ILittle Free Library Project - MAY 5 INSTALLATION DAY! On May 5, 2015 we introduced our Little Free Library Project to Brockton! Joining us were the students of Southeastern Vo-Tech, Eduardo, Ryan and Denzel - the install team! We were joined by our sponsors and artists, and everyone who has worked so hard on this inspirational project - The Boys and Girls Club, The Family Center, LoveALLiance Church, FDNA members and members of the City Mayor's Office. Rev. Jill Wiley of Messiah Baptist Church, the artist of our quilt-themed LFL, spoke to the crowd about the inspiration for her design. Lynn Smith, Treasurer of the FDNA, welcomed the children in attendance to place the inaugural books into the LFL. Then, so the children of the Family Center could participate, we had another unveiling On May 27th at 3:00p in Finnegan Park; and so the students of the Torch Club could join in, a third unveiling in the park next to the Boys and Girls Club on May 20th at 4 pm. Come have some fun with us! And bring a book to donate to your favorite LFL! LFLs are located in Finnegan Park next to the telephone building on Crescent at Montello; in the Douglass Garden on Frederick Douglass Avenue at Paddy Lane; in the park next to the Boys and Girls Club on Warren Ave close to Belmont; and on City Hall Plaza between city hall and the garage, on VFW Parkway. * * * * * * * * * * * * On January 19, 2015, the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, a day of service, members of the Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association (FDNA) are excited to announce that by the spring of 2015 they plan to install four “Little Free Libraries” (LFL) in various locations in the vicinity of Frederick Douglass Avenue in downtown Brockton. Little Free Libraries (LFL) are wooden boxes typically built in the shape of houses. They are located where anyone walking by may pick up a book (or two) and exchange another book to share with others. A coalition of partners will be involved in building, installing and maintaining the four diminutive structures. Students of Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical School are in charge of design and construction; and members of FDNA, the Boys and Girls Club, Community Connections of Brockton, and Love ALLiance Church are volunteering to add colorful paint and architectural details and stock the libraries/boxes with donated books. The installation of our four LFLs is scheduled for May 5, 2015, from 11 am to 12 noon. Check our Facebook page for updates on weather, locations, etc. More information about the Library Projects across the U.S. is at the bottom of this page. JANUARY 2015: Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical School creates our LFLs Keon Scott attaches a knob Keon and Nicolas Ross adjust door Mr. Raimondo and Mr. Blanchard supervise Four LFLs just need that finishing touch! FEBRUARY 2015: LFLs are delivered to our nonprofit partners for decorative paint MARCH 2015 : our artists are hard at work decorating our four LFLs. Here is a peek at one work of art in progress. April, 2015: We present our request to the City of Brockton Parks Commission to allow us to install our libraries where children and adults can enjoy them while in our parks. The Parks Commission says YES ! Mr. Douglass in his office in Haiti. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service. To the left, in the park at the corner of Montello and Crescent Streets, next to the telephone company building and across the street from the Family Resource Center. To the the right, next to the Boys and Girls Club in the park at Belmont and Warren. A montage of our four LFLs, taken by Andy P. One theme is The Four Seasons, one is Helping Hands, one is Quilts Tell a Story, and one is The Torch Club Lights the Way. The Torch Club of the Boys and Girls Club of Brockton will honor Frederick Douglass and our city's boxing history on their LFL. The Love ALLiance LFL will reflect the four seasons. The first Little Free Library was built in 2009 by a Wisconsin man to honor his schoolteacher mother who loved reading. It was a model of a one-room schoolhouse that he put on a post in his front yard with a sign on it saying “Free Books.” The idea caught on and by January 2014, the number of registered Little Free Libraries in the world was conservatively estimated at nearly 15,000. The website http://littlefreelibrary.org/ shows many photos of LFL and identifies where most are located, including sites in Massachusetts such as Dedham, Needham, North Attleboro and Cambridge. While the Little Free Libraries movement is not part of the local public library system, the FDNA sees its LFL project as a unique way to promote the cause of reading for which Frederick Douglass was a shining symbol in his life’s work as a noted author, journalist and speaker. Frederick Douglass was convinced at an early age that reading was his way out of slavery. As it was illegal to teach slaves to read in the 1800s, Douglass learned innovative ways to learn: he would snatch up scraps of newspapers from the ground, for example, and read them when no one was looking. There is an outstanding Public Library here in Brockton that everyone should be proud of. These small houses are simply another way to make books accessible to folks on a whim as they pass one by. Louis Lemieux, pastor of the Love ALLiance Church in downtown Brockton, one of the partners in this project, summed his congregation’s involvement up this way: “We love the opportunity to create pockets of community in our neighborhood. This is one way to bring people out of the isolation of their daily life to discovering, sharing and discussing the books they have found in the little libraries. In this way a Little Free Library can have a large impact on the culture of our neighborhood.” Here are some random images from around the Web on some beautifully decorated LFLs in various U.S. locations.

