Our team conducted surveys and workshops, and organized dinners and activations to learn about North End residents’ priorities for neighborhood improvements, and demonstrate temporarily how these improvements could transform the three catalyst sites.
Our core principles for engagement were: to meet people where they are, be clear and accessible to everyone by translating all of our materials, make our engagements fun and interactive, and build a strong local presence with North End residents.
Workshops
We hosted a series of workshops four total workshops for residents to share their priorities and ideas for improving the North End, and the three catalyst sites.
Open Streets 2022
Workshop at NOMAR Plaza
Workshop at Woodland Park
Dinners
What resources could be brought to the North End?
Seeing business districts - get publicity should be highlighted - “we have to… highlight the history of this area”
What resources could be brought to the North End?
Working mothers really struggling. There’s a need for affordable child care - available spots are very competitive, not well advertised
We hosted two dinners for local residents who are already strong supporters of Empower or had a track record of community leadership. The goal was to meet these residents in small, informal settings, and recruit them to get involved in Vamos Nomar and Empower’s other initiatives.
What cultural programs could be brought to the North End?
Collaborate with other communities, e.g. Horizontes project brought African American and Latino communities together; a huge Asian Festival in town
Activations
To demonstrate the potential for the catalyst sites to become active community spaces, we organized four, one-day activations - one-day events that physically transformed the spaces temporarily and offered programs that residents had prioritized in prior engagement. At each activation, we invited residents to share additional ideas for programs and physical improvements at each site.
Alley Art Activation | July 2022
We turned the alleys behind Nomar Theater into a temporary outdoor art gallery exhibiting the work of local artists, and a community mural painting activity that invited residents of all ages to produce a new mural.
Soccer at Woodland Park | Sept. 2022
We offered a soccer workshop with players from the local professional soccer team at Woodland Park, live music at Nomar Plaza, and closed a section 21st Street for games and a decorative crosswalk.