ChristyB in TN Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Let's say you have time on your hands and a bunch of energy. What would you do to help, change or enhance your community? How would you implement the changes? What needs aren't being met? I am in a mood and am working on some things in my own community. We started with the question, "what is keeping my community from being the most well educated in the world?" from there, the questions kept coming and the conversation and the participants have grown and developed. Now I want to hear your ideas and thoughts, please! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) Here are a few of mine: We need a place for kids living in or around our government housing to play basketball, do homework and play safely after school and on weekends. We need a community funded scholarship fund for kids who can't afford the equipment and fees to play sports. We need a crisis pregnancy center. We need a better farmers market. We need a community funded language learning program. Our Vietnamese, Korean and Hispanic communities in my area are growing like crazy! We need a great way to learn languages and culture. I would love it if language learning became a crazy epidemic here. I would buy the wine for after the language lessons! :D We are doing better with our crosswalks and bike lanes but we need to educate the community about them. Edited October 16, 2012 by Mad Charity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 My community deperately needs teen and tween activities they can walk or bike to. So far, all my ideas have been shot down for fear of lawsuits. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I would get the community involved in service activities somehow. Just providing places for recreation is not enough to change people. People change by serving others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Let's say you have time on your hands and a bunch of energy. What would you do to help, change or enhance your community? How would you implement the changes? What needs aren't being met? I am in a mood and am working on some things in my own community. We started with the question, "what is keeping my community from being the most well educated in the world?" from there, the questions kept coming and the conversation and the participants have grown and developed. Now I want to hear your ideas and thoughts, please! :D I volunteered as a literacy tutor back when ds1 was a baby. I feel I made an impact in my community. I would also like to see something happen at the JDC--it is a "good" one, but perhaps some tutoring there. The kids really need help. At the prison, too-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 I would get the community involved in service activities somehow. Just providing places for recreation is not enough to change people. People change by serving others. Oh, gosh, that is an issue I really want to discuss. Are you on FB? Joplin, MO has the coolest fb page I have ever seen. I think it is Bright Futures Joplin? Something like that. Community needs are posted and then, lickety split, it will say that the need has been met. We have created a copy of it here and are working to get the page out there where everyone is looking. We felt that we also needed to use it to promote community events, drives, fund raisers, volunteer opportunities, etc. I loved Joplin's ideas so much that it led me here to you all. Getting the ideas and works of other communities inspires and motivates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 We're in rural small town. We have a beautiful downtown area that I would love to see revitalized. There are very few non-service type stores that are doing well. The architecture is just gorgeous, I would love to see that preserved. I would love to see a community center with a place for adults and teens and children to hang out. We have a lot of green space, but aside from a community golf course, playground, tennis court, there isn't much organized. Part of our issue is 30 minutes in two directions are larger cities with everything retail. Many people commute for work or go to the bigger cities for activities. I would love to have a coffee shop/reading room. A place to just hang out, but the last coffee shop went out of business before we moved. Our library has some good places to hang out, but they aren't open in the evenings. This is a good place to raise your kids (we've only been here a few years though), but it's not the kind of place you foresee them living in for the rest of their lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyS Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I would institute a formal bartering system. There are a lot of people here who you might call "the working poor" and "lower middle class". People who can *just* make it financially, until something like a car repair, roof repair, etc. comes up and it torpedos everything or puts them way behind for lack of cash. I would love to see people have the opportunity to barter for some of these expenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 I would institute a formal bartering system. There are a lot of people here who you might call "the working poor" and "lower middle class". People who can *just* make it financially, until something like a car repair, roof repair, etc. comes up and it torpedos everything or puts them way behind for lack of cash. I would love to see people have the opportunity to barter for some of these expenses. Are you on fb or do you know how to build a site? Why don't you implement one? You just might be on to something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 You cannot focus on learning unless your basic needs for food, shelter, and security are met. You can look at the students who struggle most, find common factors, and then fight those: teen mothers, functionally homeless families, inadequate or improper nutrition, lack of clothing, etc. Once those needs are met, then I would start working on tutoring, etc. One very important need is for individual mentors for students in poverty. Studies have shown that no young person can climb out of poverty without one involved individual from a higher SES to help them learn the necessary skills and navigate the educational system. Set up an organization that pairs local educated adults with students whose families cannot provide them with these skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 - before homeschooling, i ran a health clinic for uninsured folks. we lose so much education time, and work time, and money because people get really sick because they don't have health care. (by law, emergency rooms have to stabilize a person, they don't have to treat them until they are well) - revitalizing a seniors in the schools project. seniors have time that kids need. the biggest impact was in reading to young kids in schools. - return funding to after school programs and rec programs - fix our public transit system. we have one, sort of, that has five busses that meander thru the area. it takes forever. - and what to do about the racism..... i am at a loss, but i found myself comforting a teen yesterday who had just been hauled out of his car, put face down on the pavement, threatened with pepper spray..... and all he was guilty of was being the wrong color in a bad part of town. i was waiting for a chain saw to be sharpened, but apparently the cops go "fishing" in this part of town.... - fixing the legal/prison system/industrial complex. - changing the media. we need role models we actually want our children, and ourselves, to have. that's a start.... ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) . Edited May 16, 2016 by MrsBasil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 We need sidewalks. There is a TON of stuff to do within a mile of our apartment... parks, playground, the library, stores, restaurants, etc. But unless you have a car or a death wish, you can't walk to any of it. I also wish our neighbors were chatty. We've lived here a month and I have only talked to *one* neighbor beyond the word "Hi." We're planning on making treats to bring to neighbors and introduce ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Just knowing your immediate neighbors is a good place to start, a phone or contact tree system in case there is a natural disaster, storm, fire, something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 I have loved reading these, thank you so much for responding. I think it is astonishing how many on my wish list can be solved simply by my own initiative. Im working to put the agencies, programs, churches, clubs, organizations, etc together so we all know what's available. I actually see the biggest problem is lack of knowledge of what already exists! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 One of my projects is officially in the works! :party: I'm in a large private community made up of many retirees and struggling families. We are sorely lacking a real community feel. I've seen many people get fined $250 (yes, two hundred fifty dollars) for not having their grass cut, and I've had many elderly and broke (and both) people come to the other committee I'm on devistated by this, and unable to do the work or afford to have it done for them. So I finally got permission to start a volunteer group to connect these struggling people with friendly neighbors who can help with lawn maintenence, snow shoveling, and the like. Now I just have to wait and see if we have any kind neighbors in our community, and I'm a bit nervous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would offer free substance abuse counseling and education. I would develop, start, and sustain a literacy and education program (to finish high school and enroll in college or vocational training or military). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) Here are a few of mine:We need a place for kids living in or around our government housing to play basketball, do homework and play safely after school and on weekends. We need a community funded scholarship fund for kids who can't afford the equipment and fees to play sports. We need a crisis pregnancy center. We need a better farmers market. We need a community funded language learning program. Our Vietnamese, Korean and Hispanic communities in my area are growing like crazy! We need a great way to learn languages and culture. I would love it if language learning became a crazy epidemic here. I would buy the wine for after the language lessons! :D We are doing better with our crosswalks and bike lanes but we need to educate the community about them. We actually have all of that. We also have a crisis pregnancy house, a ...charity hub? Self Sufficiency that holds free college classes, hosts free prom dress parties, offers women's healthcare, child care, connects you with the help in the country you need, offers suits/hair/whatnot for interviews. That one is mostly for women and children, though. We do have addiction services. We have teen group that is huge that does community service for *large* projects. We have a county arts council that has a main street gallery, and hosts art shows. We have a literacy advocacy center that is constantly training volunteers, and we have a very high immigrant population. What we could use, actually, is more full stores on main street. :C THe recession has hit main street hard, and there are many closed down shops. The lack of stores has brought in a lot of nefarious stuff happening. Edited October 17, 2012 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtoamiracle Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 We desperately need a parish library. We are the only parish in the state, that I know of that doesn't have one. We have a city library that the city leaders do not care about. It is terrible, I rarely bother to go there. How I long for a nice library. Anything else only God can change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 One of my projects is officially in the works! :party: I'm in a large private community made up of many retirees and struggling families. We are sorely lacking a real community feel. I've seen many people get fined $250 (yes, two hundred fifty dollars) for not having their grass cut, and I've had many elderly and broke (and both) people come to the other committee I'm on devistated by this, and unable to do the work or afford to have it done for them. So I finally got permission to start a volunteer group to connect these struggling people with friendly neighbors who can help with lawn maintenence, snow shoveling, and the like. Now I just have to wait and see if we have any kind neighbors in our community, and I'm a bit nervous. You are a rock star, plain and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I'd love to build a building on the ranch to house my overflowing hs stuff and then add to it. And then make it available to any hser that needed it. I'd love to have the building to have space for meetings and science experiments, with a GOOD piano. Maybe a lending library of instruments and college kids to teach them. We already have so many of the things that others have mentioned--places to play basketball and afterschool tutoring. Low income already don't pay for their sports and their kids are fed two meals at school. We have music in the schools, but only band. We've never had strings. :glare: Don't need public