wednesday at the downtown Hyatt. (Contact the CDC at (813) 232-1419 for details.)
Soaries believes neighborhoods around the country can be uplifted and he offers Lincoln Gardens as living proof. Since he became pastor, Soaries has helped his neighborhood attract more than $100-million in investments. Another $50-million will come to Lincoln Gardens over the next five years.
"We're talking new jobs, new buildings, new parks," Soaries said. "There are areas of Tampa, areas of Los Angeles, areas around the country no one seems to look at until there's a riot."
Soaries, who served as the New Jersey secretary of state from 1999 to 2002, believes that empowerment has to be sparked by groups within the neighborhood and that the starting point is not guilt-edged accusations against the political structure.
"When we first came in, we didn't march on city hall and accuse them of neglect even though they were guilty," explained Soaries.
He also said that empowerment efforts have to develop personal wealth in the neighborhoods, not just enrich institutions.
Most important, his message can help stifle the doubts about what is possible: "It can happen anywhere where the leadership is proactive and not just reactive."
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I don't know if our mayor is ready to challenge Howard Stern, but in a guest role Friday as a morning host on WMTX-FM 100.7, Pam Iorio proved a tad bit more witty than you might imagine. She seemed particularly fond of teasing co-host Mike Reeves about his hair, and she got a chance to wake up a Brandon woman and tell her she had won a trip to New York City.
Iorio also fell in love with the sound effects machine. Don't be surprised if she has one installed in her office.
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Kudos to William Reece Smith Jr., who was honored with the 2003 Tampa Bay Ethics Award at a breakfast Friday. Smith may be best known as the father of pro bono legal services in Hillsborough County. He has been with the firm of Carlton Fields for 50 years.
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Put on hold those plans to watch the Tampa sisters battle the East Hillsborough brothers on the Food Network. A local installment of Food Fight, taped last January at the Columbia restaurant and scheduled to air tonight, has been temporarily shelved. It was to pit sisters Jill and Natalie Khawam against brothers David and Michael Shoffstall in an alligator cookoff.
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Filming of The Punisher is set to wrap up in Tampa next week, so I guess your chances of seeing John Travolta are dwindling.
A few folks have spotted the star having dinner at Estela's and Rick's Italian Cafe on Davis Islands. WDAE-AM 620 morning host Sandy Penner told listeners he ran into Travolta while working out at the Harbour Island Athletic Club.
When the movie's producers arrived in town, they bragged about the reception they got. From all accounts, the honey never dripped off the moon and we have a real chance of landing other films.
Maybe there's still hope for my movie star aspirations.
