Neighborhood Connection: The GPI Pilot Project Takes Shape
Jeremy Valenta, Columbia City resident and community liaison for Pomegranate Center’s 2007 Gathering Places Initiative, has high hopes for his neighborhood: “I want to see people better able to imagine that great things can happen in our community and want them to know that we can drive this process.”
As the recipient of Pomegranate Center’s 2007 Gathering Places Initiative grant, Jeremy and his neighbors, part of the Sustainable Urban Neighborhood Collaboration, will receive $20,000 worth of planning and design services from Pomegranate Center to build a gathering place for their community. Initial planning meetings have been held, but the final shape of the project remains to be seen. “Pomegranate Center does not assume we can join a project and immediately determine the needs of the community members,” says Milenko Matanovic, executive director and founder of Pomegranate Center. “Our process, developed over twenty years, begins with a community gathering in which we facilitate the sharing of ideas and hopes for the future. Once we have attained a sense of what is needed, we use our expertise to create designs that address these needs.”
At this initial stage, we know that the residents of Columbia City and Hillman City are looking to better connect their two neighborhoods. The next step in the process – a series of community meetings – will determine the best ways to do that using Pomegranate Center’s Multiple Victories process.
To learn more about the Gathering Places Initiative or the 2007 recipient, email us at info@pomegranate.org