Greenburgh & White Plains Bid Farewell to Beloved Community Leader
Dr. William L. Carter, Commissioner of the Greenburgh Theodore Young Community Center since 2008, died Friday, Jan. 15, succumbing to a battle with cancer.
“The town of Greenburgh is in mourning, and flags will be placed at half staff,” Greenburgh Town Supervisor said on Friday after learning of Carter’s passing.
Carter died on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday (1-15-29) and a whole community crossing town and city lines stopped to pay respect for a man who inspired many with his example and open and welcoming personality.
“Bill always made everyone smile and laugh. He had a great personality. He made people feel good about themselves when he talked to them,” Feiner said.
Prior to his service as a commissioner in Greenburgh, Carter coordinated county-wide funding for youth initiative programming. He worked with the Educational Opportunity Center of Westchester, the White Plains Youth Bureau, Hawthorne Cedar Knolls School and Family Services of Westchester. He also taught at Westchester Community College as an adjunct professor. He was active in African American Men of Westchester and hosted the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast.
With an early history of life on the streets, Carter’s is a success story – one that gave him the insight and patience to work effectively with people living on the edge.
Early on, having hit bottom in his own life, Carter was admitted to Grace Church Community Center’s Open Arms Men’s Shelter in White Plains, where he stayed for eight months. The programs at Open Arms included counseling and workforce training. Through his work there, Carter was able to enroll in Westchester Community College where he was an outstanding student and began studies that enabled him to eventually receive a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University’s School of Social Work and ultimately a state social work certificate and doctorate degree.
Carter returned to Open Arms to counsel homeless men and tutored homeless families at the Coachman Hotel, also in White Plains.
Most recently, Carter helped produce the Greenburgh jazz concert series, which was re-named in his honor shortly before his most recent hospitalization, according to Supervisor Feiner. The series “brought to the town the highest quality musicians each summer,” Feiner said.
Above all, Carter will be remembered for his work to improve the quality of life for lower income residents through community programs involving indoor swimming, academic enrichment, arts and crafts, dance, music, technology, outdoor play, senior citizen programs, and encouraging students to attend college.
For those who knew him well, it is with joy to have known him and with sadness to see him go.