An Evening with Frederick Douglass Speakers representing the diversity of Brockton join Mr. Douglass in the April 2018 program Douglass Bicentennial Display 2018 installation at the Brockton Post Office for the Bicentennial of Douglass' birth WAVE project Freedom Path of concrete art with social justice quotes installed by the youth of Brockton Ice Cream Sundae Sunday Dusty the therapeutic miniature horse joins in the festivities, August 2018 2017 Summer Sundae Social We learn about Frederick Douglass Having ie cream & meeting neighbors Delicious Reading Douglass in 12 languages Show More Our story in images 2013-2018

/our story "We are one, our cause is one, and we must help each other if we are to succeed." Frederick Douglass Brockton, MA is located about 25 miles south of Boston. In 2004 our Liberty Tree, a sycamore which stood at an Underground Railroad site, had to be taken down. High Street was then renamed Frederick Douglass Avenue, and promises were made to rehabilitate the area. In 2014 the street was still neglected -- but a small sapling grew from the roots of the Liberty Tree. Inspired by its tenacity, a group of residents reclaimed a small neglected plot on the street and went to work. Now our neighborhood's Town Green, this garden represents the work we do studying and reflecting on Douglass's work; building community with beauty, on our neighborhood streets and within ourselves! DOUGLASS GARDEN Sept. 2015 Douglass Garden Nov 2015 Douglass Garden Dec 2015 seed swap notice Sunday Oct 4.jpg Frederick Douglass Avenue, Brockton, In 2004 the city renamed High Street in honor of Frederick Douglass We reclaim the garden Volunteers decide to reclaim the street Clearing the land We weed and clean After the clearing We get the plot down to its original shape Garden party The garden is used by the community to celebrate! Show More 2025 Officers Cindy Pendergast-Chair/President Cynthia Hodges -Vice Chair Heather Nelson-Treasurer Jamie Hodges—Clerk/Secretary (All officer terms will be for one year) Board Members Louis Lemieux Carol Griffin Annette Thomas Marc Osborne

2023 Events and Activities April 2023 Our new mural on the avenue. So beautiful! May 2023 Restoration of the sycamore tree plaque by New England Brass Refinishing. Reading Frederick Douglass The Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association holds its annual reading of Douglass' famous anti-slavery speech in Brockton on Saturday, July 8, 2023 MARC VASCONCELLOS/THE ENTERPRISE Post of Event

/2014 Touched by violence Empty chairs and shocking headlines FDNA members met in the beginning of 2014. Our first event on the Avenue in the garden was a commemoration of those in our city who had been touched by violence. Empty chairs with newspaper headlines for each event bore witness. Brockton High School students in the Summer of Work and Learning Program learn about Frederick Douglass, and then volunteer in the garden for two weeks weeding and rearranging the flower beds. Mr. Willie A. Wilson is our teacher. Class is held at the Brockton Public Library. To generate community spirit, we create our own "Pop-Up" Outdoor Cafe at a local restaurant. They provide the food, we provide the tables, chairs and umbrellas. About 20 FDNA members enjoyed traditional Jamaican food at the Paradise Caribbean Cafe - jerk chicken, oxtail, steamed cabbage and delicious rice and beans -- with warm cookies for dessert! The Brockton Area Workforce WAVE program learns about Frederick Douglass and the Liberty Tree. For their summer volunteer program, they clean the area around the Liberty Tree site, research and design a new historical marker, and install the