Events – Page 2

Quilting Workshop – April 27th

April 22, 2014 by Mackenzie Madden

The NAMES Project Foundation, the international caretaker of The AIDS Memorial Quilt, invites the public to gather to create new Quilt panels for members of the community lost to HIV/AIDS. This is a free, panel making workshop titled “Call My Name” and will be hosted by AIDS Memorial Quilt Curator Jada Harris and Julie Rhoads, President & CEO of The NAMES Project Foundation.

The “Call My Name” workshop will be presented on Sunday April 27^th 2014, at the Lindsey Street Baptist Church (550 Lindsey St NW, Atlanta GA 30314) from 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm. No sewing experience is necessary and materials will be provided. Williams explains, “We have all been touched by HIV/AIDS and by creating a panel for The Quilt, we, as a community, are honoring those we have lost and we are transforming that loss into something that offers hope and can keep others safe from this horrible disease.”

The AIDS Memorial Quilt was created one 3 x 6 foot panel at a time by more than 100,000 individuals from across the country and around the world. With everything from teddy bears to wedding rings, B

oy Scout badges to love letters, the more than 48,000 handmade panels that comprise The Quilt are as varied as the individuals they honor and the people who created them. Each year, sections of The Quilt are presented in nearly 1,000 displays around the world — in community centers, schools, places of worship, corporations, etc. — in an effort to share the messages of hope, healing and action found on The Quilt.

As HIV/AIDS claims more and more lives in the African American community, the demand for Quilt is growing. Communities understand the power of The Quilt to open hearts and minds and to save lives, but right now we simply don’t have enough Quilt made by and for the African American community to meet this demand. Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition (AHRC), a partner on this project, uses the harm reduction model as a key prevention tool to fight the transmission of HIV and other blood borne diseases. Please consider attending and helping us remember, create and strengthen our greatest HIV prevention tool– The AIDS Memorial Quilt.

This program is supported in part by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Westside Communities Alliance, and Africa Atlanta 2014. For more information on the “Call My Name” workshops, please go to aidsquilt.org/callmyname or e-mail sheridf@iac.gatech.edu.

Update from NPU-D

March 31, 2014 by Mackenzie Madden

NPU-D is located in Northwest Atlanta, encompassing the neighborhoods of Berkeley Park, Blandtown, Underwood Hills, Hills Park, Bolton, Riverside, and Whittier Mill Village. Over the last few months, WCA Activities Coordinator Carly Queen has been attending these meeting to take notes and report on the proceedings. Due to the winter weather in January the NPU-D meeting was postponed. Due to pressing matters in City Council, the meeting was rescheduled to February 11, which is normally the NPU-D Executive Committee Meeting. This meeting was announced, but at the meeting a concerned citizen expressed that the meeting was not properly advertised. The meeting and voting took place regardless of this concern. At the February 25 meeting a resolution was proposed to endorse actions taken at the February 11 meeting in response to the concern of improper advertisement, which was possibly in violation of the open meetings act. The concerned citizen proposed voting on each matter from the February 11 meeting again individually at the March meeting, so this was the process for endorsing the past actions. At the March 25 meeting all actions previously taken at the February 11 meeting were again approved. Other than resolving this controversy, the last few NPU-D meetings have served to disseminate information and allow NPU members to vote on a variety of important matters, listed below.

NPU D Minutes February 11

NPU D Minutes February 25

TopGolf Driving Range with Restaurant and Bar planned for a currently vacant lot off of Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard Top Golf

Riverwalk Atlanta is doing a feasibility study for a linear park along the Chattahoochee River, including the old incinerator site Riverwalk

Not in NPU-D, but here is some information on the Collier Village Rezoning Collier Village Redevelopment

FACTS Academy Charter School has been proposed for a site on Marietta Blvd, which will focus on fine arts, chess, and technology education FACTS

Capital Improvements Program and Community Work Program 2015-2019 CIP and CWP 2015 to 2019

Please direct any questions to: carlyqueen@gatech.edu

Tour of Proctor Creek Watershed

March 27, 2014 by Mackenzie Madden

On Saturday, March 22, Park Pride hosted a Tour of the Proctor Creek Watershed in collaboration with the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, the Trust for Public Land, the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance and more organizations doing parks and water-related work in the watershed.

The tour began here, in the downtown area known as “The Gulch”, which is part of the headwaters of Proctor Creek. This parking lot, which currently produces vast amounts of storm-water runoff, is targeted for redevelopment as a Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal (MMPT).

The bus tour continued, passing by Mims Park and Boone Boulevard before stopping at our next destination, Fire Station #16, shown above. This is a site of interest because of the rain garden, shown right. The lack of upkeep since the garden was first planted was used to highlight some of the challenges of maintaining green infrastructure in communities with limited resources.

The next stop on our tour was the North Avenue Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Facility, shown above. During rain events this facility is used to treat sewer overflow before releasing the treated wastewater into Proctor Creek, at the location shown below.

Some evidence of the creek bank degradation can be seen, where powerful water erodes the bank after being channeled through concrete tunnels and artificial creek beds.

The photo above shows the future site of the Emerald Corridor Demonstration project, which will remove invasive species and trash from this site, adding native wetlands vegetation to help slow and clean the waters of Proctor Creek.

One of the last stops on our tour was the former Bellwood Quarry in northwest Atlanta, which will be transformed into the Westside Reservoir Park as part of the BeltLine redevelopment project. Once filled, this site will hold up to a 30 day supply of water for the city of Atlanta.

View the handouts that we received on this tour here: Proctor Creek Tour Materials

Also check out our Water and Environment page for a list of local resources relating to the Proctor Creek Watershed.

Northwest Community Alliance Meeting

March 26, 2014 by Mackenzie Madden

Here are the notes from the Northwest Community Alliance Meeting on March 19, 2014, which included a special presentation by Keith Sharp of Riverwalk Atlanta:

Northwest Community Alliance Notes 3/19/14

Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail Open House Notes

March 19, 2014 by Mackenzie Madden

On January 14^th, WCA Staff attended the BeltLine Westside Trail Public Information Open House at the West End Seventh Day Adventist Church. There was a very large turn-out, almost 100 people, 40 more than their usual numbers. This goes to show how active and involved Westside residents are with development in their community.