ComeInUnity Day returns to Uniondale for the first time since Covid-19

For the first time since 2019 due to the Covid pandemic, ComeInUnity, Uniondale’s annual community day event — returned last Saturday as hundreds of residents came together to support the hamlet and kick off the summer season with their neighbors and friends.

At Uniondale Park local vendors set up booths all along the grass, Trimz barbershop was cutting hair for free, volunteers cooked and served free food and water to all attendees, children’s games and crafts were set up, and first responders were on sight engaging with the community they serve.

Vivienne McLeish, the events emcee and founder of Fancy Frenz — a local charity focused on supporting those in need in her homeland of Jamaica — said this an important day to for the community to join together and to provide not only resources, but an overall fun time.

“We’re going to feed you, we’re going to educate you, and we’re going to entertain you,” she said.

ComeInUnity began nearly a decade ago and organized by Heeling Soles, a local nonprofit dedicated to fostering a sense of togetherness and promoting positive community engagement by giving away shoes to the homeless and others in need. Heeling Soles also regularly collaborates with other local organizations such as Fancy Frenz and elected officials like Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams to sponsor local events.

“ComeInUnity is all about bringing families together and celebrating the diversity and community pride that makes Uniondale and the surrounding communities such a special and vibrant place,” Abrahams said. “We’re all very happy that the return of this event was so well received, and hopeful for many more successful events in the years ahead,” he continued.

Steve Muir, founder of Heeling Soles, believes in equality of opportunity — that people should have access to the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter — as well as equal access to education, healthcare, employment and justice without disacrimination.

Muir highlighted what is important about that ComeInUnity.

“It's an environment that has a bunch of different elements, but one of the most important elements is the information we’re providing,” Muir says. “The vendors here are giving out information on healthcare, job opportunities, education.”

He noted that the Nassau County Board of Elections and district attorney’s office attended the event.

“It brings all of the elements of county, state and local governments together in one place and gives the community access to that without them having to go out and find it themselves, most of it is here so they can now access it,” Muir said.