signage at the site. Helping2Unite Brockton keeps the garden weeded and watered; Stonehill College sends a dozen volunteers who paint the chain link fence and build our 'quilt star' patio; individual volunteers pick up trash, cut the grass, and relax with an early morning cup of coffee. In August of 2014, FDNA hosted a "Neighborhood Stroll". Three downtown churches opened their doors for displays -- quilts at Central United Methodist, jazz at Messiah Baptist, and history at Assembly of God. Guests strolled the neighborhood and visited the churches at their leisure. Then all assembled at the Frederick Douglass Garden for speeches, poetry, music, the North Star Awards ceremony, and hot fudge sundaes. Over 150 people came to meet, mingle, and build community. For the holiday season, FDNA volunteers staffed a "Gateway to History" stop on the annual Parade Day Treasure Hunt. Children came to our stop and met Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, and learned about Edward Bennett's stables, which was a stop on the Underground Railroad, right on the spot where the childrens' Treasure Hunt 'passports' were stamped, at the site of our Liberty Tree. Later that month, FDNA hosted a Downtown Lantern Walk. First we geared up for safety with reflective vests. Along the walk, stops were made and stories were told at Edgar's Department store, site of the very first department store Santa; 224 Main, where Watt Terry, Brockton's first black millionaire, had his office in the early 1900s, at our live Christmas Tree on Legion Parkway, and of course in the Douglass Garden. At the end of the walk, the children hung their lanterns on the brick wall of the Garden as an art installation.

/ join First name* Last name* Email* Phone* Would you like to be involved ? "What to A Slave..." Reading Gardening History Discussions Creating Community Spaces in the Neighborhood? Questions? Comments? Submit To join, volunteer, donate, or stay in touch, here's our contact information. Follow updates posted on this website and our Facebook page. The Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association (FDNA) takes its name from America’s early civil rights leader and the street in Brockton named in his honor, which runs from Main Street to Warren Avenue in downtown. We believe that everyone deserves to live in a beautiful and vibrant neighborhood. We are an all-volunteer group of citizens who live, work and worship in the area around Frederick Douglass Avenue. We honor the legacy of Frederick Douglass and the threads in his life that are woven today within the diversity of our city through community education, engagement and the arts. Together, we work to enrich our neighborhood by : • Encouraging the beautification of our neighborhood through the arts and maintenance of the privately owned land currently used as a garden on Frederick Douglass Avenue; • Building appreciation for the history of Frederick Douglass, the Underground Railroad, and the connection of that history to the Brockton community of today; • Organizing social gatherings to build community; • Supporting local businesses by contributing to economic initiatives; • Serving as a forum and a facilitator for neighbors to convene on shared topics of concern to the area. EMAIL US at: fdnabrockton@gmail.com To learn more about us, you can watch our slideshow by following this link: Smilebox about FDNA To watch an innovative presentation about Frederick Douglass click here . Our thanks to all our members, supporters and volunteers, and of course to all of the great people of our City of Champions: Brockton, Massachusetts. Visit us or message us via Facebook HERE .

