Lessie Bass

Cheers to The Daily Reflector for this article on late social work pioneer Dr. Lessie Bass, who was a professor at East Carolina University.

The article is about the dedication of a building at the Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Center in Bass’ honor. Bass, who died in 2009 at age 62, founded the center to help revitalize West Greenville, N.C.

Instead of trying to impose their values on others Bass and fellow worker Deborah Moody went around the community asking residents what services they wanted.

“This was great. Instead of telling the people what they would do, they were asking them what they needed,”City Council member Rose Glover said. “That had the biggest impact on the success of the center.”