 I truly am honored that we have reached this day um a true testament of will for many of the ladies in this room I know in particular but for all of us all of this community so we will be I will be presiding over today's ceremony and welcoming each of you to the Busby Street complex and I'm just gonna go ahead and say it up front because I remember us being here um over the summer and we said we're gonna be on time and on budget and we have done that so we are proud of that fact we are so thankful that so many of you who have been with us every step of the way of this venture um we've made it to this point because this is a huge resource a very important resource for this community the Busby Street resource and training complex is comprised of two buildings the one that we are sitting in today the Busby Street community center and also our Columbia Police Department's Office of Community Services you will also be able to see today hopefully through the tours at the end a walking trail and a playground for use of our community before we begin today's ceremony I'd like to recognize a few people who are who have been so instrumental to this project first and foremost congressman Jim Clyburn congressman would you please stand Mayor Steve Benjamin and members of City Council please stand they're always so supportive of everything you're trying to do and we will have other members of council joining us as well the Columbia Empowerment Zone Inc Board of Directors please stand please stand this board is chaired by Judge Mildred Weathers McDuffie and Mr. Russell McCoy who's here with us today serves as the vice chairman Felicia Maloney executive director of the Columbia Empowerment Zone unfortunately cannot be with us today but as most of you know Felicia has been a huge huge part of this project from its first thought but Felicia had some previous previously scheduled travel due to Thanksgiving that took her out of state members of the Columbia Empowerment Zone Busby Street committee would you please stand and I think you know who you are this committee was formed many years ago and has you know remained a big source of guidance for us as we have moved through the project if you were a part of that committee please stand and I don't know if they formally know that they were known as the Busby Street committee because I'm looking at many of them who are in here that are on that plaque out there that are the Busby Street committee but nevertheless thank you so very much city of Columbia staff and and they're all most of them standing anyway but I always have to recognize our wonderful staff Missy Gentry who's our assistant city manager who's helped lead lead of many members of that team but our Columbia Parks and Recreation Department Police Department Engineering Department Public Works Department Forestry and Beautification Public and Media Relations Columbia Water all of these staff members have truly put their heart and soul into this project also any other elected officials or appointed officials here with us today please stand and be recognized if you are as well as neighborhood presidents and I know there's some neighborhood presidents please stand please stand and we thank you so very much thanks to all of you for being here today on what I really really will call a very momentous occasion I want to thank the mayor a mayor of Benjamin and the City Council for continuing this vision but I think I would be a bit remiss if it I did not give credit to two people for getting us to where we are today one is Henry Hopkins where is Henry Henry right here somewhere Henry stand up I used to call him my nemesis every time I saw Henry he was always beating up on me about some vision he had that I wasn't moving fast enough on but I want to thank him for his friendship and thank him for sticking with us and the second person was the former mayor mayor Bob Bob Cobble I want to tell you a little story about why I mentioned him today some of you may not know but that when this Sumter Columbia in power zone got started it was the second effort the first time Columbia put together a magnificent proposal and mayor Bob felt that they should get funded and I did as well and it didn't get funded and we looked at it and we looked behind it it did not get funded for one reason and only the politics were against us so I went to mayor Bob and I said to him that's not look I looked into this I know exactly why we missed it I want you to apply again and he was absolutely adamant and said no he said we put in too much effort we had a good proposal and we lost that proposal I'm not going to take city council in this community down that road again and I said to him I said here's what I want you to do make it a recent proposal that will show a significant change and someone came to me and says they thought Columbia and Orangeburg would be a great fit and I said yeah that is true but there's one little problem with that and they said what's that I live in Columbia and I was born in Sumter and I think Sumter Columbia will be a much better fit so we made the submitted the proposal and I went to work using the relationship to heart develop over the years and we got it funded now the concept of an empowerment zone is to bring diverse community groups together around the same table and seek common ground we're not born into unity we develop experiences along the way that make us all uniquely different and we will grow as a community when we can bring all those experiences into the same room around the same table given honor and respect to everybody's life experiences and trying to find ways to bring those experiences into a viable effort on the part of the communities within which we all live I live on Juniper Street out here in Greenview those of you who may live here around Busby Street you develop some relationships and you have some experiences that I don't get on Easter Street or Juniper Street but when we can come together and I can share my experiences you share yours we can get things done that was the concept of the empowerment zones and