/ Douglass and Brocktonians Brockton is a city of diversity, whose cultural roots reach many parts of the world. Amazingly, many chapters in the life of Frederick Douglass intersect with those roots, and our knowledge of that history can help create common ground and pathways - first to understand, and then to address the political and social challenges of today. The Marin Independent Journal reported on the first celebration of National Negro History week in February 1950, in Marin City, CA. It became an annual event, and inspired the creation of two quilts. One of Harriet Tubman, and this one of Frederick Douglass giving his famous Fourth of July speech. The quilt was finished in 1953 by Bernice Vissman, Martha Johnson, Essie McKee, Detta Wright, Birdie Smith and Betty DePrado. From University of Louisville Archives and Records Center, Kentucky Quilt Project. Index, www.quiltindex.org CAPE VERDE: as a slave in Maryland, Frederick Douglass would gaze out at the ocean and sailing ships and dream of taking to the water and being free. He worked for several years as a caulker in the shipyards of Baltimore. When he finally made his escape, he put on the typical seaman’s clothes – a red shirt and tarpaulin hat and a black cravat, tied in a sailor’s knot. In this disguise, and with “borrowed” papers, he headed north by train to Philadelphia and settled eventually in New Bedford, Massachusetts. During the peak of the whaling industry, sailors and shipbuilders of all colors were paid well for their services. In the 18th and early 19th century, crews were drawn from men of many backgrounds, including many skilled tradesmen from the Azores and Cape Verde islands. According to a posting by the New Bedford Historical Society, “Cape Verdeans acquired old whaling ships....and eventually they came to own almost all that remained of the New Bedford fleet.” It is quite likely that Douglass worked alongside these Cape Verdean immigrants. It is also interesting that his first public speech in front of a white audience was give in 1841 in Nantucket, another major center of the whaling and shipbuilding industry. Many historians believe that this speech was the catalyst for Douglass’ brilliant speaking career. IRELAND : Frederick Douglass believed in equality for all - men, women, black, white, all people, whatever race or religion – and his experience as a slave spurred him on to travel the world promoting his beliefs. Douglass traveled to Ireland and Britain in the 1840s, arriving in Ireland in 1845 at the cusp of the devastating Famine. In total, he spent two years traveling around this part of the world, and one of the cities he visited was Waterford, in October 1845. Douglass spoke in the Large Room in the City Hall, on the evening of Thursday 9 October 1845, and it appears that he arrived in Waterford from Wexford on 8 October and left for Cork the day after his speech. VETERANS: President Lincoln called on Frederick Douglass to help enlist free black men into the Army during the Civil War. Two of the soldiers who served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment - whose story was told in the movie "Glory" - were Mr. Douglass' own two sons. Mr. Douglass lobbied the President hard for equal pay for white and black soldiers. Colonel Robert Gould Shaw inspired his unit to conduct a boycott until this pay inequality was rectified. There is a memorial bronze relief sculpture to the 54th on Boston Common. WOMEN: When 300 women gathered in Seneca Falls, New York for the very first women's rights convention, Frederick Douglass was one of only 40 men to attend. The "Declaration of Sentiments" drawn up at that convention contained eleven resolutions and the ninth stated it was a woman's duty to secure the right to vote. In an editorial published that same year, 1848, in The North Star, he wrote: "....in respect to political rights..........there can be no reason in the world for denying to women the elective franchise." HAITI: Because of his service as Minister to Haiti, Frederick Douglass was invited to be the keynote speaker at the dedication of the Haitian Pavilion at the World’s Fair held in Jackson Park, Chicago, in 1893. This exhibition celebrated the 400 year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage, and is often referred to as the “World Columbia Exposition”. Two cities fought for the fair – New York and Chicago. A New York reporter wrote with disdain that the people of Chicago were so full of hot air promises that it was a “windy city” – and this phrase, originally meant as an insult, is used to describe Chicago to this day. CIVIL RIGHTS: One month after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Frederick Douglass called this the first step towards healing a nation scarred by the institution of slavery. “The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.” “We are all liberated by this proclamation. Everybody is liberated. The white man is liberated, the black man is liberated, the brave men now fighting the battles of their country against rebels and traitors are now liberated… I congratulate you upon this amazing change—the amazing approximation toward the sacred truth of human liberty.” * * *

