Show Transcript
Disclaimer: The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain spelling or contextual errors.
You're watching Open Agenda, here's your host, Mike Goldberg.
Welcome to Open Agenda.
I'm your host, Mike Goldberg, and I'm joined today by some familiar faces, Joe Venosa,
hey Joe, and Jim Atkins.
Thanks for being here.
Our topic today is going to be the Westside Neighborhood Alliance, which is a non-profit
community-centered group on the Westside who does an awful lot of good for the Westside
community and beyond.
In fact, we're going to have its director, Matthew Korshkin, on in our next block.
I'm excited to hear what Matthew has to talk about because I've gone out there a few times
with my son, and I'm always impressed by how they're building such great activities for
not only that community, but again, for people like us who are not from that part of the
county, but who go out there.
So this is really exciting to see what's been cooking.
So the good that they're doing goes far beyond the Westside, it extends all the way into
almost downtown Salisbury, where you live.
They do some good work.
So stick with us, we'll be back in just a moment with Matthew, and we'll get the inside
scoop on just what kind of good that the Westside Neighborhood Alliance does.
You're watching Open Agenda.
Welcome back to Open Agenda.
We're joined today by Matthew Korshkin of the Westside Neighborhood Alliance and our
old friend, Jim Adkins.
Thanks for being here, y'all.
Thank you for having us.
Matthew, can you explain the GED program at the Westside Neighborhood Alliance?
Yes.
Yes, actually, I can.
I'm glad you asked about that.
It's actually one of the big reasons why I'm here today, because our GED program needs
five people.
So we have three definites and two maybes, and a lot of people misconception about that.
It's not a minimum of five, or maximum of five is a minimum.
So we can still, if you're thinking about signing up, come on down.
One of our main core tenets of our mission here is uplifting our community and giving
people all the resources they need to accomplish the goals they want.
Education is something that's very personal to us.
And so we were talking, it actually came from basketball night, one of the guys here talking
to me, and I said, "What would you guys like to see?" and one of them said, "Educational
resources and GED programs."
And we said, "Would you guys sign up for that?"
And we found out, after talking to him, there was a lot of people in our area who don't
have a GED and don't have a way, and he said, "I can't drive to Warwick.
I don't have the money.
It's pass/fail.
You pay anyway."
So we developed this idea that what if we were able to get them to come to the center,
and WSNA basically, if you're a resident of ours, we will pay your tuition.
So whatever your issue is, and we have even told them, we have volunteers in place to
drive them to the testing on day of if they cannot make it.
Whatever your obstacle is, we want to remove it because we believe so heavily that, you
know, improving your community starts from the bottom up, and the people who are there
oftentimes aren't there by choice.
So if we can remove their obstacles for them, all of our community will benefit from this.
It will give them so much better opportunities in life.
One of my best friends from Pennsylvania didn't have his GED, and it really, really hampered
him from what he wanted to do in life.
He was a great guy, but he just, people didn't want to take the chance.
And this GED program is a partnership with Warwick.
Yes.
So that's what happened.
We ended up calling Warwick and said, initially, we were going to run it ourselves and said,
"Hey, we have some people down here.
How do we do this?"
And they said, "Don't.
We'll come down.
It'll be completely run by us."
So all the instructors are Warwick, and it's a complete, there's an actual GED program
through Warwick College.
So you could actually just enroll right into Warwick from it.
You could roll into a community college, into an associate's program if you want.
It's basically a guaranteed admission because it's a community college, and that's the next
step.
Hopefully, we're going to open, start almost an annex down where we are.
That's all under wraps.
It's in development now, but the point is that we really, though, want people to not
be shy.
It's hard sometimes to get people to come to these things.
There's a lot of shame and embarrassment.
You don't want to be seen.
You don't want your picture taken, things like that, and there's no reason to be embarrassed.
So the reason why we came here today, if you get onto our website, if you get into our
Facebook, Westside Neighborhood Alliance, we would like as many people as possible.
