Homewood Nation

While the work has been in progress for some time, we are nearing the time to effectively market this project and engage the total community.  I am prayerful and hopeful that the community will embrace the concept and be part of the planning, development and implementation of HCV.

I had the opportunity to host one of the first House Meetings on behalf of Operation Better Block at my home on Tuesday, July 13, 2010.  It was a nice experience of community and fellowship with my neighbors.  One of the things I realized when it was all over as I cleaned up the dining room from our little buffet meal was that I had never had my two neighbors (Mr. Cofield and Mr. Aziz) inside my home.  We talk to each other outside ALL THE TIME, but we have not been inside one another's homes in the nearly 20 years I've lived here.

So the added benefit of this project is bringing neighbors together on another level.  There was no question in my mind who I would invite to the House Meeting in my home.  I was really happy that they accepted my invitation and attended.  Now I have another level of friendship with my neighbors who I've spent the last 20 years getting to know.  What a nice secondary benefit to community work!

Wish you were my neighbor.  You are wonderful.  Elwin and his wife were down here in Atlanta a few weeks ago.  I wanted to get a card for you to thank you for your community activities and your responses to this blog.  I did not have enough time.  But I thank you for your contributions to Homewood.

Thanks so much for your warm words of encouragement.  I always used to say if I'm not part of the solution then I am part of the problem.  I've had to step it up and really put those words into action this past year in a real way.  I love this community and it reminds me of my childhood community in Youngstown back in the 50's and 60's.  We better get busy rebuilding to leave a legacy for others if we really want things to be better.

Ms. Paulette...you are one of Homewood's beautiful gems!  Thank you for all that you do for the community!  I enjoyed meeting your neighbors during your House meeting and look forward to working with you and the residents of Homewood to reweave the fabric of the community!

Thanks Ms. Lisa for the compliment and appreciative remarks.  I will be on vacation and use some of that time to make myself available to get ready for our big event on 9/14.  I also plan to volunteer that evening as well.  Jose sent a request for some more involvement that I'm giving serious thought about but I don't want to overextend myself.

HCV Kickoff Event was a great success.  The turnout was wonderful and all of the volunteers as well as staff of various organizations did a fantastic job this event.  Ms. Lisa, OBB Staff, Kiva Fisher-Green, HCV Board members and countless others made us feel so good to be members of this community.  The future is brighter for our children and their families.  We know that this is only the beginning and we've got some hard work ahead of us.  However the energy at the kickoff event was just what we needed to get started.

Felt like a big old family reunion didn't it?  I saw people I see all the time.  I saw people I haven't seen in a while.  I saw people I forgot I hadn't been in touch with recently.  But what I saw all evening was people hugging each other, children playing, lots of registration data being collected and a great sense of community.  Let's roll up our sleeves and let's get to work for our children.  They deserve the best and we want to give them the best.

Wish I could have been there.

September 21, 2010

Federal Government Announces Promise Neighborhood Grant Winners

By Suzanne Perry

The federal government on Tuesday announced the names of 21 organizations that won up to $500,000 each in grants to plan comprehensive antipoverty projects modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone.

The Education Department unveiled a total of $10-million in "Promise Neighborhoods" planning grants for projects to provide educational, social, and other services to children in distressed neighborhoods from birth through college.

The winners came from big cities like Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, as well as from smaller cities like Athens, Ga.; Little Rock, Ark.; and River Rouge, Mich. The Boys and Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, in Montana, also won money.

Examples of winning organizations include the Abyssinian Development Corporation (New York), Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy (Washington), Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta), and United Way of Central Massachusetts (Worcester). All are working with other nonprofit groups, school districts, or colleges and universities on the Promise Neighborhood projects.

Groups in more than 300 communities applied for the planning grants. Arne Duncan, the education secretary, said the federal government did not have enough money to pay for all of the excellent applications it received — and urged philanthropy to step in.

"There were at least a hundred we would have loved to have funded and felt very, very good about," he told reporters during a conference call.

Education-department officials said during the call that they plan to post the applications of all 21 winners online, as well as the names of peer reviewers and their comments. They said they will also post information about all of the nonwinners that won scores of at least 80 out of 100. Abstracts of all applications are already posted on the Web.

President Obama has proposed spending $210-million on Promise Neighborhoods in 2011, but Congress does not seem inclined to budget that much. The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed spending $20-million, and the House Appropriations Committee $60-million.

Mr. Duncan said he plans to continue fighting for the president's request, saying otherwise "a lot of communities will lose out and a lot of children won't have the opportunities they desperately need to build a better life for themselves."

http://philanthropy.com/article/Federal-Government-Announces/124556/

We didn’t get the funding this year, but we will next year!

The Senate and House have both proposed funding Promise Neighborhoods program next year at levels far below President Obama's proposed $210 million. This year, the 21 winning programs will receive up $500,000 each. Hopefully, more programs will be funded next year with a larger amount granted to each one. The President’s proposed budget needs to prevail.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the 2010 Promise Neighborhoods Grantees September 21, 2010

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/promiseneighborhoods/2010/faqs-secretary-announcement.pdf

Applicants from Pennsylvania

http://www.data.ed.gov/grants/promise-neighborhoods?tid_1=30&search=

Thanks for posting this information ... since I didn't hear anything I sort of assumed Pittsburgh hadn't received one of these awards.  We do have serious foundations at the table for HCV so perhaps this will not be a hindrance to their continued support of this project.

Issue Based Team meetings were held in November and December with good turnout and enthusiasm.  It was great that one of the teams is dominated by young people and they're committed to participating in this process.  We all like being compensated for our time so I don't have a problem with incentives of prizes, gift cards, etc.  Our final meeting will be Saturday, January 15th at Westinghouse High School from 10 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.  No conflict with the Steeler playoff game!

As expected the turnout in December was a little lower due to holiday celebrations on Saturdays, but there was still a good feeling of work toward this process.  I wish we had at least 20 percent of the folks who signed up in September, but any consistent participation is appreciated.  I am hopeful that going forward we will see interest in "working" for the development of our community -- particularly when it comes to making it healthy and safe for our youth.  I know there are those in this "Nation" that do fantastic work in Homewood -- just want to say thanks and keep it up.  My son graduated from CAPA ten years ago and he no longer lives in Pittsburgh, but he is always wanting to hear about what is happening with his hometown and community when he comes home to visit.  I stay committed to the youth as a parent of a graduate of PPS and a twenty year resident of My Homewood.

Happy New Year!