2017 information: Images from our 2016 Swap Full of visitors I'm a description. Click to edit me So many plants! Choices, choices How does your garden grow? Welcomed by Ruth and Nancy I'm a description. Click to edit me The Garden Club in the house Eric and Ann, the petunia winner I'm a description. Click to edit me We can plant! I'm a description. Click to edit me Good Samaritan donates to the Garden I'm a description. Click to edit me Show More

To see the MassHumanities video which highlights our 2019 reading in Brockton click here . Board Member Willie A. Wilson Jr. opens the program with his commentary and featured readings; the venue of Messiah Baptist Church and all our wonderful readers and volunteers all appear in the video as well. FDNA is grateful to MassHumanities for this program, and their funding. #RFDT2019 . Reading Frederick Douglass Together - June 30, 2019 Join us in the community garden on June 30th, at 4 pm, as we read Douglass' famous speech "What to the Slave is the 4th of July". To honor the diversity of Brockton, we read the speech in the language of our ancestors. How does that work? Well, visit our Facebook page, find the images of the 45 paragraphs of the speech, choose one paragraph that you would like to translate and read, and then post that information on our Facebook page. We'll mark that paragraph with your name and chosen language, and then on June 30th you'll read that paragaph to honoryour family's legacy and life here in America. The audience will be able to read along in English so they will understand, as well. And if you would rather just come and read spontaneously in English, that is perfectly fine as well. To see how it works, you can watch the tape on our local Brockton Community Access channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72sm91mfAng&t=564s We are grateful to MassHumanities for funding this event, and to the Team Brockton Resident Leader Program for their minigrant. Assisting in the Reading are our community parnters Criolas Unidas and the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts. Our moderator is Willie A. Wilson, Jr. The support of the Brockton Historical Society is also valued. 5th Annual Plant and Seed Swap May 5th Our 5th Annual Plant and Seed Swap in the community garden, Sunday May 5th, 2019 from 12:30 pm to 3 pm. How does a swap work? You choose some seeds or bare root plants from your garden, bag them up, label them carefully, and then bring them to the specially marked swap area in our community garden. Other gardeners will have their swap items ready to share! If you are new to gardening and do not have a swap item, no worries. Donate a gently used book to our Little Free Library and you can go home with a seedling donated by The Farm at Stonehill, while supplies last. We'll have a fun afternoon - free arts and crafts for the kids, music, tables staffed by The Brockton Garden Club, Will's Lawns, Good Samaritan Medical Center, our very own Beekeeper, just to name a few. We'll have free giveaways, while supplies last. And since it's Cinco De Mayo, a $1 donation to the garden will buy you a taco lunch, with a Mexican Wedding Cookie for dessert. Because we are gardeners, we'll hold the event even if there is a gentle rain - but if it's anything that would make our tents blow over, and we'll reschedule. So watch our Facebook page for instant updates. There is plenty of free parking around the garden in the city employee lots that are empty on weekends. Use 95 Frederick Douglass Avenue Brockton MA 02301 on your GPS to find us. The Brockton-Lynn Connection The City of Lynn, Massachusetts, where Frederick Douglass lived from 1841 to 1845, invited the Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association to install the traveling Bicentennial Exhibit in the Grand Foyer of the Lynn Auditorium, part of City Hall. Noube Rateau, award winning documentary filmmaker, and his Radio and TV Production class from Lynn Vocational Technical High School, assisted in the installation. Wendy Joseph, the chair of the Lynn Douglass Bicentennial Committee, oversaw the project. The exhibit will be on display at city hall through February 2019 in honor of Black History Month. The exhibit explores the connection of Douglass to our Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Irish American populations, as well as to the women's equality movement and the establishment of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment. The students The finished installation Many hands make light work The students 1/13

