The Rochester Community Design Center hosted the fourth annual Reshaping Rochester Awards luncheon this week. I joined a table full of other Reconnect Rochester Board members to support Mike Governale, the founder and president of Reconnect Rochester. Mike is most known for organizing ROC Transit Day and for his site Rochester Subway, an online resource and forum dedicated to celebrating the history of Rochester and creating better connections between the various neighborhoods and communities in and around the city.
We first discovered Mike when we had just started Rocville after moving to Rochester. Adam, who grew up in Rochester and loves all things mass transit, was digging into the history of the subway and blogged about it. Mike commented on the piece and we were forever hooked. Through Rochester Subway, Mike has rallied people to stand up and take notice of the fine balance of preserving and honoring the history of our city with setting a course for a viable and better future.
It was for his grassroots efforts through Rochester Subway that Mike was among the nominees for the Betty Strasenburgh Award for Activism. He did not win the award, but I’ll get to that in a moment…
Peter Monacelli and Project Scion (honorable mention) were the award winners. Monacelli was recognized for his work in over 250 projects that have contributed to the revitalization of Rochester’s urban heritage. And Project Scion (one of my favorite projects in this city) received honorable mention for turning vacant/unused lots into community green spaces.
Jennifer Leonard, president and CEO of Rochester Area Community Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the event. She underscored the poverty statistics so many of us know about the city and the obstacles we must overcome together to make this city a “community that works for everyone.” And that last part is an important one. Leonard explained that the growth of a city is a group effort; it takes good policy, the right design and smart planning. But it also takes a lot of people. People “who build, vote with their feet, people who take the lead, and people who dream.”
And now back to Mike…
What struck me as I listened to the notable list of nominees, was that Mike is just a regular citizen being recognized for his true grassroots activism. He had no promise of making even a little income when he started Rochester Subway and, later, collaborated with others to create Reconnect Rochester. And neither is directly tied to his day job. He isn’t a city planner, developer or an architect. He is a regular citizen that has a passion for the history of Rochester and in helping this city become something greater.
Forward-thinking planners, designers, architects and investors are absolutely vital to improving our city. But so is the sea of change that comes from the activism of regular citizens who want to make their communities a better place.
I have this theory (my friends have heard this a million times) that even the smallest positive action will have a ripple effect on the entire community. It can be as simple as watching out for your neighbors and helping someone on the bus who needs a hand.
To paraphrase Leonard: We’re all in this together.
If you know Mike, you know he isn’t likely to mention being among the nominees this year. But among many other contributions, he collaborated with others to create the all-volunteer force at Reconnect Rochester that I am honored to be a part of. And I’m proud to know Mike. Congratulations, Mike!
I highlighted Mike’s nomination on our blog at Reconnect Rochester. Hop on over there and learn about the great work Reconnect Rochester is doing advocating for better access to mass transit connecting the entire Rochester area community.
[Photo courtesy of Reconnect Rochester.]
Written by: Renee
Tags: mike governale, reconnect rochester, betty strasenburgh award for activism, rochester regional community design center, rrcdc,
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