"Sitting in her Preston Avenue office, Holly Edwards is playing around with metaphors, searching for the perfect word to describe her responsibilities as the program coordinator for the city’s Public Housing Association of Residents.

She finally settles on "bridge," insisting that she connects low-income residents to the resources they need to be successful. In fact, her role is an amalgamation of mentor, cheerleader and Sherpa. She helps her clients navigate through the city’s health care, employment and educational mazes, while also providing encouragement and, when warranted, a stern lecture.

I help people along the journey of getting from where they are to where they need to be," said Edwards, adorned in a green dress from Ghana emblazoned with golden thread.

Few Charlottesville residents have spent as much time working in the trenches of poverty as Edwards has. At PHAR, she teaches public housing residents how to pay their rent on time, helps them find employment and pushes them to finish school. Edwards also serves as a volunteer parish nurse at the Westhaven Nursing Clinic.

Now Edwards is seeking to make the leap from community activist to policy maker, from advocate to politician. She is one of five Democrats vying for the party’s endorsement for City Council, which will be decided during a nominating convention Saturday.

Edwards contends that her candidacy, if successful, will embolden a large portion of Charlottesville that has not been fully represented in the city government. For far too long the city’s low-income residents have been on the sidelines during some of the city’s most important decisions, she said.

"A lot of segments in the community haven’t played as active a role as they could," Edwards said. "They need a voice in the process."

After earning a master’s degree in education in the mid-1980s, Edwards was working in a soup kitchen in Washington, D.C., when she decided she wanted to pursue nursing. While attending Hampton University she received a scholarship to study at the University of Virginia, and has remained in the community ever since.

Her desire to improve residents’ access to high-quality health care led her to the Westhaven Clinic and, eventually, to PHAR.

Not surprisingly, health care is one of the centerpieces of her campaign. She is always on the lookout for new ways to increase residents’ awareness of health and nutritional issues.

"When I walked in to [a recent] job fair at Carver Recreation Center, I immediately wanted to take everyone’s blood pressure," Edwards said, laughing.

Part of creating a healthier city is ensuring Charlottesville works to preserve the environment, promotes smart growth policies and has a larger stock of affordable housing, Edwards said.

On the campaign trail, Edwards has stressed the need to promote work force training among students and increase the community’s participation in the school system.

But it is her experience as a community activist that provides the foundation of her candidacy. And she hopes by being elected she can continue to serve as a role model for public housing residents.

"My being able to do this lets other people know that local politics really does belong to local people," she said." (Seth Rosen, The Daily Progress, May 28, 2007)