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Barrio? Not if they can help it

Apathy takes a holiday as a working-class area gains a name and a budding sense of pride.

By AMBER MOBLEY
Published April 7, 2006

Names like "Carrollwood," "Town 'N Country" or "Westchase" bring to mind a certain lay of the land, reputation, meaning and voice.

Until last year, the neighborhoods bordered by W Waters Avenue on the north, Hillsborough Avenue on the south, N Dale Mabry Highway on the east and railroad tracks on the west remained nameless.

The 10,000-plus people, most of them Latino, who call that area home were left pretty much voiceless and entering a downward spiral.

"We saw that our neighborhood was turning in a direction we didn't like. It's not as prideful as it is once was," said resident Barbara Hissong.

"This neighborhood," said Tony Morejon, Hispanic community liaison for the county, "was going to become a barrio if something wasn't done."

Therein lies the idea behind the rebirth of a community.

That community is the newly named Pinecrest-West Park area.

And that community now has a burgeoning civic association, the Pinecrest-West Park Neighborhood Civic Association, which is less than a year old.

"We do believe that we need a voice with the county and the commissioners," said Hissong, association president, "and the voices of 3,500 homes are going to make a bigger impact than one voice."

The area has tried numerous times to organize an association, to no avail.

Lack of county-level leadership was the biggest culprit, said Eddy Calcines, community liaison for the Leto High School community.

But with Commissioner Cathy Castor's support, county resources, staffers and residents willing to spearhead it, this latest attempt was successful, said Janice Torgersen, the group's former president.

With 70 members, the association has 20 percent representation as of now, or one-fifth of all residents, Hissong said. Another membership drive is planned for May.

The association's first membership drive, last May at Pierce Middle School, drew quite a crowd, Torgersen said.

"People came and voiced concerns with traffic, speeding and graffiti. All of the 'regular stuff,' " she said.

Still, for many, Pinecrest-West Park is the "antithesis of Carrollwood," said association vice president Julie Carson.

Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican immigrants constitute nearly 70 percent of the area, Calcines said.

"In terms of the ethnic representation of Latinos, it's one of the most diverse," Calcines said. "Average income is $25,000 to $28,000, so it's a blue collar, hard-working community.''

Embracing the neighborhood's uniqueness and culture, the civic association tries to tailor its services and activities to residents' needs.

Communication, materials and presentations are in English and Spanish, and membership dues are only $5 per family to encourage participation, said Torgersen.

The community's schools -- Alexander and Crestwood elementaries, Pierce Middle and Leto High - are within about a mile of one another and play a central part in the association's organization and activities.

School principals were some of the first local folks the county contacted about forming a neighborhood association, Castor said. Founding members surveyed parents and students as they formed the association. And the community held its first pro-education, pro-community spring fiesta parade in late March.

Organized by Calcines, the parade, which traveled from Pierce to Leto, was the first of what the community hopes will be an annual event.

Association members marched with a banner and threw candy and beads with information about the group attached.

Another community-school-association collaboration is scheduled for April 27 at Alexander Elementary, at 5602 Lois Ave., Morejon said.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and county's children services agency will demonstrate ways to protect children from sexual predators.

With these and other events planned, Calcines said, "we can now take pride in saying that this is a neighborhood that's coming together."

Amber Mobley can be reached at amobley@sptimes.com or 813 269-5311.

[Last modified April 7, 2006, 07:49:47]