WE ARE EXCITED TO REPORT THAT WE HAVE BEEN HONORED WITH AN AWARD OF A $10,000 GRANT FROM MASS HUMANITIES!!!! The Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association has a dream – and a plan - to enhance the community garden so it becomes a place of hope, a place of reflection, a place of peace, an oasis in a challenged section of the city. Most importantly, it should be a place for folks to learn how to connect heroes like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. to the tapestry of cultures that live in Brockton today – Haitians and Toussaint L’Ouverture; Cape Verdeans and Amilcar Cabral; women and Susan B. Anthony; the Irish and Daniel O’Connell. In the early days of 2015 we worked diligently on a grant proposal and submitted it to Mass Humanities. As the spring started to melt this year's record snowfall, and warm the garden's ground, we were informed that we have been awarded $10,000!!! MassHumanities conducts and supports programs that use history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to enhance and improve civic life in Massachusetts. The 2015 MassHumanities thematic focus is on exploring how Americans participate in creating the basic social and economic relationships that shape our society – and the challenges to this process past and present. There are two major components of our "Stride Toward Freedom" Project - first, a community conversation about civil rights and justice and our role as citizens, and then art and signage in the Garden that reflects that conversation. This will be held on September 20, 2015, from 2 pm to 4:30 pm, at the War Memorial Building on West Elm Street in Brockton. Using the title of Dr. King’s 1958 book about the Montgomery bus boycott, “Stride Toward Freedom” our goal is to create a garden pathway so that visitors to the garden can walk the path of Douglass and King and learn from interpretive panels designed by different ethnic groups in our community. The meaning of freedom, equality, nonviolent civil disobedience, the transformative nature of education are all themes of the panels. Highlighting civil rights activists from other cultures, the ultimate goal of the garden’s pathway of footsteps is to inspire residents to learn more about the history and diversity of their city, how our freedom fighter icons are connected, and to encourage them to be actively engaged participants in our civic process. The Frederick Douglass Association is thankful to have the support and partnership of Mayor Bill Carpenter and the City of Brockton as we work on this exciting project. In addition, we are honored that Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School students, under the dedicated supervision of carpentry teacher Roy Blanchard, are already engaged in the building of the signs, and will assist in the installation. We could not accomplish this without the generosity of the owners of the land that hosts our garden, Mr. Robert Howard and Mr. Jimmie Thomas, members of Messiah Baptist Church. Donations have been received from the Just Checking In Foundation, and the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation. Our scholars are Willie Wilson of the Brockton Historical Society and currently a teacher at Cardinal Spellman High School, Dr. Joao Rosa, professor at Bridgewater State University and Executive Director of the Pedro Pires Institute for Cape Verdean Studies; Charlot Lucien, founder and co-director of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts; and Lee Farrow, Adjunct Professor and Community Scholar at Stonehill College. We look forward to working with our scholars, their students, our members, volunteers from the BAWIB WAVE program, Helping2Unite Brockton Clean-Up crew, and most importantly our friends and neighbors to make this program a success. The pathway will lead the visitor through the existing planting beds to the murals. Each will have a special QR code on it, so that visitors can go to a website and read the narrative in their own native language. We will also explore the use of a 1-800 call in number posted on the signs that will offer verbal descriptions of the panels to those who are visually impaired. One goal is that plants used in the garden will be reflective of those in the garden Mr. Douglass maintained at his home, Cedar Hill. The choice of building and hardscape materials must also keep the challenge of high durability and low maintenance in mind. The end result of our “Stride Toward Freedom” project will not only be a garden of information, reflection and quiet respite in the middle of a bustling and diverse city, but also a place where citizens can find common ground and be inspired to participate in the re-creation of a city that will be beloved by all. More about Mass Humanities: Massachusetts Foundation for Humanities and Public Policy, now simply known as Mass Humanities, was established in 1974 as the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It is an independent programming and grant-making organization that receives support from the NEH and the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as private sources. Visit www.masshumanities.org or contact Rose Sackey Milligan, Program Officer, at rsackey-milligan@masshumanities.org or at (413) 584-8440 ext. 101 / Stride Toward Freedom Project