transit here--you can walk across town in a few minutes and there is a bus to the ski area. We had the meeting last night for the Drug Free ski card--it's just $99 and again, low income get it free. There are free skis for the asking all over town (I could stand to get rid of another 10 pairs... :lol: ) We already have a great nursing home and assisted living. We already have parenting seminars and ESL classes. The immigrants are already getting free health care and dental care. So, here those aren't unmet needs. We have a private school which has a lot of scholarship money to give out. So, in my utopia, I'd go for helping the hsers. eta: if I had a gazillion $$$, I'd redo our Council's Scout camp. We'll never be able to have it be a long-term camp again as we simply don't have large enough numbers in the Council to completely remodel the water supply, etc. The Order of the Arrow has brought everything up to code as far as possible but had to go to pit toilets and only 72 hour camping. If I was a gazillionaire, I'd buy one of our local dude ranches and turn it into a Boy Scout Ranch! Wouldn't this make a wonderful BSA camp: http://waunita.com/index.html Margaret, I think I need to move to your neck of the woods! We haven't taken the kids skiiing (We don't ski ourselves) because we just can't afford it. There is the 5th grade pass, but for the other kids the gear and lessons are just too darned high. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 For a smallish city, we do all right. We have a population of about 20,000. Our schools are...well...maybe that is a story for another day. We have a great variety of programs for seniors, a fabulous library which really thinks about homeschoolers when adding selections. We have a decent transportation system, some great parks, and a decent Parks and Recs department. What we need are: 1) A facility for recreation that houses everything. We have a community swimming pool which is very nice, but little else. I wish we had an all-in-one facility with gym space, workout equipment, handball courts, etc. 2) Better resources for the Hispanic community. We really fail here, and many fall through the cracks of poverty. 3) Cheaper ways to take advantage of skiiing for low income families. We live in the heart of ski country and yet few of us locals can afford lift tickets or lessons. 4) Activities for tweens and teens, which seems to be an issue in many towns. 5) I think every town fails to have good lower level sports activities for high school and middle school aged kids. We complain about obesity in youth today, and yet the competitive nature and few spots available on high school teams leaves many kids left out who just want to play for the fun of playing. 6) In this age of trying to create more of a sense of neighborhood and community, I do not understand why we don't throw away the old model and start doing what many very small towns do. Why not transform our neighborhood schools into little mini-community centers which would encourage micro-communities to form? Why are we duplicating facilities and services instead of using our assets to their fullest capacity? Every school has a library and a gym, meeting space, etc. We ought to keep them open after school hours for use by the community and local neighborhood. It just makes sense. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I would do nothing for my community. I tried. I tried to bring boy scouts to town to give the kids a place to be since there is pretty much no activities here, I was threatened and harassed so much I contacted boy socuts of canada and told them this town would never be a safe place to have a troop. The last time they had one was in the 80s. As far as I am concerned this whole town can go to hell, it's headed that way already. The adults of this town do not supervise the children, they do not want programming of any sort, we are one of a handful of families that actually leaves town to access programming in the next town. They don't give a crap about education. In the current graduating class, there is 9 students. 3 of the girls are pregnant, and a couple have been arrested a few times for drug offenses. Great odds there. Kids are left home alone all day and allowed to roam the town at all hours from as young as 5-6 years old. There is no daycare here and though myself and 2 other women ran private daycares in our homes finding clients was next to impossible because no one wants to pay for childcare. Churches with congregations of 6-10 (the town has 750 people in it, there are 3 churches, so it's not like 1 has a low number and the others filled up, nope all 3 have only 6-10 people involved). Services group that do zero service and if you try to contact them do not return calls (food bank that will not answer the phone, elks club that rents it's hall for $100/hour and even though it's mandate it to be a service club and work with other organizations will not return calls when other organizations try to contact them-last act of "service" they did in town was a pancake breakfast 2 years ago, they charged $10 a plate) The level of apathy and negativity in this town is astonishing. I don't think any amount of time or energy could turn it around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) Build a community centre with affordable room hire for community groups. The community centre here was knocked down about 20 years ago and never replaced. The local churches charge a fortune for hall hire and are generally fully booked due to the lack of community space so we really need room hire and community meeting spaces/community cafe. This is a town that serves the retired community well but sems to have forgotten children and working age adults. Once the community centre was set up I would organise a range of enjoyment oriented inexpensive activities for kids of all ages.Things here tend to be pricey and specifically aimed at doing stuff to get really good at it rather than for fun/general activity. A much better community sports centre would be amazing too. The town recently spent a lot of money on a fancy football & atheletics centre under the guise of it being for the town. However it is on a school premise and only open to the public in the evenings for a couple of hours. Outside of that we have a run down pool. Edited October 17, 2012 by lailasmum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 For a smallish city, we do all right. We have a population of about 20,000. Our schools are...well...maybe that is a story for another day. We have a great variety of programs for seniors, a fabulous library which really thinks about homeschoolers when adding selections. We have a decent transportation system, some great parks, and a decent Parks and Recs department. What we need are: 1) A facility for recreation that houses everything. We have a community swimming pool which is very nice, but little else. I wish we had an all-in-one facility with gym space, workout equipment, handball courts, etc. 2) Better resources for the Hispanic community. We really fail here, and many fall through the cracks of poverty. 