we were to get it funded authorized for 10 years at 10 million dollars a year for 10 years and then at the expiration then the communities were supposed to spin off on their own my hometown didn't my adopted hometown did you stayed together and I can tell you this project is one of the best experiences of what an empowerment zone is supposed to be about and you ought to be congratulated for it and I thank you for it and I want to say close and I all three of my daughters are here they spent a little time when the three of us get together telling me how to conduct myself and we spent some time on that last night and as you all know that this was a pretty contentious election season and I'm I'm gonna heal and things to be alright but I asked a minion and some of you know those many I just finished about nine years on the federal communications Commission and one of the things she did all on that commission because of our own experiences she became the interim chair of that commission be becoming the first woman first African-American woman to ever hold that position in the history of the country and there was one two things she had on the minds one was something called in may call it that is the exorbitant prices that penal institutions were charging children and adults to stay in touch with their families 17 dollars a minute for a phone call and she set out to stop that and she did but the other thing was 9-11 was so calamitous because of interoperability one group of first responders could not communicate with another group and they were working at cross purposes bringing our first responders into this building into this community and getting interoperability to work means a safer community for us means a more viable and more valuable community for us I can't tell you how proud I am in this project and we've had the ground break another day for the senior citizens facility I turned to Emily answers Emily let's check this thing out this might be our residence in a few years and so some took Columbia now Columbia Empowerment Zone thank you all so much about thinking about my future as well congratulations to Godspeed we're not done yet we're gonna get out of number one two or three right one to in that order in that order we are so blessed to have Jim Clyburn representing the mighty six congressional district of South Carolina and we're excited about the possibility always a place you at the new senior facility my friend but too soon too soon we we got a lot of work to do between now and then I'm excited I'm gonna be brief we have a long program and I really want you to hear from the other folks on the on the program my honestly my only intention here is just to say thank you to a whole lot of folks a whole lot of folks each and every one of you that exhibited not just the leadership but also the patience that it took to get from day one to this day the wonderful residents who make up this great community who have had to deal with some challenges over the years we stuck it through and showed the leadership to actually get us here some of whom have gone on the glory Rev Reverend Holmes Mrs. Bellefield former city councilwoman Leona Plow who I think had been involved in this in a number of different iterations from staff all the way through council and now she's gone on to glory as well Ms. Harrison and thank you in all of our neighborhood leaders for the incredible intentional fortitude that you have shown in making sure that we have a place in this city for people of all ages to enjoy recognizing and that all of us stand on the great strong shoulders of men and women who have built this city to give us the opportunities to continue to serve and having a place for our seniors to gather to continue to learn engage in lifelong learning and fellowship is something very very special to the leaders of our Columbia Empowerment Zone of a North Columbia Business Association Eau Claire Community Council. I mean those of you who work every single day to fortify the fabric of this great city I want to thank you all for sticking this out with the members of Columbia City Council and our incredible staff and delivering this high quality project to Teresa you and your incredible team we got this done Felicia knows not here with us she and Judge McDuffie and an incredible team at the Columbia Empowerment Zone Congressman Clobburn referenced it I want to say we might be one of only a handful of Empowerment Zones less than a handful of Empowerment Zones around the country who carried on the banner and continue to deliver project after quality project for the benefit of this community it's good when the vision becomes reality and continues to give back to the people who made it possible in the very first place and I want to wrap things up by just saying thank you to a very personal thank you my friend Sam Davis to Councilman Tamika Ozzie Divine and into the rookie Reverend McDowell who hit the ground running you know there's a running joke on City Council that the ferry road split between districts one and district two and they always fight over who gets what resources come in and I'm not sure I'm not sure who's winning right now you got Hyatt Park on the agenda tonight getting some resources you got Greenview Park a fantastic facility of on on Beltline Boulevard if you have not had a chance to see this award-winning LEED certified building that used to be a run-down car dealership is now a classic LEED gold certified building on Beltline Boulevard you see the the constant leadership of these three City Council people in particular who who made sure that this remained at the top of the agenda and finally got done so and thank you all for your for your leadership in your your friendship this is what happens in the community comes together when you never ever take eyes off the ball just keep on driving towards it towards to go congressman again thank you I will tell y'all it seemed to be a side comment a flipping comment there's still a real possibility that the very first African American speaker the House of Representatives can