We have our computer lab in place.
We just purchased the computers.
They'll be here this week.
So everything that we need is done.
We just need at least five.
Right now, we have three definites, two maybes, and you can show up the day of.
Another problem was if I missed intake day.
Don't worry.
You can do intake the day of.
It is September 21st, and it's coming.
So we really need the lab in place.
It's going to be a Monday and Thursday every week, and I believe there's a three-month
semester.
It's going to run through November, basically, and then we plan to hopefully just continue
doing this and finding people and identifying people.
So just come to us.
It's fine.
And if you have financial issues, it's fine.
If you have mobility issues, it's fine.
We will get you there.
What kind of costs are involved in pursuing your GED?
Out-of-pocket costs, not which means perhaps subsidized by others, but...
If you were to not get a WSNA scholarship, basically, if you're going to do it for the
top program, it would probably cost you $150 to $200 with all the testing and whatnot,
and that's if you pass or fail.
And the scholarship is...
We are going to cover...
...is the whole fair.
Basically, you know, we can't cover things like gas or stuff like that, but any kind
of tuition fees, we can cover through this program.
So you don't have to worry about that.
If you fail, just do it again next semester, it doesn't matter.
And we are trying to basically establish a fund so we can continue this and have that
as a separate, so we can always offer that.
Are there any other objectives with this program just to get more people with the GED certification
so that they can further their careers or establish a career?
Are there any other underlying purposes that WSNA has?
Well, you know, yes, thank you for asking that because we try to also...
It's a whole community approach.
So we think to ourselves, well, who else would benefit because we had to get the computer
lab for the GED program because we had to have computers on site.
So if we're going to do this, what other applications can we have for this?
So we're going to offer senior programs where, if you want to learn anti-scamming, if you
want to learn how to pay your bills online and have someone walk you through it, it is
safe and secure.
And we also want to offer open access hours where community members who may not have access
to internet themselves can come in and do everything they want to do.
And hopefully, you know, isolation is such a huge issue in that community, in the senior
community.
If you're on the West End, you're isolated to begin with, and we want them to be able
to basically be connected.
Maybe you can find your niece on Facebook or I don't know what it is, but also maybe
you're looking for a job.
Come on.
We will show you.
Indeed.
We'll show you all.
You know, there's so many different applications, a computer lab, and also kids for studying
and for homework.
There are a lot of kids in our area who don't have internet at home.
And so where else are you going to go, school?
This is going to be a really, really great thing.
And we actually did not meet our fundraising budget for our GoFundMe, which is fine, but
it's still active.
So if anybody wants to partner with us, that money is also going to the computer lab.
It's not just for the VGED program, it's a whole community approach with it.
So this will help to enhance or increase computer literacy.
That is our hope and also remove those obstacles of, well, I don't have a computer and I don't
have $600 or whatever it is to buy one, and you know, some people just, they don't care
for technology either.
There's not a lot of, it's not always just an isolation thing or something like that,
but we want everyone to be able to have a place if they want it.
Sure.
Basically.
Besides the GED part of it, this is almost an extension of the county library system.
You have a library branch on the east side of the county.
You have one in Salisbury.
You have one in north Salisbury.
And yes, the Bookmobile does come down to the community center and bring access to the
community to get books, but there is no public place down there that a person who wants to
do a little research, who doesn't have availability of a computer can go into like they can in
Salisbury or the eastern part of the county.
So in my world, this is just an extension of the public library system.
Yeah.
It's funny you should mention that.
We actually have a very good relationship with the library.
We are going to build on that in the coming year.
But we have a book locker outside of the center that people can use that basically is the
same at, you know, if you're a member of library, you know, you can get, you can reserve books
online.
You can actually have them brought down to the west side community center for you right
now.
That's the first one in the county that they built.
And Seth's son, I believe, as an Eagle Scout project, built the enclosure around it, which
was really great.
So yes, we have that in mind too.
