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February 28, 2003
"Ruth Wise, New Road Community Development Group"
An interview with Ruth Wise, Executive Director of the New Road Community Development Group of Exmore, Inc., and a 2001 Leadership for a Changing World awardee. Questions and answers will appear below starting at 1 pm EST on Friday, February 28. You may ask a question in advance by clicking on the "Submit a Question" button. Due to time constraints, not all questions will be answered. You may need to refresh your screen during the interview to read the most recent responses. Leadership for a Changing World
Welcome to Leadership Talks with Ruth Wise, Executive Director of the New Road Community Development Group of Exmore, Inc. Thank you for joining us.
Ruth, what brought you to social justice work?
Ruth Wise
Well, I guess I've always worked in the human services field. Earlier when I started working out of college I started teaching in high school and I moved into adult education. I worked in citizens services, I worked in administration at the local community college and that's when I left to go to New Road full time. I've served on numerous boards and task forces over the years. I was a member of the Northhampton County School Board. I've been a board member on a countywide CDC since inception in 1990. And that's the Eastern Shore Housing and Economic Empowerment Corporation. And basically that's an organization that works with people at the lower end of the income scale in health issues, education issues, and that kind of thing. And it's the organization that's for the enterprise community, part of the federally designated enterprise community.
New Road is home. I grew up there. My grandparents moved me here when I was 3 years old. And I stayed away from home for 22 years, but when I came back home, I ended up at New Road. And so naturally, when the sewer system issue arose I would become involved.
Most of my work life I have worked with the individuals who are at the lower end of the wage scale and have always been concerned that they receive justice.
Orlando, FL
How did you mobilize support and funding for a community-wide sewer system?
Ruth Wise
That was a struggle. There was a discussion going on at the town council level about a sewer system to address a 32-unit apartment complex for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The funding source was to be the USDA and that funding source said that that sewer system had to be tied to a blighted community. New Road was that community. At the time, the town was talking about a regional system which would have included not just New Road, but probably larger areas of the town of Exmore.
Now we have to kind of differentiate here. New Road is an African-American neighborhood. The major part of the town is a white neighborhood. Most of the people in the white neighborhood have individual septic systems. New Road was a community where people still had outdoor privvies, outdoor toilets, and outdoor spigots for running water. So what happened with that is there was a breakdown between the two communities. The white community felt that it was being asked to hook up to a sewer system so the residents of Nnew Road could get sewer, and they felt that that was unfair. It became a highly charged racial issue and this was a battle that raged with the USDA for 2-1/2 years.
What the residents of New Road learned during that 2-1/2 year struggle was that there was another funding source at the state level, the Virginia Community Development Block Grant that could pay for a sewer systen to address the New Road community. So the USDA funding source went away because they couldn't get enough people to agree to hook up to a sewer system if they were to put it in. With that we petitioned the county board of supervisors to apply for the block grant to bring a sewer system to New Road.
Hi Ruth - What advice would you give others living in places similar to New Road who are just starting out and want to follow New Road's example?
Ruth Wise
First, I would say the residents of that community, they need to take a very active role, a leadership role. There may be other entities like government and district commissions that will work with them, but they need to be in the decision-making position and they need to know if they have the problem, then they also have the solution.
Lagos, Nigeria
What were the "low" and "high" moments of during your pursuit in trying to create that community of your dream. How did you handle both?
Ruth Wise
The low moments were when it took some while to get the sys started. We started in 1992. The construction of the sewer system began in 1998. Along the way, people became discouraged. When you have to struggle for something that long people become discouraged. Began to think things like nothing s going to change and you have to try and engage and keep their spirits up.
The high moment, I have to say, is probably the day we saw the trucks roll up to begin the construction of the sewer system. That was probably a greater charge than when they told it was finished. And the next highest moment was probably when we saw the new houses. When we saw that construction begin that was delightful.
Charleston, S.C.
Hello to all my name is Jerome R. Clemons, Jr. and I am the Outreach Coordinator for the Peacewords Foundation. I was just wondering if youth are involved in NRCDG. If youth are in involved. What roles do they play and how did you get them involved?
Ruth Wise
Yes, our youth are very involved in our community. We have two high school students on the board of directors. They participate in community planning. For instance, the logo or the design on our letterhead was a design that came from our youth. We involve them in the activities, such as our annual Celebration Day, as speakers, as emcees. We have various kinds of community activities for the youth. We have the only community-based 4-H Club in the county. We have a summer camp for the kids. We take them on various kinds of trips. We have programs like the Black History Program and Christmas programs where the kids actually put on the programs. So we try to do numerous things to keep our kids involved.
Phoenix, AZ
How do you work to grow leadership in your organization?
