Westside Communities Alliance

A partnership between Atlanta's westside communities and institutions of higher education.

Archives for October 2014

Washington Park – LCI Meeting

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Washington Park Neighborhood At Work

On Tuesday October 21st, around 30 Washington Park residents gathered at KIPP Ways School on Temple St. to discuss the Livable Centers Initiative grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission. The event was hosted by Christi Jackson, Executive Director of The Conservancy at Historic Washington Park and supported by Allison Duncan of the ARC, and Carlos Perez and Wesley Brooks of Perez Planning + Design.

Dr. Pearlie Dove, a long-time resident of Washington Park, gave a warm welcome and call to action, starting the meeting with a great quote from Henry Ford: “Coming together is the beginning, working together is progress, staying together will result in success.”

The Livable Centers Initiative comes out of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Community Choices program. The purpose of this meeting was to create a vision for the neighborhood with input from the residents. Once a report has been created, the group will identify strategies and sources for implementation.

ARC conducted an interactive survey using clicker remotes. Sample poll questions included: “What gives the community its character?”, “Why do you live in this community?”, “The community needs more…” etc. Following the survey, the attendees broke up into tables and discussed three questions:

1) What is it that you love about the neighborhood and do not want to see changed?

2) What is it that you do not like about the neighborhood that you would like to see changed?

3) What specific ideas and recommendations do you have about maintaining the things you love and/or changing the things you do not like?

The next meeting will report on the synthesis of the groups’ responses to the survey and discussion questions. It will take place on Monday, November 10th, 2015 at 6:30 pm at HAGAR Palace, located at 19 Joseph E. Lowey Blvd (the intersection of Lowery and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive).

 

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Chancellor Award IAC and COA

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PRESS RELEASE: Westside Communities Alliance Receives Chancellor’s Service Excellence Team of the Year Gold Award

Release Date: 10/16/2014
Contact Information: Mackenzie Madden, mmadden@gatech.edu

The Westside Communities Alliance, a signature initiative of Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts Dean Jacqueline Royster, received the USG Chancellor’s Service Excellence Team of the Year Gold Award for 2014.  The awards ceremony was held Friday, October 10th, at Kennesaw State University.

[su_quote cite=”Dean Jacquline Royster”]“We look forward to ever-evolving opportunities for action and success, both on the campus and in the Westside communities,” Royster said.  “This award affirms our commitment and inspires our ongoing pursuit of excellence.”[/su_quote]

The WCA Executive Team led by Dean Royster includes Chris Burke, Georgia Tech Director of Community Relations, Sheri Davis-Faulkner, WCA Director, and Mackenzie Madden, WCA Associate Director.  The Alliance is a collaboration among Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, College of Architecture, and Office of Government and Community Relations and partners in neighboring Westside communities. 

 

As a collaborative network, the WCA functions as a nexus for inter-communication, action and advocacy, by bringing communities, academic institutions, and stakeholders from various arenas together to tackle local challenges and find points of synergy for positive action.  A primary goal for the WCA is to operationalize a dynamic model of multi-institutional civic engagement, research, and action. The WCA provides a platform to spotlight economic and educational anchors, as well as cultural and historic assets, in addition to highlighting the significant investments made by community leaders and residents throughout Atlanta’s Westside. 

 

Ongoing Ivan Allen College faculty and student work with westside community groups include:  Westside Soul, Chris LeDantec; Westside Food Oasis, Carl DiSalvo; Community Think Tank, Micheal Hoffman; and Westside Atlanta Land Trust, Erica Louise Richards. The College of Architecture has been instrumental in supporting the WCA since its inception in 2011, continuously funding graduate research assistants. Ongoing CoA work includes projects from the Social Justice committee and various studios particularly those of Michael Dobbins and Herman Howard. During the WCA’s Spring 2014 Community Studio Professors Michael Dobbins, Herman Howard, Nisha Botchwey, and Daniel Immergluck all volunteered their time to work with community members to facilitate discussion on their particular research interests. Additionally current student Katie O’Connell and alumni Brian Thomas also volunteered their expertise with the Community Studio.

 

In the 2014-2015 school year, the WCA will finish developing a westside data dashboard, provide additional capacity-building for community-based organizations, and coordinate Institute support for four Atlanta public schools within the Booker T. Washington High School cluster.  Visit our website, get on our listserv, take a service-learning course, volunteer to engage with westside communities, and join the Westside GT Taskforce. The WCA depends on the academic expertise and the volunteer spirit of our GT community.  Their motto is “Together, we can do better.”