Residents are the key to Wall Plaza

LYNN – Charles Ward snapped awake when his telephone rang at 3:30 a.m. Friday, pulled on his clothes and opened Wall Plaza’s front door for a fellow tenant who had locked himself out of the building.”He said he was doing his laundry,” Ward said.Ward and 195 other people – mostly seniors – live in Wall Plaza off Church Street, but building residential services coordinator Adelle Abdallah refers to Ward and a handful of other Wall tenants as “the key people” because they are available when other residents need help.That description also applies to Vietnam War veteran and eight-year Wall resident Robert Egan and Dolores Walcott, the 19-year tenant Abdallah nicknamed “Mrs. Wall Plaza.””She throws herself into anything she can do to help someone else,” Abdallah said.With its 171 apartments, Wall Plaza is the second-largest residential property behind Curwin Circle managed by Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development.It’s not just a place to live, said Walcott and Ward, it is also a place where residents – including some with limited mobility – depend on neighbors for a social life and daily needs, including rides and help with groceries.Egan takes care of Wall Plaza pets when their owners take trips or go to the hospital, and LHAND Executive Director Charles Gaeta said he is quick to lend a hand with a grocery bag or brushing snow off a neighbor’s car.”He goes out of the way to help tenants,” Gaeta said.Korean War veteran Ward has been the resident representative on LHAND’s board of Commissioners since 2006. Gaeta said Ward pushed hard and successfully to have more handicapped apartments added to Wall Plaza.”I have a say-so on anything that comes up,” Ward said.Walcott has a similar voice as a former Wall Plaza resident council president – an elected post she decided to run for because, “I figured I was nosy and bossy enough to do the job.” She helps organize breakfasts and social events to bring tenants together, and she is on hand for political forums – including a visit by congressional candidate Seth Moulton to the Wall Plaza community room.Wall Plaza is a Ward 5 polling place and in the heart of a politically active neighborhood where residents turned out in big numbers to cast ballots in the 2012 elections.”There was a huge turnout,” Gaeta said.Ward admitted he did not vote until several years ago when Wolcott all-but-insisted he cast a ballot.”I told him, ?You’ve got to vote. You’ve got to do your part,'” she said.Even with his active involvement on the Board of Commissioners, Ward describes Walcott as “the backbone” of Wall Plaza activities.”It’s important to have active tenants who can help people and get them out of their apartments,” Gaeta said.A former Curwin Circle resident, Walcott has lived in Lynn for 40 years and worked in factories and as a certified nurse assistant. She said her mother’s lessons on helping others prompted her to help fellow Wall residents.She said she also has an obligation to keep the Church Street and Pleasant Street area “a good neighborhood.” Ward agreed and said he will keep pitching in to make Wall Plaza a good place to live even if it means occasionally waking up in the middle of the night.