We want to expand that, the bookmobile and the library services, we think, because again,
you know, there's no library near us at all.
So that's a very valuable resource to the community.
A lot of people don't realize how valuable the library still is.
And you're right that that literacy, that ease of access is definitely on our radar.
And we would hope that it does transform into a place where people can come for some of
the same resources they go to library for.
Are there any internet connectivity issues on the west side?
I mean, I know I've lived in rural areas before where we had no cable service.
And so, you know, connectivity was a problem.
There is a big push to bring in fiber.
I am personally not on it.
I understand that there is issues down there, but I live right on the main road in Tiaskin.
So I just have regular internet through, I think, Comcast.
So I personally don't, I don't, I can't speak for others.
I understand that there is, I mean, until they did this cell tower, there was a lot
of connectivity issues down there.
You know, we're kind of out in the west end, so it's something that we think has a lot
of value, hopefully.
No, absolutely.
And I think this is a fantastic program to help bring people into the 21st century to
some extent.
But it will create opportunities for them that they might otherwise not have realized.
So my hat's off to y'all for doing this.
If you know anyone, or if you yourself are interested, September 21st, six o'clock, be
at the Westside Community Center.
We can register you there.
You don't even have to contact us in advance.
We will just be happy to see you.
Terrific.
We're going to take a short break.
We'll come back and we're going to discuss more about the programs that are offered by
the Westside Neighborhood Alliance.
So stick with us.
We'll be back in just a minute.
You're watching Open Agenda.
Welcome back to Open Agenda.
We're still here with Matthew Korshkin of the Westside Neighborhood Alliance and Jim
Adkins.
Matthew, among the other programs that y'all are offering at WSNA, you have youth sports.
Oh, yes.
And you have some artistic endeavors.
We do.
Could you enlighten us as to what other things you're offering there?
Man, you just opened up the can of worms because youth sports is my baby.
We are actually going to expand it next year.
We've got some really great things planned, but I was a kid who grew up in a rural area
and I didn't have a lot to do, and we didn't have a community center, and we got in a lot
of trouble.
So we have a couple of kids in the area and we thought we should give them something productive,
something that can teach them good values, and that's how we fell into Wacomico United
Soccer League.
Mr. Adkins brought down Joe White and Mark Carroll, who run that league, and basically
they adopted the Westside into their program.
And unfortunately, we didn't get enough kids for our own team this year, but they were
actually able to work it out.
Our kids are going to play.
Hopefully we can get a last-minute push, we can get enough kids that we can play our own
Westside teams, but we will be subbing in on teams and they are going to bring teams
down to Cedar Hill.
So our kids are still going to get that experience, and hopefully next year we're going to roll
it into an actual bigger program, but we were really, really delighted because, you know,
you never know how these things are going to go.
And the kids have been practicing all summer, and for us to say, "Well, you know, there's
not enough for our team, guys," that was very, you know, disappointing for them, and they
really went out of their way, this program, to make these kids feel included and not separated,
and they're going to get jerseys, they're going to play, they're going to be, and that's
just great.
Now, if you still want to play youth soccer this year for Westside, you can still come.
We will be the bad news bears, and we're going to bring the championship home.
And what we did, though, was we asked the kids, "What other sports would you guys like
to play?"
So right now, in next year, we're going to try to bring baseball in and continue the
soccer program, but we also have youth night.
So if you're not into sports or structure, youth night is your thing, and basically it's
an open, inclusive environment.
And you know, when I was a kid, one of my biggest problems was no matter where you go,
you're always told what to do.
Sit down, be quiet.
Even when you're in recreation, it's, "Okay, we're playing this sport, here's the rules."
So youth night's this place for kids to just come and be crazy and have fun.
There are volunteers on site, it is structured, no one gets hurt.
But there's no real, people always say, "Well, what's the format of youth night?"
And it's fun.
That's what it is.
Sometimes we play volleyball.
Sometimes we play Lego.