Ruth Wise
Our board meetings are open to all residents. We encourage residents to come. Board elections are actually open elections. We nominate people from the floor. Anyone who is a member of the community can serve on the board. We encourage community residents to share their opinions and their thoughts with us about things going on in the community. If there is something people think is going to be difficult I go door to door because people don’t always come to meetings. That’s one of the things that I do myself to make sure that we have a clear understanding what the issue is all about. We let people know that everybody’s idea is worthwhile.
Portland, OR
What is the biggest obstacle you face in bringing key stakeholders to the table, and how is that overcome?
Ruth Wise
Well, basically I think stakeholders have to see what’s in it for them. Mostly folks are not going to take their time if the impact of an action doesn’t somehow or other affect them. And so sometimes you have to show people how they are affected and then I think they’re willing to come and sit and wroth with an org or us to resolve whatever issues there may be.
Birmingham, AL
What is the most pressing issue facing New Road right now, and what is your organization doing to address it?
Ruth Wise
The most pressing issue is the same one that faces most nonprofits: not getting enough funding in order for us to survive and get the work done that we have do. Funding is always an issue. What we are doing about it of course, is constantly seeking funding sources and writing proposals. Also, we’re looking at ways of how to become self-sustaining, how we can go about generating income within the community or for the community ourselves. New Road has an economic development component and we are looking at various kinds of initiatives that we can implement to begin to generate more income ourselves.
Louisville, KY
What are the benefits and drawbacks of doing your work in a rural area as compared with an urban one?
Ruth Wise
Rural areas are a little bit more remote and perhaps do not have some of the resources that more urban areas have. But we also have something that urban areas don’t have. We’re probably dealing with smaller numbers in terms of numbers of people. We have open space. In a neighborhood like New Road, everybody knows everybody and families are together in the area. The community is generational. There’s not a lot of transience. And so I think that those are positives for small rural communities that urban areas may not have.
New Haven, CT
Have you faced any challenges in being a woman doing the work you do?
Ruth Wise
No. I guess I never really thought about it quite that way. And I guess from time to time you run into people who may feel that women don’t necessarily know how to do certain things, but I guess I don’t let that faze me. I think that probably folks may have thought, well, that’s a tough, old bitty, and so I don’t know that that has impacted us that much.
colorado springs, co
What constitutes a victory in your work?
Ruth Wise
I don’t know that we look at any one thing as a big victory. I think every time a resident moves into their new home or housing unit we always have a sense of a small victory. The completion of the sewer system was a victory. Seeing residents getting their homes is a victory. Every time we overcome some obstacle that was difficult then there is a sense of delight that we have overcome one more hurdle. I don’t know that we will ever look at the community in terms of the battle is over, we’ve won. We are looking at it as how do we sustain the improvements and accomplishments that we have made? How do we sustain our community and continue to improve the quality of life for our residents? So I guess victory is kind of ongoing for us. It’ll never be done.
Minneapolis, MN
If you had to pick one issue, what is the root issue that faces your community that you would like your organization to address? Is it housing? employment?
Ruth Wise
No. Sustainability of the community and having folks internalize the idea that the organization needs to stay alive, the community needs to stay engaged. For instance, when the last house is built we can’t turn away and say, well, we’re done, let’s go home. There will still be a community that’s viable. And growing our young folk to step in place and take charge of the community. I think residents have to know that if we’re not constantly in a position to make decisions for ourselves, others will make them for us. And when that happens decisions are not always made in the best interests of the people that are affected. They’re made in the best interest of the other folks who are making the decisions, and I don’t think that has become full internalized in the community yet.
Leadership for a Changing World
We have time for one more question.
Ruth, how do you sustain yourself and your staff while working on difficult social issues?
Ruth Wise
A lesson learned I think through all of this is when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I think each time we weather a storm, we may come out of it a little frayed in some cases, but if you get through it, then you’re stronger for it. If you get through it in very good shape, then you can rejoice. And so I think that we’ve learned that this is not work for the faint-hearted and we support each other. I believe a great deal in listening to my staff, their sharing with me, ask for their opinions, their ideas, their solutions to problems. I don’t have all the answers and sometimes other people can see clearer than I may see them. And I think a good idea can come from anywhere, even a child. And it’s important that I keep an open mind and encourage others to keep an open mind. And I always encourage thinking outside of the box. And I always encourage questioning convention wisdom because sometimes the conventional wisdom is way off base.
Leadership for a Changing World
Thank you for joining us today for Leadership Talks with Ruth Wise. For more information:
Ruth Wise
Executive Director
New Road Community Development Group of Exmore, Inc.
P.O. Box 1296
Exmore, VA 23350
Phone: 757-442-3797
Fax: 757-442-2363
Email: nrcdg@intercom.net
Please check back with us for future Leadership Talks.
Ruth Wise
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