Public Employee Press

Profiles in Public Service
Men of Vision

Two Local 1455 members form a nonprofit charity to mentor youth and give back to their Bushwick community.

Men of Vision go to P.S. 45 and teach a simple lesson: Let nothing stop you from becoming a productive member of the community.

Since Local 1455 members Gregory Redman and Kevin Ferguson started Men of Vision in 2005, they have raffled off 200 turkeys, supplied food vouchers for clients of the Manhattan AIDS Service Center and donated computers to the students at P.S. 45 in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

“We know the neighborhood, I was raised here,” said Redman, a Transportation Dept. coin collector who gives freely of his time, money and wisdom to help others. Bushwick was tough when he grew up, said Redman, and it’s tougher today as Crips, Bloods and bullies battle for control.

“We try to show the children that they have choices,” said Ferguson, a father of three.
Redman said his generation had strong families and caring neighbors. “But today we see 28-year- old grandmothers, 38-year-old great-grandmothers and no fathers, with young boys making gangs their families.”

“They need living role models,” Redman said. “We talk to them about staying in school. They need to know life offers more than gangs or long shots like the NBA or NFL.”

Bushwick, like many urban neighborhoods, lost the war on poverty decades ago. One in three children in New York City live below the poverty line.

Six friends formed Men of Vision — Redman and Ferguson, Transit worker Benton Levons, Curtis Rolland of Keyspan, substitute teacher Anthony McLaurin and HBO employee Ulysses Muller — to help P.S. 45, where childhood pal Tracy Lott Davis is principal.

“They do so much for our students. They really are mentors,” said Debra Shabbazz, a Parent Coordinator at P.S. 45 and PTA member. “We can count on them at our Health Fair and on Family Day, barbecuing and handing out prizes to the students.”

“They come back to the neighborhood to give back,” Shabbazz added. “They show the kids they can finish school, get a good job and stay in the neighborhood to make it better.”

DC 37, Local 1455, Keyspan, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, grocers Pathmark and Keyfood, co-workers and others help Men ofVision. If you want to get in touch, e-mail Redman at Gregoryreddog@aol.com.

—Diane S. Williams