It's basically kid-centered, and you'd be shocked because on the first night they came
in and they're like, "What are we doing?"
And I said, "Well, what do you guys want to do?"
And they couldn't answer the question.
Whatever they want.
I dropped in one night during youth night, and they had slip and slides out on the lawn.
And the adults were out there sliding with the children.
I mean, it was something to see that night.
Yes, Robert, if you're watching this, we were all very impressed by your form.
And that was just that, because the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance was having a meeting that
night and we are very heavily partnered with them.
We like them.
So they were using the center.
And youth night, though, that continuity is a goal with that.
So we said, "Well, if we can't have it in the building, because, come on, the kids in
the gym, there's no world where Nanticoke Watershed Alliance would have a good experience
there."
So basically, we took the kids all outside, it was a beautiful day, found some slip and
slides in the shed.
And the only rule was you can only go into the lobby because that's where the bathroom
is.
And we had a blast regardless.
So that's our goal, is just to have that place, because that's what a community center is,
isn't it?
These kids, and it's amazing, Mike, these kids have now started showing up all the time.
So as an example, one of our really, really great kids is Owen.
Owen came to basketball night.
He rides his bike down to the center now and we really want that to come back fully because
it's such a small community, everybody's so close.
One of the children had said to me, their grandfather said, before this, he didn't have
any friends because he didn't know where anybody was.
Some of the kids go to middle school, some of the kids go to, but now he has this group
of friends that he sees regularly once, and he is just a happier kid.
So if you have a child, bring him down.
And obviously, all of us, we're very West Side focused, but as an example, Mr. Jovinoza
comes down and brings his son, and hopefully they have a great time.
We don't turn people away at the West Side Community Center.
It just seems to be such a fantastic nucleus for the community, it gives kids a place to
go.
For that matter, it gives adults a place to go.
Well, it also gives adults a place to put their kids where they don't have to be, because
again, youth nights drop off if you want to.
You're welcome to stay, but we also, and so we're also going to move towards some more
adult-centric programming things, because that's another issue is, all right, we have
the kids covered, but are we forgetting anybody?
We don't want to turn into just a youth center, basically.
So we are going to be spending our adult programming, and it's funny you should mention that, on
September 29th, at 6 o'clock, we are having a programs meeting, and we are welcoming our
residents to come, because we would really love the help, and if you want to actually
have a say in what we do and what our programming is, this is how you do it.
You come to these meetings, and we're not going to ask you to commit to 10 hours a week
or anything like that, but it is going to be, we don't normally blast it out, but we
really want people to feel included, and we want them to feel welcome.
Yes, you will probably be asked to join the programs committee if you come, but you don't
have to, and September 29th is your opportunity to come to the Westside and say, "This is
what I'd like to see.
This is what's important to me," because I can't tell you what's important to you.
I can only tell you what's important to me.
Youth sports is very important to me.
Adult education is very important to me.
Come tell us what's important to you.
And that's September 29th at what time?
Six o'clock.
Six o'clock, yeah.
Why don't you sit or two and talk about some of your activities you have for the adults?
I mean, I know you have like a brown bag luncheon type thing, yoga classes.
Well, Brown Bag Lunch and Learn is actually really cool because Brown Bag Lunch and Learn
is a, again, very relaxed environment.
We encourage you to bring a brown bag or a snack, and we have locals come in and talk
about all sorts of fun things, and mainly history or if you have a topic that's important
to you, these are people who want to listen.
They want to learn.
That's the entire point of the event.
So as an example, Cheryl Torbett came in a couple weeks ago, and her family has done
oyster tongs for generations.
They also used to make coffins.
And she brought in these 12-foot oyster tongs, authentic ones, and went over the process
of how they were made and what they do.
And it's just so very enriching, and that's what the goal is with a lot of our adult programming.
So we have that.
We have, as an example, Andy Nunez and Jim Duffy came last year to do book presentations.
