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Bridging The Gap: A Neighborhood Celebrates by Jeannie Powers Sometimes it seems like the lights are going out in our lives. Where have the communities gone? Where are our neighborhoods? Where has the respect and love for each other gone? Sometimes it feels like we're living in a dark world of hatred, isolation and oppression a world of destruction and numbing hopelessness. And then... There are the other times. Times when a small point of light lights up that darkness. On Memorial Day weekend, 50-60 people of the Bridge Coalition neighborhood (5th Ave. between Jay and Rensselaer St.) joined together and lit up that darkness. The dark of night became a fine spring day full of sunshine, laughter and happiness as we came together to celebrate the fun of life. It was truly a community celebration and a community-building event. The street was closed-off to traffic, sidewalks and front stoops became our party area and what a party it was! Surrounding the crepe-paper and balloon decorated street were clusters of neighbors enjoying conversation, abundant food, festive sights and various games ranging from hopscotch to chess. We were even visited by a neighborhood artist that left us a sampling of his Graffiti Art. In the center of the scene was our table of barbecue food. It was surrounded by people representing multiple cultures and generations ù Latino, Vietnamese, Afro-American, Lebanese and European. Ages ran from 4 to 84. All were getting along and enjoying the pleasures of life together. Truly an affirmation of cultural and generational diversity and the benefits of harmonious living. The focal point of the event were all the beautiful, laughing children playing kickball, jump rope and volleyball together. What a good example they are of how relationships are more important than any difference that we have and how our lives are much richer from living harmoniously with each other. A favorite activity of all was celebrating the birthdays of two sisters who turned 4 and 8. Their mother brought a huge birthday cake for them and shared it with everyone. After several moments of delight, watching the two birthday girls blows out their candles and revel in all the birthday attention, everyone enthusiastically sang "Happy Birthday." The evening ended with a rousing neighborhood-wide water-balloon fight and an old fashioned marshmallow roast over still burning barbecue coals. "It makes me think of when I was a kid in the city," commented a wizened former city dweller. "But this was different. There is a certain happiness, contentment and peace in people that live in the city that I haven't seen before. It was like a real neighborhood."' An in the middle of the memories is the memory of the children. It makes me think of the truth... "And a little child shall lead them." The author, Jeannie Powers, is an AmeriCorps Volunteer. She spends 22 hours a week at the Bridge Coalition Neighborhood Center tutoring youth and doing neighborhood outreach. The Bridge Coalition operates through Unity House's Street Ministry program. It provides families with highly coordinated, intensive, home-based intervention in order to address problems such as: homelessness, family violence, crime, family literacy and substance abuse. Programs offered by their Neighborhood Center focus on education through one-on-one tutoring, workshops, community organizing, youth outings and guest speakers to address pertinent issues of the community. The Bridge Coalition is a project developed by three Troy not-for-profit organizations: Unity House, Troy Architectural Project (TAP) and Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (TRIP). Their mission was and is to maintain a safe and successful community in an inner city neighborhood that had suffered years of neglect and abandonment. The program is celebrating its10th anniversary this year. In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation 
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