Newsmaker... Keith Canady

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The interview below on Keith Canady - the Admin & Founder of this website - was conducted in September of 2003 by Elaine Aradillas. At the time Ms. Aradillas was a journalism student at Columbia University.

Less than a month after Keith Canady watched his web-based business fail, he was left wondering what to do with a couple of computers, some software and a desire to help others.

In September 2001, Canady launched www.morrisania.com with the help of a web-building program and little else. “There’s a lot of services available to people in urban neighborhoods, but they don’t know how to get it,” he said. “Since I know it, it’s only right that I pass this knowledge along.”

Since its inception, Canady, 27, has worked on the community web site and redesigned it three times. In late October, Canady said he will re-launch his site again, this time, with new and improved graphics highlighting links and services.

At least six times a week, Canady hovers over his computer, inside his bedroom, and tinkers with the site. He spent countless hours interviewing people at various nonprofit organizations in the area and finding resources available to residents in Morrisania, a one-square mile stretch of land dotted with small businesses and lined with public housing.

Despite the neighborhood’s label of “low income,”, Canady assumed his neighborhood needed a web site that catered to their needs. “I was never going to say this is a poor neighborhood, so they’re not going to have a computer,” Canady said. “Believe it or not, many people in the neighborhood do have computers – at home, the library or school – I just want it there for them.”

Currently on the site, there are links to four major nonprofit agencies anchored in Morrisania. He said he continues to be amazed by the number of people who don’t know about the services available to them when they live just houses and streets away from the agencies. “I just want to give back as much as I can. I want to improve local businesses and improve the financial aspect of the community,” Canady said.

Morrisania is one of the poorest congressional districts in the country and has one of the highest dropout rates in the city. With the numbers stacked against success, it’s surprising anyone succeeds. Canady earned an Associate’s degree from TCI-The College for Technology in Manhattan and later received a Bachelor’s degree from Monroe College in the Bronx.Currently, Canady works at Random House Inc., in Midtown Manhattan, where he is an administrative clerk. He wants to pursue a Master’s degree in social work. He has been known to sleep, which he calls rest, about four hours a day. Before earning a degree, a typical day meant waking up for work at 6 a.m., followed by evening college classes and working into the wee hours on his web site.

He points to the death of his father as the catalyst for desiring a positive life without the hardships often associated with urban neighborhoods. Spending most of his childhood without a dad, his father was diagnosed with leukemia and died shortly after the pair had reconciled when Canady was 13 years old.

“When he died, I cried a lot,” he said. “I didn’t cry because I loved him so much. I cried because I didn’t know him.” Canady vowed his children would never experience what he felt. He already preaches the importance of an education to his six-year-old daughter, Taniqua, the oldest of three children. In addition to his own family, there are many others who have been touched by Canady’s perseverance.

Dennis Stephens, 22, met the clean-cut Canady when the pair was teenagers living in the same apartment building more than a decade ago. Stephens described Canady as a dedicated student an older brother who was always giving him books to read. “He opened my eyes to a lot of things. He was the first one to introduce me to things like that,” he said.

About a month ago, Stephens said he looked at the web site and couldn’t believe everything it offered his neighbors. Stephens’ favorite part of the site is the job listings available in the community, which provide names and numbers of business owners hiring in the area.

“It’s about time somebody did what he’s doing. He’s doing good work,” Stephens said. The office of the Bronx Borough President has monitored the progress of Canady’s web site, as well. The borough’s Asst. Press Secretary Javier Gomez said he was “marveled” by what he saw when he viewed the site for the first time.

“The needs of a community like Morrisania are not the same as Riverdale or Brunswick,” Gomez said. “He appears to know the issues facing his community and he’s addressing them.”

For now, Canady continues to work on the site and is beginning to develop another site for Harlem, where his wife’s family resides. His wife has begun compiling information needed to develop an effective web site suited for the needs of the resident’s community.

“They (residents) benefit from the community sites. It’s more targeted to their needs,” Canady said. “They feel like it’s theirs and they relate to it more.” With every response and comment from friends and strangers, Canady said he hopes to create more web sites for as many communities who need it. “Once you start getting emails about how you’re benefiting the people, there’s no way you can stop,” he said.

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By: Elaine Aradillas

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