In 1968, the Hyde and Aragon Park neighborhoods had no running water, paved streets, street lights, or appropriate sewage. That year, resdients estabilshed a group to work on improving the conditions of their neighborhoods.
Within a year, residents had organized and incorporated the Hyde Park and Aragon Park Improvement Committee (HPAPIC). The HPAPIC was and still is governed by the residents of Hyde and Aragon Park. Thanks to help from Saint Alban's Episcopal Church, the HPAPIC secured paved streets, city water, street lights, a community center and other neighborhood necessities
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The HPAPIC's main task now is to fight environmental racism and to find a way to relocate the residents of Hyde Park before it is too late. Over the past 10 years, the HPAPIC organized a large, county-wide protest against ITT/Rayonier during Master's Week, initiated numerous studies and reports on the toxic conditions and health problems facing Hyde Park, spearheaded environmental education programs in Hyde Park and participated in many conferences with other environmental justice organizations both on a regional and national level. HPAPIC representatives have traveled to Washington several times to take part in federal roundtables on environmental justice.
HPAPIC continues to work for the community in other ways as well. Currently, the organization sponsors after-school tutoring, a summer program for youths, educational programs on drugs, teen pregnancy and conflict resolution, community clean ups and holiday events for Hyde Park families.
Not only are Hyde Park families poisoned by their environment, they still face a host of problems that plague low income, minority neighborhoods. Even though they have come a long way, they are still sometimes made to feel that they are a Forgotten Neighborhood due to their socio-economic and ethnic make-up. As working taxpayers and voting citizens of the United States, the people of Hyde Park should not be forgotten by anyone.