David Walker stepping down after a decade leading Morristown’s Neighborhood House

david walker
David Walker, executive director of the Morristown Neighborhood House, was honored by Morris Prosecutor Robert Bianchi at a Black History Month event in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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The Big 5-0 is a time for reflection.

When David Walker faced that milestone, he said, he thought hard and decided it was time for a change.

david walker
David Walker has stepped down as executive director of the Morristown Neighborhood House to take a new job in Somerset County, He is pictured here being honored at a 2011 Black History Month event in Morristown. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

And so he told a stunned Morristown Neighborhood House this week that he is resigning, after more than a decade as executive director at the nonprofit, to become chief executive of a Somerset County nonprofit next month.

Although he could not yet disclose the organization’s name, he said it “provides services for runaways, youth in foster care and youth/young adults who are aging out of foster care.

“It was a very difficult decision,” said David, citing professional growth and a desire to work closer to his elderly parents in Somerset County as big factors.

Trustees of the Neighborhood House have named Brian Cavanaugh of Mendham as interim director, his second stint in that capacity.

David expressed confidence that the Nabe would keep rising to the challenge of helping immigrant- and working class families, as it has done since 1898.

“It’s a great organization, with very innovative programs. I am proud of my staff…These are really committed individuals, and it was a real honor to work with them,” David said, adding that he will miss Morristown, a “remarkable city…that has great leadership.”

The Neighborhood House provides pre-school, after-school, daycare and career programs to about 1,500 people, with a staff of 80 full- and part-time employees and a $3 million budget. About $1 million of that comes from program fees; the rest is from charitable contributions and grants from foundations, corporations and government sources.

During David’s tenure, the Neighborhood House expanded to offer services in Denville, through the Peer Place Center,  and in Dover, where the Nabe merged with Project Safe.  The Nabe also fought to preserve its STARS after-school program at the Frelinghuysen Middle School despite severe funding cuts by the state.

A Black Business Caucus was started in association with Drew University. A Family Assistance Center helps families apply for help with their energy bills. And the Nabe’s K.O. Boxing Club is being renamed for the late Frank “Homeboy” Osborne, a local activist and volunteer.

‘FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT

Staff members at the Neighborhood House said they are sad to see David go.

“For a lot of us, he helped take our game to another level,” said Steve Neblett, assistant executive director. He has known David since they worked together at the Tri-Cities People Corp., a nonprofit in Newark.

“He taught that the good fight is worth sticking in there for, and fighting for what you believe in, not to give up the fight. We shared similar passions regarding children, families and community. Many families are not living in poverty, but are darned near. He stressed how important it was to get people out of that situation and empower them,” Steve said.

“I’ve learned a lot from him,” said Lashone Murphy, director of arts and recreation, who credited the director with encouraging her to polish her speaking skills and step up her community outreach. “He was friendly, and always willing to work with us, and hear our ideas and try them out.”

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty described David Walker as the “face and voice of the Neighborhood House,” and said they shared many discussions about Morristown’s growth.

“I personally want to thank him for a decade of commitment to the community. He will be sorely missed. But my door is always open to him,” the Mayor said.

‘A MILESTONE IN LIFE’

David turned 50 on New Year’s Day.

“A 50th birthday is a milestone in life,” said the father of two. “As I approached it I had to do some reflection. I’ve lived half a century. What do I want to do with the remainder of my life?

“You get to the point where you want to take on a new challenge. Really, that’s it. With the staff and the board, we accomplished a great deal. For me, it was time to move on to another chapter in my professional career.”

Educated at Georgetown, David served as an attorney with the New York city council’s committee on general welfare, where he drafted a marriage equality law.

The diversity of the Neighborhood House staff is “reflective of the progress Morristown has made,” he said, rattling off a broad range of cultures and religions represented at the Flagler Street facility. When David arrived in 2002, the Nabe’s client roster already had shifted from largely African American to predominantly Latino. To ease tensions between those groups, a Community Family Day was initiated, along with a Black-Latino Action Coalition.

Asians now are becoming the largest immigrant group nationally, David noted.

“Undoubtedly, the Neighborhood House will play a role in helping the Asian community adapt in Morris County,” he said.

That role has grown more critical at a time when more than half of all households are headed by a single parent, and when both parents in dual-parent homes are working more than one job, David said.

The challenge for nonprofits like the Neighborhood House, he said, is to “ensure that low-income families have a voice, and have fair representation in the city’s decision-making process.”

 

 

 

 

 

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