come from Sumta South Carolina Columbia South Carolina the way station in Charleston in Orangeburg along along along the way we are indeed blessed to have Jim Cliburn in leadership in Washington DC and it continues to endure to the benefit of the people of this community and this is another example of just that thank you all for all your work thank you for your leadership thank you for your prayers we'll keep on doing great things together God bless you I don't have any I don't have any written words but I can tell you that everything you've heard so far is the truth is accurate and it's based on experience and cooperation for those of you who have never been on this street Busby if you were here before we broke ground you would know what was here the lapidated houses and a little bit of activities that most community would not prefer but the vision and Jim is accurate he's very accurate about the nemesis mr. Hopkins who took on the plight of this neighborhood walking side by side and never letting us forget what our responsibilities were and that is to provide quality services quality facilities for the people who live in this area and for the city who will benefit from this facility and it it was not easy in the beginning but the empowerment zone lived up to its promise and this is an example of that North Maine what's coming now is an example of that and there were some pushing pulls along the way I won't go into details Dalton but he can tell you there was a period one morning when Jim Claren thought I'd lost my mind but it was all about making this a reality and we want to make sure that this sets an example of what we ought to be doing and it's an example of listening listening to the people who support you and the people whom you've made promises to there's some ladies in this room I'll tell you you don't ever want to get on the bad side of them they never forget they know what they want they know what they deserve and they know how to help you and make you get it done I appreciate the residents of Burton standards acres although everybody's going to benefit they were part of this vision and we're going to make sure that they rest and they sleep at night that they have that sense of security that they've always demanded that we give them provide for them and they're going to enjoy this facility I don't know about volleyball but it's a pleasure to be able to walk less than a block to walk down a walking trail to exercise and have a meeting believe it or not these ladies left their neighborhood leave their neighborhood for their monthly meeting shouldn't happen it's not going to happen again so this is a special occasion but at the same time I want to thank I'm calling you Jim we've been together since high school he's a man of his word he's always had this community and this state took in in mind and everything that we've been accomplishing everything that we've given ourselves praise for as a result of his efforts and I told Andrina two days ago that you won't be alright we know that and you've got some folks in this room who will travel to Washington thank you I certainly do not want to go over what has already been said but what I do want to say as we move into this amazing facility this journey started in 2001 when a grant was given to the empowerment zone through the Eau Claire community development to do exactly what we've done here today what is amazing about this project of course there is a theological motif that embeds itself in this project as you know this was a dead-end street a dead-end street with various numerous issues particularly it allowed us to not only visibly see those issues but to just visualize that dead-end street I've had conversations with Miss Harrison and others who immediately would say what about this property it's coming guess what that dead-end Street now has become possible possibilities that enraps itself in hope in promises it involves not only a dead-end Street but guess what resurrection always comes after a dead something is dead somebody ought to say amen now as I understand the theological motifs attached to that it took three days it took us a little longer for resurrection to take place but guess what it's up it's running new possibilities hope promise protection grass being cut new possibilities resurrection so I thank the other members of this council our mayor and of course our congressman for allowing us to sense resurrection thank you I'm excited to be here as we begin to cut the ribbon for a brand-new facility that will value that will be a valuable asset to the community as you will see after the ribbon-cutting program the building is comprised of three offices a multi-purpose room which we're now in a kitchen in a conference room the space that you're sitting in currently can be divided into three sections and and it's equipped with state-of-the-art audio visual equipment we look forward to providing a rich environment of learning and community engagement as well as programs that benefit the mind and body we have several events and programs planned for the community including financial workshops ask a professional sessions and exercise classes to just name a few it is my hope that the facility will help break down barriers and help generations to come achieve success through services that will be provided thank you and at this time also want to acknowledge some of the people that helped build this this facility Deb and Josh from McGuire in snow architecture design group if you could raise your hand stand I'm okay there Josh also we have Harry from Clay Clayton construction again thank you our staff is is a tremendously excited about you know this community and what we can do to make a difference thank you it's an exciting day very happy to be here on behalf of the police department I'm bringing greetings it's been a long time coming I can remember vividly a little over a year ago miss Wilson with that pleasant demeanor she has and that beautiful smile you all that's what you all see but I can remember her gathering the staff and saying we are gonna