Taking PRIDE in the neighborhood

In front of Greg Ward’s home, a colorful flag, bedecked in rainbow colors, flies just left of a vivid blue front door. The words Love – Peace – Respect – Pride are emblazoned across the brightly colored flag. Ward has had the flag out two years in a row in June to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month, which marks the anniversary of the Stonewall riots that occurred in June 1969.

Greg, who was adopted as a child, was raised in the Huntley area by his fathers, Andy Graff and Tom Heling (Heling passed away in 2014) and now lives with Graff in Sun City. To friends and family he goes by the name “Jacy,” a nod to his Native American roots from the Chippewa Tribe. “Jacy” is a tribal name given to Ward at age 13 meaning “moon” or “light in the darkness.”

Ward, who is 23, gay, and living in a 55+ community, is already used to standing out in a crowd.

“I go to the athletic facility [in Sun City] and people assume I’m visiting my grandparents,” he said.

Ward is accustomed to being the youngest one in the room. At age 12, he was discovered by Microsoft as a computer whiz.

“Microsoft found me when I was hacking into stuff,” he says. “I was 12 years old when I started working for them.”

Still, putting the rainbow flag up was a calculated risk, not knowing how it would be received by neighbors. Ward was already aware of the Homeowners Associations conditions, covenants, and restrictions.

“It wasn’t to upset anybody,” he says. “It was just, why not? But I knew Sun City has really strict standards.”

Ward was already familiar with some of the standards when he decided he wanted to paint their front door blue.

“Our house used to have a front door that was battleship gray. I am artistic and love art and design,” he says. “I wanted to have a blue door.”

Ward got his blue door, but only after submitting a paint chip to be reviewed by the Homeowners Association.

Ward says the only feedback he’s heard about the rainbow flag are about its beauty.

“It’s not a traditional rainbow flag,” he explains. “This flag has all the colors in it, but it doesn’t scream gay. An Amazon carrier and Fedex carrier both knocked on the door and said, “Thank you.”

“They noticed [the flag],” says Ward. “Maybe they’re part of the community – I don’t know. But they noticed it.”

Ward divides his time between Huntley and Hawaii, where he recently completed a degree in Sustainable Agriculture. But home is in Huntley, where he describes his neighbors as “loving and accepting.”

Ward remains active in Sun City’s Neighborhood Watch, and serves as the N-14 Neighborhood Watch Neighbor-Helping-Neighbor Coordinator.

“Most people assume a neighborhood watch is a kind of crime thing, and they’re confused what it is,” says Ward, who has been active in his neighborhood watch for more than three years. “What I’m really emphasizing is to really get to know your neighbor.”

Ward says residents of Sun City often move in and immediately get involved in the many clubs and activities happening in the community.

“It’s really easy to get into your own little world,” he says. “But you need to spend some time getting to know the people in your neighborhood, too.” Ward says that by doing so, you’ll be more likely to realize your neighbor needs help or is having problems. “Neighborhood Watch isn’t about people calling their block captains,” he says. “It’s neighbors getting involved with each other and noticing that they need something. It might be helping them change out a lightbulb, or helping with a garden hose.”

With safety in the forefront, Ward says his neighborhood watch is getting the word out about the Premise Alert Program, which allows a garage code plus key medical information to be attached to 911 Emergency dispatches issued to homes. This free program is accessed through the Huntley Fire Department. Ward also says his neighborhood is now 80% compliant with new standardized house numbers, easily readable for police or other first responders. For 2019, the village approved homes having a “Knox Box” attached to each house. The small box contains a house key, and only the fire and police have access to it, in case of an emergency situation.

Ward says he installed a lot of the new house numbers for his neighbors over the past year.

“I guess I’ll do the same thing for the Knox Box,” he laughs. “It’ll be a little project for me this summer. I have fun with it, and I get to help the community, too.”

Some of Ward’s fondest memories of living in Sun City are the years he and his fathers hosted socials at their house for a group they called Rainbow Pride.

“There were gay and lesbian people coming, but mostly Sun City folks who have gay grandchildren and nieces and nephews,” says Ward. “By having the group here, it brought a whole bunch of people together. We would typically have 75 people at the parties! They were fun parties, and word got around. It was a place people could go to and it filled a need.”

Since he went away to college, the Rainbow Pride group hasn’t been active, but Ward still believes in the need for neighbors to connect and get to know each other as individuals.

“It’s not easy being straight or gay these days,” he says. “It’s a challenging world. It’s why Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors is so important. We need each other.”

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