FNDC volunteers and staff pose with one side of newly constructed recycling and trash bin- featuring the new Franciville logo, installed on Broad Street, part of Spring Cleanup.

Earlier this year, Drew and a group of neighbors came together to form Friends of Ogden Park, a non-profit created to protect 12 parcels of land that form much-needed green space within the neighborhood. Drew is on the Board of Directors and is Treasurer. The Friends of Ogden Park are beginning to work with the city to acquire the land or sign a comprehensive Urban Garden Agreement to ensure that land remains green and an asset to the community.

Most recently, Drew received training to become a Neighborhood Liaison for the 311 program. This position is an advocacy one for the neighborhood, and a direct line to affect real change on issues that concern specific members of the community.

Drew feels that the knowledge he gained and the people he met through the CPI courses have encouraged him to have more meaningful participation in improving his neighborhood of Francisville. He would like to encourage the CPI to connect with leaders of all neighborhood organizations and actively recruit participants through those already-engaged citizens. The CPI program showed him how passionate Philadelphians are about their own neighborhoods, and provided tools that furthered his own engagement.

Ogden Park from 20th Street

Betty reports that she was able to apply what she learned about planning in the CPI course to set clear goals and objectives for community development within the community civic organization she helped form, Germantown Community Connection. GCC is a 501C3 organization which serves as a bridge to connect community organizations households, businesses and institutions. GCC works to surface community issues, identify the resources needed to address them, and build the capacity to act on community priorities. Betty has been able to put the information and tools from CPI classes to good use in the following initiatives of the GCC:

Classic Town Germantown
Germantown was designated a Classic Town of Greater Philadelphia by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in 2009 with Germantown Community Connection as the local representative. The goal is to promote Germantown as a great place to live, work, play, connect and invest. As a result of Betty’s participation in CPI, the GCC working team had access to planning knowledge, processes and tools that supported area mapping, permit information, conversation and ideas with appropriate City departments and other professional agencies as well as types of creative funding resources.

Tookany/Tacony Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF)
Germantown Community Connection, along with 20 other public and private organizations and agencies, entered into a working partnership for the development and implementation of a demonstration and education project with the Tookany/Tacony Frankford Watershed Partnership to improve historic Vernon Park in the center of Germantown’s commercial corridor.  The primary goals of the project are to:

• Build a volunteer base for regular stewardship of the park and
• Promote communitywide environmental education.

Betty credits her participation in the CPI with honing her communication skills around planning—the kind of communication that involves listening, cooperation, sharing expertise, building on the positive, seeking solutions and focusing on results. In this project, the GCC has been interacting with City departments such as Parks and Recreation, Water, Streets and the City Planning Commission.

Chelten Plaza
The GCC acted as the community organization that agreed to open lines of communication between the community and a major project developer. Betty learned the importance of effectively supporting community input in the neighborhood planning process. Understanding key planning elements such as identifying needs, organizing a planning team and identifying implementation steps, helped her organization hold successful community and ad hoc meetings.

Peoples Editorial Board
Betty was selected as a member of The Daily News’ Peoples Editorial Board- a group of ten citizens who gather to debate hot topics in the City of Philadelphia. In their first debate, the Peoples Editorial Board commentary was to challenge City Council regarding four areas: Redistricting; Drop & Council Reform; Zoning Reform; and Youth Violence. Betty shares what she learned in the CPI about the importance of gathering information about specific neighborhoods and concerns to contribute to the conversation.

Networking
Betty sees networking as a tremendous benefit of CPI participation. In working on neighborhood projects in our own neighborhoods, she contacts other CPI participants in requesting resource information and planning activities that worked in other communities. She says, “Most importantly, we share our honesty, encouragement and good will to continue to be involved and provide leadership for the betterment of our neighborhoods and our city.”

Cassandra Green has served as the Executive Director of the Mill Creek Community Partnership, a community outreach initiative, spearheaded by The Church Down The Way for seven years. She was already well aware of the importance of linking communities with the city planning process when she attended the Citizens Planning Institute. As she told University City Review, “A plan is a written testimony of faith in our communities…As a neighborhood, we’re pleased to be invited to share our voices and to be part of this process.”