get this done we're gonna get it done on time and it's gonna meet meet budget and she was all business and she at times she gets pushed to that point and when she lays the law down she means a business and that was exactly my take away from the meeting and we proceeded proceeded forward the police department is always been historically been very active in pursuing community partnerships and outreach opportunities in in in support of our community policing operations if you think back to the mid 90s under chief Austin's leadership when the department partnered with the Columbia Urban League on a grant to implement the coban model and which was a Japanese concept of putting many police stations in the in the communities as well as some residential housing opportunities for officers working in the communities then you go to the late 90s and think of the Eau Claire revitalization effort when CPD moved into the moved its north region headquarters into the Eau Claire Town Hall building and commingled it for the first time with other city services it put city services in the police department in the heart of the north region service area and then if you think back over 10 years ago and some may even argue longer the city began annexing some properties in and around Busby Street where we stand today and at that time the police department and the Columbia empowerment zone began collaborating on a vision to create a facility for the community and for the police a vision of bringing police community services into the community we serve and that vision is what brings us here today and it's what is reality today today we introduced the Columbia Police Office of Community Services this office will house staff of our ACE program which is our assisting Columbia's elderly our school resource officer program and our citizen Police Academy it's the first time we'll be commingled with park and recreation and I think that will absolutely lead to a terrific opportunity for us to collaborate with parks to bring community events and strengthen relationships that make communities safer this facility will bring vibrancy to this area and Miss Harrison I know that we will have many opportunities to collaborate on ways to continue to strengthen this community and make it safer for everyone congressman clobber thank you for fighting a fight we're better today than we were yesterday and there is a tremendously bright future for Burton Heights and Standish acres and for what this facility brings us thank you very much on behalf of the Columbia Empowerment Zone Board our chairperson judge Mildred Weathers McDuffie I want to say how happy we are to be here today for this ribbon-cutting this is truly an honor for us to be associated with us today as I was walking in this lady right here how it came in behind you and I heard you saying to the lady walking next to you that you've been waiting for 20 years for this and you've been in this neighborhood 55 years I heard you say that and that's what this is all about for us that's what this really means for us with the empowerment zone yes we did start in 2001 it's been a long road Sam Henry Edna you all know Tameka congressman this is in large part due to Europe to help and we certainly thank you our goal was very simple we wanted to to improve the lives of our residents pure and simple that's what we what what our goal is with the Empowerment Zone and we have stayed true to that and this is this is a monument to that so I certainly want to thank congressman mayor all the council Sam Tameka head Henry 17 years Edna and for all of you folks who will who will enjoy this benefit from it we just we're just very very happy for you so happy Thanksgiving everyone oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and his mercies endure forever first of all there are a lot of people that I would like to say thank you to all right congressman Clyburn mayor Benjamin my friend Sam Davis and councilman McDowell and I don't want to forget all right give me your name again Tameka okay when you get my age sometimes things come out differently from the head in the mouth but I mean well okay now first of all I want to give thanks to God especially and I want to give thanks to all those who I've mentioned mr. Hopkins and some others but first of all I would also like to give thanks to those people who have allowed our neighborhood to continue in that we've had some entities that provided a space for us over the years I'd like to thank the Greater St. Luke Baptist Church Antioch Baptist Church I would like to thank the Eau Claire Community Council I can go on and on because we have used all those facilities to continue to provide a safe and viable neighborhood for us will the Burton Heights Stanley shakers neighborhood members please stand up because you have been my backbone and you have supported us and I would like to thank you city manager and all the staff we want to thank you but we are not finished yet okay I prayed about this on last night about what to say and how to say it and first of all we have some things that need to be done in this area first of all you need to remember that when you come off of our 77 and you make a right you hit right into fair road when you come off our 20 you come right on to fair road there are some things that need to be done on fair road we need revitalization in our area I'm not going to go on and on because I can but I would like to say but I would like to say thank you and thank you because I've met with the Burton Heights Stanley shakers neighborhood a part of us met with the staff from parks and recreation and we sat down and laid out some things that we would like to have done in our neighborhood and we are looking forward to having some of those things done it is a pleasure to be a part of Burton Heights Stanley shakers neighborhood and as I said I could go on but I'm gonna take my seat thank you all right and and last but not least we would like to thank all of you for what you've done for us and we wish you a very happy and loving and thanksgiving holiday thank you