Siris Barrios of Riverside Rediscovered Steps Down

Siris Barrios recently announced that she will be stepping down from the position she’s held —and loved — for the past five years, that of director of engagement for Riverside Rediscovered, the agency working on revitalization efforts for the hamlet.

Ms. Barrios said she is planning to move to Ecuador with her family to take a more hands-on approach to the fruit farm that they own there.

She was born in El Salvador and moved to Long Island after spending most of her life in Los Angeles. A majority of her family still lives in California, but she has lived in Hampton Bays since 2014 with her husband, Jose Leon, and their two sons, Alejandro and Leonardo.

“When I got involved with the project, the community became my family,” she said.

The Riverside Revitalization project was drafted in 2015 by Southampton Town in efforts to improve the quality of life in one of the town’s less wealthy and underdeveloped areas. Tasks include revitalizing local parks, increasing affordable housing, and making it easier for local businesses to thrive.

Ms. Barrios decided to apply for the community liaison position on a whim back in 2014 — she was hired that August.

“I realized that there was a lack of institutions engaging at a grassroots level in the community,” she said. “I felt like this project, the way it was described in the job description, could be a great platform to contribute to and make a difference in a community that really needed the support at that time.”

Before Ms. Barrios moved to the East Coast, she said she was accustomed to associating herself with only one ideology and one set of politics. When she moved to Riverside, she was challenged by opposing viewpoints for the first time.

“I feel that there were times when I was able to meet people halfway and be able to see each other eye to eye, you know? Like, I’m that person that you fear, and you’re that person that I kind of fear and I feel like I would never talk to,” she said.

Ms. Barrios explained that she felt as if the community had been able to grow by listening to one another. Riverside Rediscovered has been a part of many public hearings on sensitive subjects such as housing. She said even though not everyone can agree on one subject, both parties can listen to the concerns of the other, and still have love for them.

Ms. Barrios said she was attracted to the diversity of the population of Riverside. She noted that the community was more service oriented, and she wanted to work toward making it more community oriented.

The Riverside Rediscovered office, as described by Ms. Barrios, is a social impact office. She said she and her team have been working on bringing the community together to plan a unified vision for development. “It has really been the voice of revitalization in the community,” she said.

Ms. Barrios has also made an effort to reach out and engage the Latino community in the area. “We felt a need to engage the Latino community, so we reached out to SEPA Mujer,” she said. SEPA Mujer is a nonprofit organization that focuses on immigrant women and teaches them skills to be active members in their communities, as well as providing legal advice. Ms. Barrios has also served on the board of SEPA Mujer as secretary.

Since Ms. Barrios started at Riverside Rediscovered, the organization was able to partner with other nonprofits, such as the Flanders Riverside Northampton Civic Association, The Butterfly Effect, Truth Community Church, and others. The organization has also worked on several projects in the community, one of which was revitalizing Ludlam Park.

“We’ve been very successful activating Ludlam Park,” said Ms. Barrios. “We added more programming for children, installed new sidewalks, a new playground, and revitalized the fields.”

Ms. Barrios said since Riverside Rediscovered took the initiative to revamp the park, the town has made significant investments. Ms. Barrios and her team wanted to ensure that the community got what it wanted out of the park, so they conducted community surveys to determine exactly what that might be.

“We try to be as transparent as we can and bring as many partners and people to the table — really bringing as many stakeholders to the table as we can.”

While working at Riverside Rediscovered for the past five years, Ms. Barrios was able to address an issue she felt the hamlet of Riverside was truly struggling with.

“The community has said that it was really important for them to feel like they’re a part of Southampton, because their zip code say it’s Riverhead, but, they are part of Southampton,” she said.

Ms. Barrios said that the people of Riverside really want to express that their hamlet is where Southampton begins. “There’s that need for identity — geographic identity and recognition,” she said. “The community has been able to cultivate that collective voice and vision.”

After Ms. Barrios leaves her position and heads to Ecuador, Angela Huneault will take her place as director of engagement for the Riverside office. Ms. Huneault also joined Riverside Rediscovered the same week as Ms. Barrios.

“I’m excited to continue. I’m going to miss my friend dearly, she was quoted saying ‘she will continue’— and it’s the truth,” said Ms. Huneault. She explained that Riverside Rediscovered has sparked so many important conversations, and she agrees with Ms. Barrios that many opposing parties have been able to see eye-to-eye. “I’ve never thought such opposites could be in the same room.”

Ms. Huneault said she has learned so much from Ms. Barrios in the past five years. “What I’m excited for is to continue the drive and see this through,” she said. “I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t still believe in it. I’m going to make her proud.”