Mask making –“Fine Art Through Our Eyes” - 2011 annual Harvestfest; Martha Washington Academic Plus School

And part of the process they are! MCCP is currently in the process of developing the West Market Street Task Force, the West Park District planning process, Mill Creek Advisory Council, West Philadelphia Financial Services Institute and has adopted Martha Washington Academic Plus School located at 44th and Aspen Streets.

They are also participating in a planning process in partnership with the People’s Emergency Center, funded by a Wells Fargo Regional Planning grant. MCCP’s mission is to serve as a catalyst in the revitalization of the Mill Creek community through arts and culture, education, community impact, economic empowerment, and accessible innovative programming.  The MCCP has developed a task force to advance the acquisition and renovation of the Mill Creek Cultural Center located at 4624 Lancaster Avenue.

Cassandra Green with kids from Martha Washington Academic Plus School at Mill Creek Annual Harvest-Fest 2011

For Cassandra, the Spring 2011 CPI course she attended was very useful and timely. Cassandra returned to take elective classes in the Fall 2011 course series. She has referred to materials from all of the sessions in her work with Mill Creek Community Partnership and has a newfound love of maps.

“This experience really helped me to understand the importance and impact of planning, get past my reservations of the unknown and know that as front line soldiers we are not alone and share the same vision; a better city and future for all.”

When Joyce Smith applied for the first Citizens Planning Institute, she sought to “unlock the mystique behind planning and zoning.” Like most activists, she already understood the importance of being informed and knowledgeable about these issues but she was looking for the tools to help her neighborhood association- Viola Street Residents Association (VSRA) in East Parkside- play a more effective role in the development changes taking place in the community. She saw the Citizens Planning Institute as the “golden opportunity.”

In fact, Joyce was able to leverage the information from the courses before she even completed the series:

Photo from the abandoned house inventory, “Project Reclaim”

“VSRA had its first zoning experience while CPI 2010 was in session. I referenced the course materials and consulted with a guest speaker about VSRA’s particular zoning issue. CPI participants also shared their experience with me. Armed with this information, I applied theory and techniques to help me prepare VSRA’s testimony. When the zoning applicant learned of our “opposition” they met with us prior to the hearing. We worked out an amicable solution and gained a supporter. The applicant extended VSRA an invitation to tour their facility and we were impressed; we also recognized that their presence would be a plus for our community. This process increased VSRA’s visibility and more importantly gave us our first hands on experience with the zoning process.”

Today, Joyce continues to utilize the information acquired in the courses in her work with her neighborhood association:

• To create more effective immediate and longer-term strategies, Joyce is using legislative research as one of the tools to create action plans for these goals. For example, her neighborhood association took a bold step and submitted a proposal, “Project Reclaim,” to a community development corporation. “Project Reclaim” is a first step plan that addresses a major source of blight in her community- unoccupied and abandoned property. As a result of their work in collaboration with Licenses & Inspections, some absentee owners/heirs are making repairs and a few have been scheduled for blight court.

• CPI course series helped Joyce recognize the importance of creating new working relationships with other community activists as well as with political and development networks within the neighborhood and and the city as a whole. “I am networking with a community group in another section of the City who is experiencing a high level of development. They are also dealing with sophisticated zoning issues which is a great learning tool.”
  
• They also initiated an introductory meeting with their Councilperson. “At this meeting, we discussed “Project Reclaim” and asked for support and assistance in the implementation of this plan. We also submitted a “PR” package and included information about our mission as well as past and present initiatives. Our goal was to open up communication and establish dialogue with our councilperson; we will continue to build this relationship.”

In a recent check-in with Joyce, she noted: “VSRA and I have grown together since my first CPI class. I had no idea how useful the CPI material would remain to be. I still reference the powerpoint handouts and share the “Learn to Plan- Plan to Change” CPI handbook. I am making real connections with the CPI presentations as we chart our path to realize our goal.”

