Jackie has been active in her California neighborhood since she arrived here in 2003 from Flint, Michigan. As a result, she was an easy touch for resident-organizer training through Louisville’s Center for Neighborhoods. When she completed that, the center’s executive director suggested she apply to be a Resident Organizing Coordinator for Making Connections Louisville.

Jackie’s teenage daughter, Jaberta, has brought much to the Network too. Not only is she right by her mother with neighborhood cleanups, but she’s also played a large role in the Making Connections Youth Video Project, winning a $500 prize through the Karen Gallagher Kennedy film contest sponsored by Metro United Way.

Meeting people is the best part of her job as a ROC, according to Jackie. “And the trips,” she says, “I like learning what they’re doing in other cities.” She also likes helping people. “I’ve gotten 15 or 20 people hired into jobs last year,” she says, in addition to organizing two fashion shows, neighborhood cleanups, a neighborhood watch and serving as president of the California Community Association and vice-president of the California Federation Inc.

Connect with Jackie at 502.494.4385 or send her e mail at jackieglee2003@yahoo.com.

Miss Maxine is often the quiet one in the room. But silence can be mighty, and, like many of our ROCs, Maxine would be organizing even if she weren’t paid to do it. She’s a natural at reaching out, whether it’s sending food home with elementary school children or calling people who attended a monthly Making Connections Network Nite. 

Just recently, she had a pot luck lunch at her house for young women. “A lot of their parents don’t have time to talk to them,” she says, and so she mades a point of gathering them for informal networking and friendship. But organizing for Making Connections comes in handy. At that lunch, a young pregnant woman told Miss Maxine about needing a job. “I referred her to Ron,” says Maxine, referring to Ron Swope, the Making Connections job coach.

Miss Maxine grew up in Phoenix Hill and raised her children there. She now lives in Sheppard Square where she attends grandparent meetings and other events to stay connected with the Network. Recently, a neighbor needed rent assistance and Miss Maxine knew just who she should call. “Communication,” is what she likes best about being a ROC, she says. “I’m a people person.”

Connect with Miss Maxine at 502.568.6458 or send her e mail at francesbrown99@yahoo.com.

Dreema thinks of herself as an introvert, but you’d never guess it when you attend a Making Connections monthly Network Nite and watch her lead the group conversations about jobs, economic stability and other member concerns. Dreema says that her work as a ROC is “a way to come out of my shell and meet all these people I’d just been watching. It’s interesting. And it’s satisfying if you can help someone over a hump.”

Dreema works principly in the California neighborhood, where she not only helps people “over humps,” but engages others to help people over humps. Two of her sons had a teacher who wanted to help the community, so Dreema told her about the Making Connections job coach and about the Y.O.U. program that helps young people get jobs and finish their high school education. Dreema says her friend has passed the information to several people, and connecting several young people with career help.  Drawing on people’s strengths in the true nature of networking is something Dreema does well.

Connect with Dreema at 502.762.4149 or send her e mail at dreamgj@hotmail.com.

Miss Patricia is called by a number of names, but no matter who calls her, the response is always a gentle smile, or a hug, and a ready ear. She is a fixture in the Smoketown neighborhood, living there 41 years, raising her children there, serving as president of the Smoketown Neighborhood Association for years, managing the Smoketown/Shelby Park farmers’ market and being the go-to neighbor for anything Smoketown.

She believes in the essence of “making connections,” or neighborhood networking and organizing. “You help (someone) out of a lull or valley,” in their lives, she explains, “before you know it, another family is working” on their own issues. Soon, she believes, there is an”intelligent, cooperative, group of families working together to make the community a better place to live.”

She says the best part of being a ROC is “helping people.” Sometimes, that means helping them get a job, she says, but sometimes, it’s offering friendship, a “connection,” to others that care.

Connect with Miss Patricia at 502.584.0201 x122 or send her e mail at bellpab3@aol.com.

Alicia is Pat Bell’s daughter, and when an automobile accident ended her work as a nursing home nurses’ assistant, Delquan Dorsey, the former lead organizer of Making Connections, asked her if she wanted to become a ROC.

Alicia believes that helping young adults, especially single moms, is a way to return Smoketown to the close community it was when she was growing up. “I grew up in Smoketown. I really like this part of the East End,” she says. She’s working with Sheppard Square resident and young mom Darlesha Shepard, coaching her to be an advocate for the Smoketown/Shelby Park Farmers Market.

A diabetic, she’s been asked to be a spokesperson for diabetes care by the nurse practitioner at Harambee Nursing Center. “I take care of myself,” she says. “I get plenty of exericise, I walk constantly, I stay away from foods I’m supposed to stay away from, and I take my medication when I’m supposed to.”

Finally, she says, “I was given the opportunity to give back. I like helping the community.”

Connect with Alicia at 502.584.0201 x122 or send her e mail at aliciagardnerlcdc@yahoo.com.

Ella Retter takes command where ever she is, from helping seniors find affordable medicine to helping uncertain visitors who come into the Presbyterian Community Center for advice or appointments. For her, it’s all about giving people information that might improve their lives.

She was a go-to gal even before Making Connections found her, being hired for her community outreach skills to recruit citizens for exercise programs and health screenings, among other things. Now, as a volunteer for Presbyterian Community Center, she answers the phone and greets visitors, fielding questions about everything from help with utility bills to financial assistance for housing.

She started work as a resident organizer in 2004. “I was connected to people in Making Connections,” she says, about how she found the job. She likes what she does because “it gives me the opportunity to give (people) information they need. It gives me the opportunity to assist people.”

Another good aspect of her job: She gets to travel to other cities and share her successes with people who are doing work like she does. “I like connecting with them to give them the tools to make their work easier,” she says.