Community Leader: Neyda Rios

by Daisie Cardona

PACDC’s Community Leader Award recognizes outstanding leadership by community members in advancing neighborhood improvement and revitalization.

Neyda Rios’s journey to becoming a community leader started 17 years ago at the now-closed Salvation Army Pioneer Corps Building in Kensington, Philadelphia. At that time, Neyda had just gotten surgery, was unable to work, and began to struggle. That's when her son's godfather told her about the Salvation Army’s Free Lunch program.  She took both of her young children along, not knowing that one meal would change her life forever. 

Neyda was going to cook one day a week. She quickly went from one day a week to two. She was helping with the Christmas, summer, after-school, and women's programs. That is also when she began her work as a community liaison, now known as a community connector. Back then, though, it was something that wasn’t heard of. The position of being a “Community Connector” didn’t exist yet. It was just something Neyda did out of her love for her community. She went from Salvation Army to Impact Services, to NKCDC, and beyond, spreading the word about different programming and events. 

Even after the Salvation Army Pioneer Corps shut down, Neyda’s didn’t stop. She dedicated her life to her work as a community leader. For most of that time, Neyda worked with late community leader Awilda Ocasio who became her mentor. Awilda was a brave woman, the type who’d walk up to anyone and make them help during a cleanup, whether they were local business owners, or drug dealers. She loved Kensington and fought for until the day she died, when she collapsed while at work. To Neyda and many others, Awilda Ocasio is a mentor they try to honor every day. 

After many years as a Community Connector, last year Neyda took a Community Health Worker (CHW) Training to better serve her community. CHWs are specially trained to be liaisons between medical services, social services, and the community. That training can be life-saving for organizations who wouldn’t be able to keep essential services going without the information and assistance they provide. This is just one example of the ongoing work Neyda Rios is doing to transform her community. 

PACDC congratulates Neyda Rios on being recognized as PACDC’s 2023 Community Leader!