Activist Finds Personal Joy in Building Community

Lena Young-Green learned how to get involved at the policy-making level from her years working as a chief legislative assistant. Her parents taught her to become involved in her neighborhood.

When she’s especially pleased, Lena Young-Green might dance a little jig. When she’s directing young charges from the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association, she’s matter-of-fact and to-the-point. When she’s listening, she appears completely absorbed. But Young-Green is a body never at rest. “I love my community,” she says. “I love community work, getting involved whenever the opportunity presents itself. “I probably work more hours now than when I was working for money. But I’m doing what I love.” A longtime senior legislative assistant to former state Sen. Jim Hargrett, she’s been a leader in organizing residents to bond, rebuild and beautify Tampa Heights since she moved here in 1981. She started by simply joining the neighborhood civic…

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