by Marna Persechini

Have you ever been curious about how certain people in your neighborhood and different groups or organizations always seem to know exactly what’s happening in the Roslindale community? They seem to possess all the information about how something is going to affect you, when it is happening, and how to find out about it.

In 1988, when Father George Vartzelis was Pastor of Sacred Heart Church, he had almost the same questions. Only his questions were more along the lines of “How can we gather all the information and then get it out to all the concerned groups in the community in an efficient and effective way?”

After several meetings and ongoing discussions with various other community leaders, it was decided that the best and most informative way to disseminate information would be to have a central meeting place where everyone could gather at least once a month to exchange information about all events, both ongoing and upcoming ones.

Father Vartzelis offered the Sacred Heart Rectory’s Council Room as the place for everyone to gather, and the second Thursday of each month was chosen as the date. So, once a month from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m., representatives from every organization and community group gather at Sacred Heart for the “Leaders’ Meeting.” Representatives from local government are also generally present, including the State Senate (Marion Walsh’s office), State House of Representatives (Angelo Scaccia’s and Jeffery Sanchez’s offices), and the City Council, (Rob Consalvo’s office). Usually there are also representatives from The Board of Trade, Roslindale Village Main Street, public, private and church schools, area churches, senior housing, local real estate agencies, Healthy Roslindale, the Rossie Reps, Community Centers, the Roslindale library, the Diversity Dialogs, Southwest Boston CDC, Ethos, Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center, Community Police, City Year, local banks, MBTA police, reporters from the local papers, “The Transcript” and “The Bulletin,” along with other community organizers, activists, and residents.

Everyone who lives or works in Roslindale is welcome to the meeting. Participants are generally notified by e-mail or they just show up on the scheduled day and at the scheduled time. If someone from a group cannot attend the meeting, they send their group’s information to participants, generally by e-mail. Not everyone comes to every meeting. There is no set requirement for the number of meetings you need to attend. Some attend when they have specific information (or want to know) about an event or happening in the community. Some come to every single monthly meeting just to enjoy participating, networking, and obtaining updates on local community activities.

Courtesy of Sacred Heart, coffee and pastries are available for all those who wish to have them, and people usual mingle and talk among themselves before the meeting gets down to business. According to some, this helps jump-start their day and makes the time much more enjoyable. This is, of course, aside from the fact that they are with friends and neighbors and sharing information about themselves, the community, and their groups and organizations.

Monsignor Francis Kelley, pastor at Sacred Heart, facilitates the meeting. Participants take a couple of minutes to introduce themselves, saying what they do, and then, they make a brief (the key word here is brief) statement as to what their particular groups are working on and what is happening in their organizations or groups. They often pass out flyers or brochures about the organizations or events.

Father Kelley stresses the fact that this meeting is not a place to campaign for office, to present political opinions or beliefs, or to air any grievances about people, places or things in the neighborhood.

According to Lee Blasi, aide to City Councilor Rob Consalvo, who rarely, if ever, misses a meeting, “This is a wonder networking experience and a great way to share information throughout the community.” Every-one who attends the meeting agrees with Lee’s assessment.