Six community members and organizations were honored at the annual Codman Square and Four Corners ‘Hidden Heroes and Sheroes’ gala on Nov. 17 in the Great Hall, with five teens from the neighborhood receiving $2,000 scholarships as well.

The annual gala has been ongoing for more than 25 years and is meant to honor those in the two communities that are doing incredible work behind the scenes –making big impacts but not often getting recognition. At the same time, the gala serves to reward area teens with scholarships to continue their education via the Rev. Dr. Bill Loesch Memorial Scholarship Fund.

More than 150 individuals have been honored since the inception of the gala, the event’s emcee, Cynthia Loesch-Johnson, chair of the Codman Square Neighborhood Council (CSNC), told a packed house.

“They do the work they do because they love the community and want to make it a better place,” she said. “They don’t often make it into photos or as speakers. This is why we honor them, because they give of themselves day-in and day-out to make Codman Square and Four Corners a better place to live.”

Said Stafford Lewis of the Greater Four Corners Action Coalitions to the honorees: “You’re no longer hidden,” and because of that the expectations will be greater.

Mayor Wu made a stop at the gala this year and noted that it’s an event with amazing energy because it lifts those rarely honored, while at the same time lifting up the next generation of young people with scholarships.

Noted Councillor Julia Mejia, “If you don’t have a seat at the table, then you’re on the menu. Never water yourself down so you’re more digestible. If they don’t like you, let them choke.”

One of the most poignant neighborhood leader awards was given to Laquisa Burke, president of the West of Washington (WOW) Coalition and a life-long Codman Square area resident. She noted that she learned how to be an advocate and activist from her mother, who battled addiction most of her life. Despite that, Burke said, her mother was able to provide a stable home and get her into a good school in the Metco program. Through attending recovery meetings with her mother, she said, she watched her mother in action. “She advocated for people who were on drugs, and she also was on drugs,” said Burke.

“Watching my mom … I never thought that I could advocate for my community the way I am…But I was tired of not seeing my neighbors and not knowing who lived next to me. I was tired of not getting together as neighbors and having fun like we did when we were kids, and we would pop the fire hydrant in the summer on Norwell Street.”

As part of her work, Burke said, she and some neighbors revived the WOW Coalition and have now been able to secure $1.8 million to build a new WOW Family Park on Norwell Street, which goes under construction next year.

“I do this because I deserve a good place to live and you deserve a good place to live,” she said.

Accepting the Millennium Award was Toni Wiley, leader of the Sportsman’s Tennis and Enrichment Center (STEC) in nearby Franklin Field. Wiley detailed the $18 million expansion project ongoing at STEC that will bring even more opportunities to adults and young people in the neighborhood looking to upgrade their game and their academics.

“Our founders believed that tennis could open the doors of opportunity,” she said. “What’s the good of helping a kid get a college scholarship if they’re not ready academically and they don’t have the life management skills to know how to be in the place they are?”

Teena-Marie Johnson spoke after receiving the Civic Leadership Award.
Seth Daniel photo

The Civic Leadership Award went to Teena-Marie Johnson, who lives in the Harvard-Washington-Norwell area on Vassar Street and is described as a “fierce advocate” for urban farming and gardening. After getting a degree in public administration, she returned for a master’s degree in urban environmental planning and policy and set a course advocating for green spaces, gardening spaces, and public art. She started her advocacy while a high school student at Madison Park Vocational and Technical School.

“Thank you for noticing me,” she said. “It’s nice that people notice you care.”

Others who were honored included:

•Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston received the Civic Leadership Award for its work in building homes with neighbors since 1987. The organization has used its model to build more than 120 homes in Dorchester, Roxbury, and other neighborhoods since being founded.

•Friends Ineudira Barbosa and Saranya Sathananthan both received the Neighborhood Leadership Award for their action in buying a home in Codman Square together with the dual purpose of living there and offering the rental units below market to residents trying to avoid being priced out of the area.

•Students who were awarded Youth Leadership Award scholarships ($2,000 each) included Lawrence Gustama (Cristo Rey Boston High School), Kristina Pruitt (Boston Latin Academy), Jabari Gichuru (Boston Latin School), Tyeisha Harkness (Boston Collegiate Charter School), and Zaquarah Caldwell (CASH).

Joanna Edwards, Erica Davis, and Myah Powers, all of the Codman Square Neighborhood Council Board. Seth Daniel photos

Kristina Pruitt, a Youth Leadership scholarship recipient, is shown with her parents, Kevin and Mona Pruitt.

Neighborhood Leadership Awardee Laquisa Burke with her close friend and neighbor, Debbie Weathers.