'Such a loss for our community': Utica leader and activist Patrick Johnson dies at age 60
Patrick Johnson, a community leader and activist who made it his goal to tackle racism as well as gun violence in the Cornhill neighborhood, died Saturday morning at 60, according to Freddie Hamilton, who worked with him on many of his community programs.
Johnson was best known for founding the basketball mentorship program Hoops and Dreams in 2002, and serving since 2013 as the first program director and community liaison for Save Our Streets, a program working with individuals at risk of gun violence or gang involvement under the Oneida County District Attorney's Office.
"He did tremendous work in the community," Hamilton said Saturday evening. "He worked really hard to stop gun violence, to turn young people around."
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In a Facebook post on Saturday, Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri said he would be directing all flags to be flown at half-mast in the coming week.
"Patrick was not just a pillar of our city he was the sturdy bridge that dutifully worked to unite it each day," he wrote.
Through the Hoops and Dreams program, Johnson put on basketball tournaments twice a year, with the last one held this year at the Veterans Outreach Center in Utica, Hamilton said. Through Save Our Streets and the Street Team — a community policing program spun off from the Hoops and Dreams program — Johnson worked regularly with young people as well as law enforcement. If there was an incident involving gun violence, he would be there, Hamilton said.
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"He wanted to see the young people have a better life," she said. "Cornhill in Utica — it's one of the poorest areas in Utica — and so he wanted the at-risk youth to have better opportunities."
Patrick Johnson was a Utica native, worked locally
Johnson was born and lived most of his life in Utica. According to his website, began his work as a consultant on race relations and gun violence in 2001. He held well-known race relations workshops at the Utica Public Library, Mohawk Valley Community College, local churches and other locations, and always had a "packed house," Hamilton said.
Johnson previously worked as a life skills counselor at the Resource Center for Independent Living in Utica from 1996 to 2003, and then served as director of the YWCA Mohawk Valley's Racial Justice Department from 2003 to 2009, according to his website. Since 2009 he worked at MVCC enrolling formerly incarcerated students and served as the college's community civility liaison. He also founded the New Life Institute in 2005 and the following year launched Hoops and Dreams' "Stop the Violence" campaign.
One of his last projects with Hamilton and other community leaders in 2017 was founding the nonprofit Rebuilding the Village, with a goal of establishing a community center in Cornhill. About a year ago, they opened a location at the corner of Brinckerhoff Avenue and James Street. Hamilton said they hope to name the center after him.
"All of his work will continue," she said. "It's just that it's such a loss for our community."
A candlelight vigil was scheduled to be held in Johnson's honor 7 p.m. Saturday at Kemble Park in Utica.
H. Rose Schneider covers public safety, breaking and trending news for the Observer-Dispatch in Utica. Email Rose at hschneider@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Patrick Johnson, Utica community leader and activist, dies at age 60
