By KATE PIERCE
News Editor
Living in the same neighborhood is one commonality. The Pine Hills Improvement Group is hosting a community dinner to help neighbors interact and find out what more they might have in common.
The neighborhood dinner is free and open to residents of the Midtown Pine Hills with food, activities, crafts, and live music. It is being held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22 in the First Lutheran Church. The entrance to the church is at 646 State Street, and parking is available in both nearby lots.
“The point of the dinner is to allow neighbors to connect with one another,” said Carolyn Keefe, the organizer of the event. She is hoping for a turnout of more than 100 neighbors.
The dinner is being catered by Healthy Cafe through donations by the SUNY Albany Student Association and the SUNY Albany All Greek Council. There will also be Halal food options available to suit the dietary needs of residents of the neighborhood.
The Improvement Group is seeking to bring together the diverse group of residents, including families, students, senior citizens, and more. The Pine Hills community is also home to a number of refugee families, who are also welcome to attend the dinner.
“Given what’s going on in the news, we know that people are scared,” said Keefe. “We want them to know that they are welcome and wanted here.”
At the neighborhood dinner the Improvement Group hosted this time last year around 80 attendees helped to put together cards and letters for those serving in the armed forces.
This year the crafts portion of the dinner will consist of making and decorating of “Welcome” signs for refugees and refugee families who are living in the community. There are premade signs and materials to create new ones. All of the signs that are made at the dinner will be given to RISSE, the Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus.
The Damien Center, a local resource facility that supports individuals and families living with and affected by HIV and AIDS, is also taking part in the neighborhood dinner.
“Living with AIDS can be very isolating,” said Perry Junjulas, executive director for the Damien Center. “Getting to know your neighbors is really important.”
Junjulas also spoke of the divide that exists between “town and gown” neighbors, with families living among college students.
“A lot of times in neighborhoods we go ‘Oh, those students…’ and the students say ‘Oh, those residents…’” said Junjulas. “This is an opportunity to actually get to know each other.”
Students who live in the neighborhood attend a variety of schools, including SUNY Albany, Saint Rose, Sage College and Albany Medical College. Some of the students from UAlbany serve as off campus ambassadors, and are involved with the Pine Hills Neighborhood Association and the Improvement Group Committee.
Due to the large presence of the College of Saint Rose in the community, PHNA President Virginia Hammer says that she hopes to get more involvement from those students.
“I would like to try and connect with student leaders at Saint Rose,” said Keefe.
The Improvement Group also organizes days to clean up the neighborhood, and an event called “Meet, Munch, and More” in early September.
The event also offers free food, activities and local resources. One of the large components of the event is presentations on fire safety; it is one of the few fire education programs in New York State held off of a school campus. Other presentations include various community groups and spokespeople from the Capital
District Transportation Authority as well as the Albany Police Department.
“It helps to set the tone for the school year,” said Keefe.
Moving forward, the Improvement Group is looking to continue advocacy for the betterment of the community and continuing support for local businesses. This includes a recent partnership with the Upstate Artists Guild to help “spice up the neighborhood,” said Keefe.
Junjulas said that the community offered a lot of support in response to the fire that forced the Damien Center to relocate and work on creating a new space, and that their assistance was invaluable to the Center.
“As neighbors we can do a lot to help each other,” said Junjulas.