"The fence is installed for the Brockton Community to enjoy. Visit the Frederick Douglass Community Garden at 95 Frederick Douglass Ave to see this wonderful work of public art designed and installed by the YouthWorks Summer Jobs WAVE participants. We are very proud of our WAVE Team. Thank you for your time and dedication to serving our community this summer. Special thanks to Jimmy Palantzas, Stephanie Savas, Paul Landerholm, Mr. Nick and Mrs. Chris Palantzas." ................Krystel Love, Director of Youth Services, YouthWorks OneStop Career Center WAVE: Work-Achieve-Volunteer-Experience A program of YouthWorks and the Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board. Learn more at www.bawib.org You are invited Art Work in progress Expert installation help WAVE Rocks! Walking the fence through downtown Its new home in the community garden Looks good! Time out for lemonade Mayor Bill Carpenter approves

FDNA Annual Meeting 2026 FDNA Annual Meeting January 27, 2026 Voted In: Cindy Pendergast-Chair/President Cynthia Hodges -Vice Chair Heather Nelson-Treasurer Jamie Hodges—Clerk/Secretary (All officer terms will be for one year) Board Members Louis Lemieux Carol Griffin Annette Thomas Marc Osborne 2026 FDNA Action Plan I. Governance, Operations & Communications Form Committees: Garden & Beautification; Murals/Avenue Branding; Youth & Schools; Fundraising; Communications/Volunteers Public Meetings: Work with team to set dates for 3–4 public meetings for 2026 and publish on City Website Communications/Transparency: Publish a 2026 events calendar + volunteer sign-ups link on our website. Establish a quarterly newsletter schedule & ongoing event promotion Finance: Establish monthly bookkeeping, financials report Lead: Heather Nelson | Timeline: future meetings II. Signature Events & Programming (Spring–Summer) Frederick Douglass Bust Unveiling Event at Liberty Tree: Partner with Mayor’s Office; explore keynote speaker, possible street event Lead: Cindy Pendergast | Mayor check-in: ASAP Annual July 4th Reading: “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” to be held on July 11 at 10:30am. Funding: Mass Humanities ($2K) | Partners: African American Association, Messiah Baptist, NAACP and others "Discussing Douglass" ongoing series : Recurring (quarterly?) program perhaps in a "book-club style"; honor Jill Wiley (Liberty Tree quilt) Funding: Creative Impact Fund ($2.5K) | Partners: Historical Society, Library, BHS Educational Trip: Historical tour of New Bedford Timeline: Spring planning III. Liberty Tree, Garden & Avenue Branding Liberty Tree Quilt: Pick up from Jill Wiley's husband and deliver to FDNA (completed) Lead: Cindy Pendergast Garden & Maintenance: Spring planting (May); monthly volunteer schedule; youth engagement, update fencing, plant trees, install trash receptacle with plan for emptying Funding: Rep. DuBois/Mendes earmark ($25K) ± Beautification funds Plan by: End of March Murals & Branding: Murals (Firestone wall + sites), banners on street lights, signage on fencing and improved branding along street Funding: Rep. DuBois/Mendes earmark ($25K) ± Beautification funds Plan by: End of April | Implementation: Summer/Fall Creation of Abolitionist Park: Advance planning with Mayor’s Office Timeline: Ongoing IV. Youth, Volunteers & Partnerships (March+) Youth & Schools Outreach: BHS, MassHire, GBYP, Boys & Girls Club, JROTC Volunteer Recruitment: Garden + events (LoveALLiance, Garden Club, Cape Verdean Assoc., GBYP) V. Fundraising & Sustainability Fundraising Strategy: Evaluate banquet, street event, vendor booths; estimate costs and speakers Deliverable: Feasibility report | By: May 1 2025 Grant Awards ● Mass Humanities Grant - $2000 Grant Awarded for Reading Douglass Together ● Creative Impact Fund (Black-Owned Brockton) - $2500 awarded with Project focus: Discussing Douglass ● DBA Beautification Fund Grant – $5,000 for garden and Liberty Tree ● Earmark was made for $25,000 from State Reps Dubois and Mendes Contact If you'd like to attend any of our activities, send a note. FDNABrockton@gmail.com