A New Wave of Leadership Guiding Madison’s Neighborhood Centers: Neighborhood Anchor
Arturo Ambriz (l) is executive director of the Lussier Community Education Center and Richard Jones, executive director of the Vera Court Neighborhood Center and also administers the Bridge, Lake Point, Waunona Neighborhood Center.
Part 2 of 2
By Jonathan Gramling
One of the hidden — and not so hidden — foundations of Madison’s high quality of life are its neighborhood centers. Usually located in the heart of the neighborhood they serve, they are the center of community life. Regardless of income, there is much to take advantage of, from community dinners to food pantries to neighborhood organization meetings to voting to exercise programs. And of course, there are the many facets of youth programming. They help integrate newcomers into Madison society and keep the fabric of some of Madison’s challenged neighborhoods strong and intact.
During the past year, two of Madison’s centers have experienced a changing of the guard with Arturo Ambriz taking over for Paul Terranova at Lussier Community Education Center and Richard Jones replacing Tom Solyst at Vera Court Neighborhood Center. Both have worked in youth and neighborhood center programming and are well-prepared for the challenges they face.
One of their major duties is to be the person — the bridge — that connects individuals, organizations and institutions in the broader community to what is going on at the neighborhood center.
“It is buy-in on a programmatic level,” Jones said. “We talk a lot about youth. It’s buy-in to say, ‘Hey investing in showing up regularly is good for all of us. It’s good for you. It’s good for the kid sitting next to you. It’s good for building community. We want to be family with you.’ It’s the same thing with their parents. It’s the same thing with community members. It’s about buy-in. Arturo and I spend a lot of time in meetings where it is about buy-in from partnerships. It’s about buy-in from funders. We have to consistently build and cultivate community that will buy in to the visions that we have to move our community forward. Once we have that buy-in, the opportunities just continue to expand.”
For Ambriz, the center is the place where people come together to get things done.
“There is so much that can and will happen at the centers,” Ambriz said. “We want to be able to be as flexible as possible and offer as much as we can based on what the needs are, not only from the community, but also from the kids. We explore those options, whether it is community leaders wanting to come together and talk about what is happening in their own space and then bringing in different partners to support that, to help guide them through difficult times, whether it might be police officers coming in and answering some questions. ‘How do I deal with this complaint?’ ‘I have this concern. There are cars racing up and down the street. How can we deal with that? As a community member, what can I do?’ Having access to those key figures in Madison like alders or even the mayor to be able to voice their concerns or even talk about what is going well is important.”
And as the leader of the facility, it is incumbent on the center director to make sure that everyone is safe and receive the support they need.
“Not only do we have to be cautious every day making sure that the youth are safe, but also making sure that the staff are properly taken care of, making sure that they are able to support those youth because their day-to-day lives vary,” Ambriz said. “They can be going through issues themselves. We help them through coaching and cheerleading and helping them be supportive. There are so many moving parts that are happening all at once. It’s something as simple as today where we have youth on four different field trips all throughout the city on top of what is happening at the center. There are all of these moving parts that any little thing can go wrong and you are concerned, ‘Okay, if this happens, how do I deal with that?’ That constant worry is on my mind consistently, even through the night.”
It’s a matter of the people at the center taking care of each other.
“I see my staff and the community members as family,” Jones said. “I get to go and be present with family. Some days are really, really hard. I’m not going to lie to you. But I get up. I take care of my family at home and send them on their way. And then I go spend the rest of my day with my family. And then I go back to my family at night. That’s what gets me going. It’s about connecting people, meeting people where they are, and being supportive of people. And it’s not just about pouring out. Going to work, I get poured back into. I have staff who just stop me and say, ‘Hey you have a minute?’ That happens all day long because people usually need something. But there are also people who say, ‘Hey, I just want to see how you are doing. I know you’ve been on the go. I know you’ve been working 12 hour days for the past three weeks. Is there anything I can do to help? Let me take something off your plate.’ There are community members who come into BLW and they are watching me all day long. They are always messing with me. ‘Oh you did this? You did that?’ But there is a specific community member who makes sure that I eat. I will go all day long and forget to eat and it’s 3 p.m. ‘It’s 3 p.m. Mr. Jones. Let me go get you something real quick.’ That’s what gets me up every day. I get to do something meaningful with a community and people I care about.”
And in the end, being a center director is about having a positive impact on people’s lives.
“I would definitely say the smiling faces, whether it’s with kids, seniors or community members keeps me going,” Ambriz said. “Being able to help them and even something simple like sitting outside and greeting everyone, ‘Good morning. How are you doing’ and seeing those smiling faces and that potential that can grow from that kid or community member is why I do this job. We’ve seen community members become alders from our centers because they were engaged. They were part of the program. There were opportunities given to them. It’s amazing to be a part of that. I wake up in the morning wondering what impact I am going to have today.”
For both directors, it’s about a lot more than a 9-to-5 job and even doing something good for other people. It’s about life itself.
“I’m not just doing it for community,” Jones said. “I’m doing it with community. That is just a beautiful thing, to be a part of that. I get to be a part of that. I see it as a privilege honestly.”
As Arturo Ambriz and Richard Jones settle into their positions as executive directors who impact three of Madison’s neighborhoods, they will be impacting the future of Madison, one resident at a time.
