Blacktown local heroes top 20: 5-2
WE’RE close to number one in our countdown, as we pay tribute to some of the community’s unsung local heroes. Who will top the list?
Blacktown
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BLACKTOWN LOCAL HEROES
SOME of Blacktown city’s local heroes are well-known, some not so much.
But what they all do is put their community first across numerous areas — youth, homelessness, education, disabilities or sport.
This week the Advocate will count down, from 20 to one, our picks for our top 20 local heroes. Some will be controversial, some obvious.
All 20 will be listed here with your opportunity to agree, disagree or suggest others who should be on the list.
5: CHIEF INSPECTOR BOB FITZGERALD — BLACKTOWN POLICE
Community work doesn’t get much more heroic than what Chief Inspector Bob Fitzgerald has achieved.
Chief Insp Fitzgerald is not only a popular and long-serving officer at Blacktown police station — his fingerprints can be found on a lot of good work across the city.
A former bricklayer who came through Mt Druitt TAFE, he joined the NSW Police Force in the 1980s and has also served St Marys and Mt Druitt stations.
Sport has been a passion of Chief Insp Fitzgerald’s life. During the 2000 Sydney Olympics he was a venue commander for softball, baseball and athletics events held at Rooty Hill. He is a life member of two local soccer clubs and a netball club.
Chief Insp Fitzgerald has been chair of both Blacktown Relay for Life and SydWest Multicultural Services, and is a passionate advocate for indigenous services, and mental health programs.
In 2016 he was named Blacktown’s Citizen of the Year.
4: ELFA MORAITAKIS — SYDWEST MULTICULTURAL SERVICES
With more than 25 years of experience in developing services for linguistically disadvantaged communities, Elfa Moraitakis is at the coalface of helping new arrivals integrate into their new home in Blacktown.
Ms Moraitakis is the chief executive of SydWest Multicultural Services
The service deals with women facing domestic violence, people struggling to find work or trying to overcome language and cultural barriers.
Ms Moraitakis’s role involves identifying gaps in services for multicultural communities and working to fill them. She said the biggest issue facing women in Blacktown are violence and unemployment, and those obstacles are even worse in migrant communities.
Ms Moraitakis was crowned Blacktown Woman of the Year in 2017.
3: NED NAROUZ — RAP 4 CHANGE
Many people have tried to engage with young people in some of Blacktown city’s most disadvantaged and troubled communities — but few have had as much success as Ned Narouz.
Mr Narouz, who admits he hung out with the wrong crowd in his own youth, turned his life around and dedicated it to ensuring the next generation didn’t make the same mistakes.
He founded hip-hop behavioural change program Rap 4 Change, which exploded in popularity through its workshops in Mt Druitt schools and performances at community festivals.
Rap 4 Change’s success allowed it to branch out into several other avenues, including Skate 4 Change, a kickboxing girl’s empowerment program and sport gala days Tag 4 Trust and Swish 4 Trust — which aim to create bonds between local kids and emergency services.
The group also established Mt Druitt Lions rugby league club, and has plans to make its own basketball league in Mt Druitt.
Mr Narouz was the Blacktown Citizen of the Year in 2018.
2: KENNETH AND MARJORY FREEMAN — LALOR PARK ADVOCATES
Kenneth and Marjory Freeman’s work in the Blacktown community is unrivalled.
Their journey in community activism started way back in 1966 when they campaigned to have street lightened installed in their rural street.
That taste of advocacy has never been quenched, with the couple going on to involve themselves in Clean Up Australia Day, the Cancer Council’s Blacktown Relay for Life, creating cancer support groups and the Blacktown Council arts advisory committee.
Mrs Freeman’s diagnosis with breast cancer in 1981, and subsequent relapses, has made their charity work personal.
She survived her first battle and went on to return to university and become a science teacher at Blacktown Boys High School.
The Freemans, 76 and 78 respectively, now work with Western Sydney Health Service’s Consumer Representative Committee.
They were joint Blacktown Citizen of the Year in 2007, and in 2018 they both received the Medal of the Order of Australia.
WHO WILL BE OUR NUMBER ONE? FIND OUT TOMORROW