3) Cheaper ways to take advantage of skiiing for low income families. We live in the heart of ski country and yet few of us locals can afford lift tickets or lessons. 4) Activities for tweens and teens, which seems to be an issue in many towns. 5) I think every town fails to have good lower level sports activities for high school and middle school aged kids. We complain about obesity in youth today, and yet the competitive nature and few spots available on high school teams leaves many kids left out who just want to play for the fun of playing. 6) In this age of trying to create more of a sense of neighborhood and community, I do not understand why we don't throw away the old model and start doing what many very small towns do. Why not transform our neighborhood schools into little mini-community centers which would encourage micro-communities to form? Why are we duplicating facilities and services instead of using our assets to their fullest capacity? Every school has a library and a gym, meeting space, etc. We ought to keep them open after school hours for use by the community and local neighborhood. It just makes sense. Cindy Out here they can't due to insurance issues. A club that wants to use the space has to rent it from the school board and part of the fee covers insurance. Unless it is a school sanctioned thing (like a sports team or a teacher offering afterschool tutoring) that cost is too much for most places. And unless you are a registered student of teh school you can not participate with school sanctioned things, and you can only participate in the other things for a fee to help cover the cost of the rental/insurance. that is not just in my town but across the province. I am sure many places in the states have the same restrictions. The rest of what you wrote is great. My town has almost no sports. It has a softball team in the spring, no games, practices only since all the neighboring towns play hardball. Not expensive but still around $40-50 a player for 6-8 weeks of 1 practice a week is stupid. And soccer for the younger students again no games just practices. The school itself even at high school level has zero sports. Soccer is around $60 plus equipment for 2 practices a week for 6 weeks. Activities in the town hockey of course, no town in Alberta is without hockey, TKD on sunday nights, 4H 1 night a week and Highland dance each Monday. That's it. Nothing else for kids/teens to do. Nothing else really in town, many places shutting down. The vast majority of towns/cities/communities do improve greatly when there is a bigger sense of community, more for people to rally behind, more for teens/tweens. The town I am in, is not one of them. They need a whole attitude overhaul and no amount ofprogramming, or sports etc will change that here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 We actually have all of that. We also have a crisis pregnancy house, a ...charity hub? Self Sufficiency that holds free college classes, hosts free prom dress parties, offers women's healthcare, child care, connects you with the help in the country you need, offers suits/hair/whatnot for interviews. That one is mostly for women and children, though. We do have addiction services. We have teen group that is huge that does community service for *large* projects. We have a county arts council that has a main street gallery, and hosts art shows. We have a literacy advocacy center that is constantly training volunteers, and we have a very high immigrant population. What we could use, actually, is more full stores on main street. :C THe recession has hit main street hard, and there are many closed down shops. The lack of stores has brought in a lot of nefarious stuff happening. Justamouse, in what state do you live? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 For a smallish city, we do all right. We have a population of about 20,000. Our schools are...well...maybe that is a story for another day. We have a great variety of programs for seniors, a fabulous library which really thinks about homeschoolers when adding selections. We have a decent transportation system, some great parks, and a decent Parks and Recs department. What we need are: 1) A facility for recreation that houses everything. We have a community swimming pool which is very nice, but little else. I wish we had an all-in-one facility with gym space, workout equipment, handball courts, etc. 2) Better resources for the Hispanic community. We really fail here, and many fall through the cracks of poverty. 3) Cheaper ways to take advantage of skiiing for low income families. We live in the heart of ski country and yet few of us locals can afford lift tickets or lessons. 4) Activities for tweens and teens, which seems to be an issue in many towns. 5) I think every town fails to have good lower level sports activities for high school and middle school aged kids. We complain about obesity in youth today, and yet the competitive nature and few spots available on high school teams leaves many kids left out who just want to play for the fun of playing. 6) In this age of trying to create more of a sense of neighborhood and community, I do not understand why we don't throw away the old model and start doing what many very small towns do. Why not transform our neighborhood schools into little mini-community centers which would encourage micro-communities to form? Why are we duplicating facilities and services instead of using our assets to their fullest capacity? Every school has a library and a gym, meeting space, etc. We ought to keep them open after school hours for use by the community and local neighborhood. It just makes sense. Cindy Okay, I think all of these things could be accomplished by a citizens group. You have fantastic ideas! You should do it! Get cozy with a librarian, start a 'Friends of the Library' group and keep those doors open in the evenings with volunteers from the group offering tutoring, chess club, language classes, book clubs...okay, now I want to do it. Our Friends of the Library is a group of elderly womenand they don't like new people. I may start something else. This could also serve as a way for your (and my) Hispanic community to get information and find resources. Hmmmmmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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