The Hill Goes Digital
By DK Holland
WHEN TIMES OF TROUBLE CAME TO THE HILL back in January, we were well into developing the print issue. Ironically it was designed to help our neighbors who we figured were struggling with the recession. Then it dawned on us that we had our own very real struggle: we were feeding a dinosaur, a very expensive print project for which we had absolutely no marketing plan. We loved "putting out the paper" as one board member likes to say, but we have never even told people where to find The Hill. We just dumped 7500 issues at 35+ locations twice a year.
When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble...
by Reverend David Dyson
Reverend David Dyson with Michelle Clarke in front of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (LAPC)CONGREGATIONS come in all shapes and sizes, especially in Brooklyn. One thing they all have in common is the sacred duty to stand by their communities in times of trouble. This has been true since the days of the Underground Railroad, the Great Depression, all the way up to the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980's. "Sanctuary" (what many congregations call their main room), actually means a place of refuge and protection, a place of encouragement and hope. In these days of heightened stress and anxiety, congregations seek to provide spiritual strength in a weak economy and tangible help whenever they can.
Clinton Miller, the pastor of the Brown Memorial Baptist Church (Washington and Gates) says, "We have people losing jobs on a regular basis. It's particularly tough because we're in the middle of a major church renovation." For Miller, there are different things a church can do. "In addition to sermons reminding us that God is a providing God and how the Bible has stories like Joseph in the famine, Elijah being fed by a raven, to inspire us even in an economic recession, we're trying to set aside what little money we can to help people in dire situations."
Hill Hero: Richard Burlage Mayor of Adelphi Street
by DK Holland
THE FIRST PERSON I met when I bought my home on Adelphi between Lafayette and DeKalb in 1986 was undoubtedly Richard Burlage. He was probably sweeping the street: not the sidewalk, the street. Or joyfully climbing a street tree to prune it (a tree he planted in case the Parks Department is reading this).
Richard moved to Brooklyn from Iowa in 1966 and met his life partner, Fritz Duteau. About his rural Iowa roots, Richard says he had to leave. "I wasn't of the same hue as most Iowans. I was gay and I didn't see a future for me there."
Richard worked in computers in the 1960s - American Stock Exchange (SIAC) and then human resources for welfare for Cof NY for 33 years until he retired a few years ago.
