It was Christmas Eve and Latoya Allen loaded dozens of stockings filled with shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant into her old Ford Explorer.

She jumped into the truck, which was packed with a handful of kids participating in a youth group program, and headed toward downtown Syracuse. Allen was dropping off stockings for homeless people.

These were streets she had known her entire life. But something had changed.

“Times are different,” said Allen who, last year, didn’t know she would soon be representing portions of this area as one of the city’s common councilors.

Allen handily defeated two challengers in September to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination for the District 4 council race and, after that, won just over 68 percent of the vote in November’s general election to beat Independence candidate Quante Wright and Serena “Rahzie” Seals of the Green Party.

“A lot of the work I plan on doing, it doesn’t have anything to do with sitting on Common Council,” Allen said. “Because, it’s things I naturally do without this position.”

For the last seven years, Allen has run the Precious Lily & Brotherhood Foundation, a South Side youth education program that helps kids learn manners and work skills. The stocking trip across Syracuse last Christmas Eve was a foundation-sponsored event.

The councilor-elect has lived on the South Side for most of her life: down Elk Street, McKinley Street and Colvin Street, among other spots.

Walking down Midland Avenue on Monday, Allen looked at a small, yellow house near the West Taylor Street intersection. In high school, a girl living there had made Allen’s prom dress. That was in 2003.

Allen thinks a lack of homeownership has hit neighborhoods here hard, she said. When she was growing up, everyone knew everyone else. Allen could walk across the road to see friends and eat dinner with their families. She biked around the South Side. Kids don’t do that anymore, Allen said.

“My oldest son is 14. He doesn’t really walk anywhere (now),” Allen said. “He’s tall. I wouldn’t want him to be mistaken for an adult, in any situation. He doesn’t really walk to many places.”

As a councilor, she wants to make sure District 4’s neighborhoods are safe, young families want to buy property and that sense of community is reestablished, in some way. Stabilization is key.

But not just on the South Side, she said, a traditionally low-income section of the city known for old housing stock and a high crime rate. District 4 is a ethnically and financially diverse jurisdiction that stretches across the Interstate 81 corridor, encompases most of the Euclid neighborhood and Syracuse University’s Main Campus.

Informing residents about homeownership programs offered through the nonprofit Home HeadQuarters organization, and the Syracuse Educational Opportunity Center, will be some of her priorities as councilor, Allen said.

Encouraging families to explore housing options on the Hill will also be important, she said. As students increasingly opt to rent new luxury apartments, other homes near campus might be left vacant, Allen said.

“I would love for those houses to go back up on the market,” Allen said.

Todd Michalek | Staff Photographer

Lamar Hathaway, a friend of Allen’s since the 8th grade, grew up with the councilor-elect. They both attended Clary Middle School and Corcoran High School. Hathaway now works with Allen’s youth organization.

Hathway, on election night, sat with Allen and a small group of friends and family at the Insourcing office space on West Fayette Street, waiting for the results. He pulled Allen aside, after the victory.

“‘You have no idea how proud (I am) of the growth that I’ve seen in you,’” Hathaway told her. He had served as Allen’s campaign manager during her unsuccessful run for a Syracuse City School District Board of Education seat in 2015.

Hathaway has helped coordinate Precious Lily & Brotherhood Foundation events such as trips to local nursing homes, where kids give out holiday gifts to residents whose families live outside of Syracuse.

Allen, who’s raising her two sons Raquan Pride Jr. and Mekhi Mike while working a night job, said the foundation has become a huge part of her life. She’s always thinking of ways to improve the organization.

“These people work without cameras, without accolades. They don’t get paid for what they do,” said Khalid Bey, an at-large councilor-elect, who currently represents District 4.

Allen’s work as a community organizer increases her likelihood of performing well as a common councilor, Bey said. She has a good understanding of the issues facing District 4, Bey said, particularly the need for policies supporting neighborhood preservation.

Along Midland Avenue on Monday, Allen stopped walking. It was the border of District 4, by Tallman Street.

A house where Allen spent part of her childhood was a few blocks away. The Southwest Community Center was a short walk away. That’s where she first met Bey, while helping organize an obesity awareness run.

“I just really enjoy helping people,” she said.

Allen looked around at the community she had come to know so well.

Published on November 15, 2017 at 11:57 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek