Community dialogue to continue at forum
Response to west side shootings aims to engage neighborhood
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer
The message of tolerance and unity that inspired the December candlelight vigil for two young men who were shot in Red Bank is set to continue at a community forum Jan. 19.

Red Bank's Sabree Harris, 15, participates in the Dec. 13 candlelight vigil.

The forum, or community discussion, is open to anyone who wishes to attend and will be held Saturday at noon at the Mount Zion House of Prayer, located at 172 Catherine St., to continue the community dialogue on issues raised by the shootings.

The Rev. Randy McNeill of Mount Zion House of Prayer will lead the community forum, which is a follow-up to the Dec. 7 candlelight vigil at Montgomery Terrace, the Tilton Avenue housing complex where the shootings took place. The vigil was led by the Rev. Terrence K. Porter of Pilgrim Baptist Church on Shrewsbury Avenue and by McNeill.

"Our goal for the forum is really to get connected with our community," saidMcNeill Jan. 9. "It's unfortunate that a shooting would happen right in our back door and we want to respond to that."

According to Porter, "Pilgrim [Baptist Church] really facilitated the vigil and now Mount Zion [House of Prayer]will facilitate the discussion."

Potential topics for discussion at the forum include community safety, neighborhood needs, youth activities, reconnecting with your children and socialization techniques, according toMcNeill.

"My goal is to make friends with our city, our neighborhoods. I don't want it to be at odds, Iwant it to be in this all together," saidMc- Neill.

He said that the mayor, Borough Council and other borough and church officials have been invited to the forum and he is hoping to have a representative fromtheRedBank PoliceDepartment in attendance.

One topicMcNeill said that he hopes the representative from the police department will discuss is the newly adopted community policing effort in the borough.

In addition to a representative from the police department, McNeill will bring in a speaker named Don Franco.

Franco is thewriter of a book called "The FAMDO Way: A Commentary and Solution to theAfrican-American Crisis,"which deals with the urban crisis and possible solutions for it, according to McNeill. (FAMDO is an acronymfor "for allmy desiring ownership.")

"There will be a portion of the meeting that will be open," saidMcNeill, adding, "We want the neighborhood to speak. This is by the neighborhood, for the neighborhood."

McNeill and his church are also looking forward to having future community meetings on topics including financial planning and other issues of concern for residents.

"We want to respond to some of the hopeless feelings that somemay have in the neighborhood. We want them to know that all of

the area churches can be a place of uplift, enlightenment, education and can really make their lives better," said McNeill.

He added, "Anytime there is a shooting…some are fearful for coming out in the evening. [Some people are] unemployed, struggle in their marriages, struggle to survive on a daily basis and they need encouragement."

McNeill said he is unsure if any family members of the two young men involved in

the shooting would be in attendance at the meeting but he said he had visited them and their family previously.

"We still can't release the names [of the youths]. We are soliciting the prayers of the whole community because one of the fellows is still having a hard time walking. He is in therapy at this point," said McNeill, adding, "If as a people we can come together, all the people inRedBank…especially in prayer for this young man, I really believe that God is going tomove on his behalf and help him."

McNeill said one of the main goals of the forumis simply to get people to come out and participate in a community dialogue.

He said, "When people really come together, there's nothing really that can't be accomplished, and that is the goal of the whole thing. If we can come together in agreement, we can really be a powerful city."