Hopefully, I believe Andy Nunez may be coming soon, but I'm not sure on that yet.
We have one of our volunteers, Jenny Walker, is a big bird enthusiast, so she hosts bird
talks where we do bird identification, and ones in the West Side, ones you would see
down at Tiascon Park or somewhere like that.
And that's basically what we want to expand on are things that are very enriching and
educational, but another thing that we're doing for adults, we had a couple of groups
approach us about doing candidate forums.
WSNA is a nonpartisan organization.
We do not partner with any political organizations at all as a rule, but we do welcome anybody
who wants to use a center and wants to rent it.
That's something of value.
That's something the West Side residents should have access to.
So we also kind of want to make it like a town hall-type center also where the residents
feel welcome coming together, talking about issues that are important to them.
And that's the main goal of that.
Also, we have bingo.
Bingo is an adult event because it's gambling and you cannot come in if you're 18 or under
18.
It is literally $20.
It's one of the most affordable bingos in the area.
We have it the second Friday of every month, and all proceeds go directly to the Neighborhood
Alliance, and I would like to remind everyone, we are a 501(c)(3).
Every dollar that we spend is spent on the community.
Fantastic.
I understand you had some problems with the roof out there.
I believe it's getting repaired.
Can you give us a status report on the new roof installation?
Yes.
Big thank you to Wiconico County.
They got that done quickly, painlessly, and it is working flawlessly.
It's doing its job.
There's no water inside the building that is not wanted anymore.
And I have to say, they really went out of their way to work around our schedule and
not interrupt our programming.
We were involved in every step of the way, and they've just always been great to deal
with.
Unfortunately, though, we did receive a little bit of water damage to the stage where the
leak was.
It's a little boat now there, so there are some things that we still have to work with
moving forward on that.
But overall, great, working fine.
It's in place.
If you want to come down and look at it, it's beautiful.
And while you're there, stay for one of our programs.
Matthew, thanks for coming in today.
We appreciate you enlightening everybody as to the happenings at the Westside Neighborhood
Alliance.
Absolutely.
Clearly, you're doing some fantastic work there.
This is the kind of thing that creates and builds communities, so I think you've established
a template that I believe could be used in other parts of the county, and I know, Jim,
you've been very involved out there as well, so you both have done a lot of good for the
community.
We all owe you some thanks.
Well, they've done the work, and to remind everybody, they are, besides being a nonprofit,
they are strictly 100 percent volunteers.
So anytime they have an event down there, stop in and support them, help them out.
It really helps the community.
No doubt.
Yeah, when you're in our building, if you notice our gym floor and how beautiful it
is, I probably mopped it.
True story.
But we do appreciate the time.
We do appreciate Open Agenda has been very good to us and they're very much a friend
of ours because you give us the time to come here and talk about what only we want to talk
about, and that is very kind of you.
Well, it's our pleasure.
You give a lot back to the community.
It's the least we can do.
Glad that we can be here for you.
That's about all we have time for today, folks.
So thanks for tuning in.
We'll be back very soon with another episode of Open Agenda.
See you then.
I don't see a red light.
Is that running?
On S3 E52 of OPEN AGENDA for Sept. 18, our guest is Matthew Korschgen of the Westside Neighborhood Alliance (WSNA), which operates out of the Westside Community Center in Bivalve. One of WSNA's many public services is to expand educational opportunities for residents of the county's somewhat remote west side. To this end, WSNA is working in partnership with Wor-Wic Community College to provide tuition-paid GED classes. If someone you know is interested in earning their GED, a program meeting will be held at the Westside Community Center on Monday, September 21st from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Matthew also fills us in on the youth sports programs that WSNA is building, as well as adult activities such as BINGO and presentations on local history, culture and wildlife. West Side residents will have the opportunity to have a say as to what programs WSNA will offer in the future at the upcoming Programs Meeting to be held at the West Side Community Center on Tuesday, September 29th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Your attendance will be welcomed.