Before attending the 2010 CPI Pilot Course series, Majeedah was already quite active in community development efforts in her neighborhood of Nicetown. She is the Chief Operating Officer of the Nicetown Community Development Corporation and has worked with the Nicetown Business Association, and has served on the Advisory Board of the Mayor’s Office of Community Services. Majeedah says, “CPI has helped tremendously” in increasing her knowledge and sharpening her skills.

Majeedah is using her “sharpened” skills to effectively solicit and effectively manage planning grants. In 2010, the Nicetown CDC was awarded a $50,000 planning grant from the Philadelphia Department of Commerce to incorporate a succession of four plans from previous Nicetown CDC efforts. (checking this- doesn’t make sense) After attending the CPI course, Majeedah led the Nicetown CDC in a successful effort to get funding for a commercial corridor development plan. The project is currently under construction in the 4300 block of Germantown Avenue. It will yield 37 affordable rental apartments and 4,000 square feet of commercial space. Additionally, the Nicetown CDC has submitted an application to the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation to develop and implement a Master Plan for Nicetown.

Majeedah’s success in garnering financial and institutional support for projects in Nicetown is impressive. Most importantly, Majeedah has also worked to increase neighborhood participation by conducting fundraising workshops for Block Captain Committee activities and for an expanded community garden. She was quoted in “Metro Philadelphia” in an August 15 article titled “Putting the ‘Nice’ Back in Nicetown”.

Participants in the Spring and Fall 2011 course series have benefited from her insights during her participation in the elective classes.

Sister Elaine participated in the Pilot CPI program in the fall of 2010 and provided valuable insight about the needs of community organizations.

Although Sister Elaine George impressed her sisters in the convent with her CPI certificate, her work as Vice President of the Juniata Action Committee has also been quite impressive. Sister Elaine is utilizing the information from the CPI course series to spearhead efforts to develop a neighborhood plan. As part of that effort, a task force is collecting information on businesses and institutions for a Business Directory Database to coordinate collaboration efforts among different groups across the neighborhood.

The "Juniata Treasures Award" was given to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America by President Derick Scudder

Sister Elaine met with the Holy Innocents’ “Young in Spirit” senior citizens group to benefit from their insights and vision for the Juniata neighborhood plan.  In an effort to clean up the neighborhood, Sister Elaine coordinated volunteer efforts with residents at the Luzerne Treatment Center to eliminate litter in the neighborhood.  Future cleanups will include volunteers from the MinSec treatment center.

Sister Elaine has also helped the Juniata Action committee create a better sense of community and safety in the neighborhood. For example, the 3rd Annual Juniata Fest was one of the biggest, most successful to date. The JAC is also partnering with Juniata Town Watch to incorporate public safety strategies into neighborhood planning efforts.

By utilizing the networking acquired at the Citizens Planning Institute, Sister Elaine is successfully increasing neighborhood engagement and building new working relationships.  Next up, “greening” Philadelphia through the JAC Cayuga Triangle landscape project.

Sister Elaine has returned to take CPI Elective classes in both the Spring and Fall 2011 course series.

Philly Spring CleanUp 2011, coordinated by Juniata Action Committee: Caster Ave from Wyoming to Erie & Juniata Park. Volunteers from Luzerne Treatment Center & J.A.C. members, Pizza lunch provided by J.A.C. at the Boys & Girls Club Cayuga St

Spring 2012 CPI Application. Fall application will be similar.

Go to CPI Planning Classroom for Spring 2012 session class descriptions and class schedule.

For NEW ZONING CODE TRAINING Sessions go to zoningmatters.org website for information or click here to Register. ALL CLASSES NOW FULL. Watch for fall offerings.

The Spring 2012 course series application period is now open: Spring 2012 CPI Application. The Core Course (3 evening sessions) is a prerequisite for taking Electives.

To receive your “Citizen Planner” Certificate of Completion, you need to complete the Core Course, two Electives, and a Course Project.

Spring classes are on Wednesday evenings beginning April 18 and ending May 30. Click on session descriptions at left for more information.