Steve Paikin
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 9, 2008)I can’t believe it’s already been 30 years since I was a permanent resident of my beloved hometown, Hamilton.Sure, I still get back often — to see my parents, my brother, go to Ticat or Bulldog games, or eat at Hutch’s.As often as not when I think of Hamilton, I think of an old high school classmate of mine, who was born “on the wrong side of the tracks.” But he has made such a substantial contribution to our city, all I can do is marvel.Edward Palonek came from the North End. His parents were of very modest means.
I never had any doubt Eddie would make it in the business world. He had to succeed to care for his parents, who were much older. And he had a sister who was developmentally challenged. He never had the luxury of hoping things would work out. He had to make them work out.
Did he ever. He discovered a formula for retrieving the hundreds of millions of dollars that people who had passed away left lying around in dormant bank accounts; money their kids may not have known about.
So he created FoundMoney.com, repatriated those unknown dollars to their rightful heirs, and made a small fortune for himself in the process.
But here’s where the story gets better. Rather than sitting on his wealth in Panama, where he’s now living, Eddie gave back to Hamilton in a significant way. To date, he has given more than $120,000 to save the old Robert Land School on Wentworth Street North in the Keith neighbourhood, not far from where he grew up.
Ed was a student there, and so was his mother. The 1914 building was in such desperate condition, the school board closed it and the community lost a valuable resource. That is, until Ed came along. The Eva Rothwell Resource Centre (named after Ed’s mom) now gives hope to a community in desperate need of a lifeline.
Every month, 1,400 people use the centre for everything from a safe haven to do homework after school, to getting undernourished kids fed, to picking up free clothes or furniture.
“Edward Palonek’s contribution was second to none,” says Don MacVicar, chair of the board of directors of the Robert Land Community Association. “He ensured the building wouldn’t be demolished and that others would bring good resources.”
Eddie answered the call for a neighbourhood that has seen its share of misery. One-third of the community are new immigrants, another third are longtime low-income residents, while the final third are transients. Thirty-five different ethnic groups are represented there.
Alcoholism, drug abuse, and malnutrition are overrepresented in the local population. The police have shut down nine crack houses in the past year and say the area has the third-highest crime rate of any neighbourhood in Canada.
So the challenges are immense.
But fortunately, the future looks brighter. Besides the new resource centre, Habitat for Humanity has plans to build some new homes. Sherman Inlet will open in the next few years, linking the neighbourhood to the beauties of the waterfront.
Seventy volunteers are already donating their time to make the Eva Rothwell Resource Centre a success. But they say they need 70 more to meet the demand.
Eddie, I couldn’t be more proud of you.
Hamiltonian Steve Paikin is the anchor and senior editor of TVO’s current affairs program The Agenda.
