Twenty-five new members of the Target Area Local Leadership team were welcomed to the program Tuesday and began their leadership training.TALL is part of the Sharon and Farrell Weed and Seed Program and its members represent community interests as they work with local and state officials to clean up their cities.

Though more than 60 people applied to be TALL team leaders, only 25 were selected, said coordinator Marcia Brown. Community members and others involved in the TALL team are invited to learn about the team's progress and to give input at a monthly meeting, she said. The next meeting is at 5 p.m. Thursday at Ruth A.M.E. Zion, 95 Connelly Blvd., Sharon.

The selected team members will receive leadership training over the next two years from the Institute for Leadership, Education, Advancement and Development Inc. group based in Philadelphia. David Castro, president of I-LEAD and the first state Weed and Seed director, spoke to the team at the Minorty Health and ERASE offices in Farrell about their role in Weed and Seed.

Castro said he has traveled all over the state and talked to people in many towns. "People are really experiencing a lot of the same challenges in the commonwealth in the communities they live in," he said.

Castro, who was a prosecutor in Philadelphia before working with Weed and Seed, said he saw communities plagued by drug and alcohol problems.

He emphasized that strong community leaders make the difference between success and failure when it comes to projects like Weed and Seed.

The program is designed to help areas riddled with drug problems and lack of development and opportunities by first saturating the area with police and then rebuilding the community.

"I think that there's a great opportunity here," Castro told the TALL team. He said leadership training will teach the team members how to best help their community and work together to effectively accomplish goals.

Ms. Brown encouraged the TALL team members to talk to one another and express their concerns and ideas. She said the training sessions are the time for everyone to speak up and share their hopes, dreams and visions for Sharon and Farrell.

kgarrett@sharon-herald.com