ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Don Farrell
MY BACKGROUND
I was born and raised in the city Wilmington, Delaware, on the Eastside.
I was one of four children, who happened to be a double set of twins.
As a young child, my father, Charles "Bubblegum" Ewing, was my role model and hero.
Sadly, he passed away far too soon, when I was still young. However, the lessons he taught me have lasted a lifetime.
From then on I was raised by my single mother, Julia R. Farrell.
I watched her have a passion for community involvement, and help everyone that she could. This earned her the respect of everyone who knew her. At her side, I saw and learned firsthand the importance and value of helping others. This is something that is deeply ingrained in me to this day.
I attended college and that led to a career as a laboratory technician at the Dupont company.
While working briefly at DNREC in the Pollution Prevention Program, I saw the devastating and long-lasting effects from Wilmington industrial past. This inspired me with the idea of UHELP [Urban Health Environmental Learning Project].
Upon leaving DNREC I was able to bring this conception to a reality. UHELP addressed educating the public about brown fields and arsenic contamination in neighborhoods, which eventually led to the adoption of raised bed gardening in the city of Wilmington.
Under the direction of Dr. John Byrne, then director of the Center for Science and Public Policy at the University of Delaware, along with Chi Eta Phi [Black Nurses Association], and The University of Delaware Student Nurses, we created a survey.
This survey addressed the high rates of cancer in Wilmington's Southbridge and Eastside neighborhoods.
Seeing high rates of incarceration in my community, I wanted to help meet the problem where it lived. This led me to becoming a correctional officer.
The most important lesson I learned was you have to give respect to get respect. I achieved this by learning how to actively listen and understand, thereby becoming adept at conflict resolution. Also, by observing recidivism firsthand, I learned the challenges inmates face during reentry.
As a decades long landlord, who is respected in my community, I've seen the business from both sides. Oftentimes tenants who had questions or issues about questionable landlord practices would come to me for advice. This led to me to create the "Ask the Landlord Project", which focuses on tenant literacy and responsibility.
I saw a desperate need for lead abatement in my community and the entire city. Lead exposure has a devastating effect on early childhood development, including education. I continue to be a childhood lead poisoning prevention advocate.
As a candidate for Wilmington's 3rd district, I hope to use the power of the office, along with my lived experience to listen to the concerns of my community and be a positive force of change, improving the quality of life in my district and the city.
Endorsement
Protecting the Children
Don Farrell is a true champion for the fight to eradicate childhood lead poisoning. He has worked tirelessly for years to provide assistance to families with lead-poisoned children, including mentoring parents and connecting families with services.
He has also led the effort to prevent childhood lead poisoning; Don chaired the Primary Prevention Subcommittee of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Advisory Committee and worked to uncover the issue of lead in the drinking water of Delaware public schools.
Don is a constant presence in public meetings and public hearings, always advocating for children. He never misses an opportunity at public meetings to provide comments and urge decision makers to take action on preventing childhood lead poisoning.
Don knows that advocacy and true community engagement are not one time events. He understands the time, relationship building and patience that true change requires. His
knowledge, perspective, and effectiveness on the urgent need to remove toxicity from children’s environments makes him a truly valuable resource that would benefit the people of Wilmington as their City Councilperson.
Amy Roe Ph.D. and Sarah Bucic MSN, RN
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Advocates
Co-Chairs, Lead-Free Delaware