Stacy Spell has two words to sum up successful community organizing: Be consistent. That’s why he leads a neighborhood clean up in West River every Saturday morning, and why he sets up his chessboard every week for all comers. Amid a rise in violence, he says, “You don’t hear about the good things.” He focuses on building a sense of community ownership among both youth and adults. He likes to focus on the positive and on building relationships, like promoting healthy food by partnering with outreach workers from CARE at the Yale School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson fellows at Yale Medical School to bring healthy food into corner stores and by setting up a new farmer’s market at Derby Avenue and Winthrop Street.

Spell chairs the West River Neighborhood Services Corporation, a nonprofit established in 2005 whose mission is to promote a productive community that provides an environment that is safe, secure, vital, and full of activity and to create a beautiful place that encourages a positive and active attitude among the residents of and visitors to the West River neighborhood. 

He also organizes the annual International Day of Peace Festival, which highlights peace efforts from city streets to war zones around the world. 2011 marks the second year of support for the Festival from The Community Foundation through its neighborhood leadership grants process.