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Truly part of the community

By JOSE CARDENAS
Published January 23, 2007

CLEARWATER - Saturday's community health festival at Sid Lickton Park offered checkups, medical information, food, children's games - and maybe, organizers hoped, a glimpse of the future.

The health festival was the first activity organized by the North Saturn Neighborhood Association, which formed slightly more than a month ago.

Clearwater has 98 homeowners associations. But this one, in a neighborhood with many immigrant Mexican renters, is the first composed largely of residents who don't own the homes where they live.

"It's historic," said Gabe Parra, a city neighborhood services specialist. "The idea is to make this place a better place to live."

If it works, organizers said, it could serve as a model for other communities with an increasing number of immigrants.

The North Saturn association aims to educate immigrant residents on city codes and ways to maintain qualify of life.

In the past, some residents have complained to the city about unmowed lawns or broken-down cars with flat tires.

"There are various rules from the police and the city that we have to understand," said North Saturn resident Roberto Reynoso, 53, who lives with his wife and daughter.

"Simple things ... like the homes where we live, we have to keep clean," Reynoso said. "We want to educate our community to see what our responsibilities are so we can live in this country."

With support from Mayor Frank Hibbard and City Manager Bill Horne, Parra and residents spent six months forming the association. Parra walked door to door interviewing residents.

He said a study showed that 87 percent of the residents in the area are renters. While at least half are Hispanic, Parra said, there are many black and white residents, too.

The boundaries of the association are Drew Street to the south, Duncan Avenue to the west, Flagler Drive to the north and Keene Road to the east.

About 60 people attended the last meeting at the Fred Cournoyer Recreation Center, Parra said. Now that the association is formed, it will be in the hands of the community members who were elected as officials.

One is vice president Galileo Cecilio.

"More than anything, we are trying to integrate ourselves in the community," said Cecilio, 30, who is married and has two young children. "We don't want to be separated."

The meetings so far have been in Spanish. But Parra said they will be held in English once a more diverse cross section of the community begins to attend.

On Saturday, about 350 people came to the health festival. Most were Hispanic, but a few black and white residents also attended.

"That was the idea behind this, the integration," Parra said.

Community members hope the city can tout the association to other municipalities as an example of how to acculturate Hispanic immigrants.

Already, residents near Drew Street and U.S. 19 are interested in forming a similar group, Parra said.

"The city wants to make it a model ... to show how Hispanic communities can work with other racial groups," said Odilon Mesquite, the association's president. "We want to show neighbors that we can organize."

Fast Facts:

Get involved

To join the new North Saturn Neighborhood Association or attend future meetings, call Gabe Parra at (727) 562-4772 or association president Odilon Mesquite at (727) 743-8529.

[Last modified January 22, 2007, 20:45:19]