First United Community Day Event Held
The first United Community Day was organized by Safe & Sound Community Partners and NSP 4 Organizer Barry Mimis. The day brought together residents and resources at the COA-Goldin Center, one of Safe & Sound’s 29 funded Safe Places. Detailed information on a variety of topics were provided including home improvement, on-line information, block club start up tips, community gardening, and neighborhood improvement projects. Moreover, the “tips of the trade” were offered from a variety of seasoned law enforcement, elected officials, block club captains and community organizers.
Milwaukee Restore and Housing Resources Inc. presented and discussed the home improvement opportunities they offer with attentive residents. Various block club captains presented techniques and strategies that have helped them in block club member recruitment and retention over the years. Milwaukee Police Districts 7 and 5 Community Liaison Officers Lubus and Klien were also on hand to answer questions. Milwaukee Sheriff’s Department Community Facilitator’s also brought their expertise and experiences.
Another workshop called “Stay in the Know…E-notify!!!,” encouraged residents to save time on the phone or wondering if problems they’ve reported have been addressed by using the City of Milwaukee website at http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/. Participants were taught how to use their computer to sign up and receive notices of what’s happening in City government, upcoming meetings, city jobs, or license renewals. You can also report excessive trash, abandoned cars, a missed garbage collection as well as receive follow-up e-mail until the problem is solved. Perhaps most importantly, you can see police department arrest reports that have occurred on your block.
Another session discussed neighborhood improvement projects for block clubs. Getting your block organized shouldn’t be all work and no play. Block clubs that think outside the box to engage and foster positive relationships between residents conducted the presentation. For example, the North 26th street block club discussed how they successfully facilitate their yearly back-to-school block party. One presentation focused on starting communitygardens on vacant lots. All together, there were many ideas shared and resources provided for the first United Community Day. We hope to hold another in 2010 and expect that it will be even bigger and better.
