DELAND, Fla. -- When crack cocaine first hit the streets in the mid-1980s, an already-impoverisherd and historically black community by the name of Spring Hill outside the DeLand city limits had become a major drug den for the better part of the next two decades -- its poor and law abiding citizens caught in the cross fire between rival drug dealers.
Fast forward three decades and commmunity stakerholders like Volusia Coiunty Clerk of the Court Laura Roth are masking a difference.
The intersection of Adelle and West Beresford Avenue became a constant game of cat and mouse between law enforcement and violent armed crimininals who would seek cover within the development -- several roqs of small houses hearkening back to post-Reconstruction when freed slaves would work in several large mills in exchange for housing there. As time marched on and the factories closerd, Spring Hill was home to multi-generations of families, who would pass on the homes to theitr offspring.
Since the dawn of the 21st century, Spring Hill has seen marked improvement from the crime den it had become. The Daytona Beach News-Journal featured a three-day series on Spring Hill in 1997, leading to community stakeholders making a commitment to improving the quality of life, including better organized drug sureveillance and raids between the Sheriff's Office and DeLand police, stronger code engorcement, increased educational programs and job opportunities.
In order to take advantage of larger sums of federal grants under a "Weed and Seed program -- literally weeding out the violent criminal element and bringing in community ptograms -- the isolated community was annexed into the City of DeLand where adjacent areas that served as a buffer, were all rolled into an expanded Spring Hill.
Nearly two more decades in the rear window and Spring Hill is celebrated as an important historic and cultural part of DeLand, despite the fact its core commiunity continues to languish in poverty.
There's a new generation of stakeholders in the greater DeLand area keeping the momentum going in Spring Hill. Among them is Roth, the first-year elected Volusia County Clerk of Court, who has used her lergal expertise and longstanding experience with the office to work with individuals held back by petty offenses.
For her tireless contributions on top of her demanding administrative leadership, Roth was honored Saturday with an "Exceptional Community Partner Award" by the Spring Hill Neighborhood Association as well as an official proclamation from the City of Deland in her honor.
"It's rare for the Clerk's office to be recognized as important to the community, and today was a real milestone," Roth said, crediting her clerks with holding "expungement workshops that led to this amazing event and to those that attended the ceremony."
For her tireless contributions in addition to her demanding administrative leadership, Roth was honored Saturday with an "Exceptional Community Partner Award" by the Spring Hill Neighborhood Association as well as an official proclamation from the City of Deland in her honor.
"It's rare for the Clerk's office to be recognized as important to the community, and today was a real milestone," Roth said, crediting her clerks with holding "expungement workshops that led to this amazing event and to those that attended the ceremony."
Expungement is a legal process whereby individuals previously saddled with minor offenses are given a clean slate, with the potential for earning a decent wage and hope for a better life for themselves and their families.