The VISTAs’ Year End Presentations Brittany Gordon, Neighborhood Resource Development Coordinator Clara Martinez, Community Outreach & Engagement

Neighborhood Resource Handbook Changes and New Life Rebranded with handbook with a new name Added hyperlinks and new information for the current time Updated throughout the year Future Thoughts?

Love Your Block and Resources Working with our grantees Helped navigate partnerships within the grantees Led the grantees through requesting funds Created a LYB presentation for potential partners and funders Developed LYB yard signs. Kids working on covering the worm holes at Holmes St. School Community Garden.

Love Your Block and Metrics Trash picked up at an Everett Park Workday. Reporting to Cities of Service Contributed to Cities of Service Progress Reports With Clara, kept track of LYB metrics With the help of Jami, I kept track of LYB budget Navigated metric questions

Neighborhoods in Bloom The Comeback Joe Duris, Old Oakland Neighborhood, is getting extra compost and mulch for the new gardens they are creating as part of the Point West Art & Trail project. Helped create and organize applications Created #LansinginBloom Organized flowers SLCDA point person Took pictures

Neighborhood Pride Week and the Love Lansing Celebration Sycamore Park Neighbor, Alfreda Schmidt receiving a standing ovation at the Love Lansing Celebration. A New Tradition Became a part of the celebration planning committee Kept track of nominees and created Lansing Champion certificates Created Neighborhood Pride Week packet Attended many Neighborhood Pride Week events, which including the Osband Orchard Unveiling!

Shared VISTA Initiatives & Experiences Shared Projects Maintenance of Lansing Love Your Block Blog, Twitter, Instagram, and Google Account. #LansingGem Initiative and Awards Walking Wednesdays with Andi Crawford Monthly LiNCS Meetings Reporting to the Director Professional Development Experiences Pre-Service Orientation (Oak Lawn, IL) Neighborhood Associations of Michigan Annual Conference (Grand Rapids, MI) Points of Light Conference & Cities of Service Annual Convening (Houston, TX) Numerous local networking events and functions

First Tasks: Contact List and Osband Orchard Summer 2015 Neighborhood Groups Contact List – Getting “the lay of the land” TruGreen TruNeighbor Grant Recipient – 1845 Osband Ave – Door-to-door Outreach – Block Meetings

Love Your Block: Initial Outreach August 1-September 30 4 PhotoVoice Events 2 Grant Workshops Lansing Fast Facts Building Lansing’s Future with Director Bob Johnson Community Meetings and Social Gatherings Flyering, Talking, Walking

Love Your Block: The Grantee Communications Establishing Relationships Individual Monthly Check-Ins On-Site Workdays and Neighborhood/Group Meetings – Easter Egg Hunts Identifying Tendencies Creating methods of communication tailored for each group

Lessons Learned: Year 1 City GovernmentCommunity City Government

Goals for the Year Ahead 100 Day Horizon Frontiers of Democracy Conference (Boston, MA) Cities of Service AmeriCorps VISTA Convening (Detroit, MI) City TV Walking Wednesdays and Interviews with LYB Grantees Completed LYB Projects Citywide Service Plan Solidify Sources of Funding

Neighborhood Resource Metrics Event 4 PhotoVoices 3 Walking Wednesdays 11 LiNCs monthly meetings (33 total) Number of Attendees 44 attendees 20 attendees 20 attendees on average, 164 contacts who receive weekly LiNCs notes …and countless meetings with individuals and organizations promoting Love Your Block and neighborhood resources.

Love Your Block Metrics…so far Metric Litter Removed Community Events Trees Maintained Trees Removed Art Displays Created Lot Cleanups Park Cleanups Mini-Grant Apps Received Mini-Grants Awarded Volunteers Recruited Volunteers Maintained Resident Awareness of new skills and resources Progress at of 6/3 93 bags removed 57 community events 1 tree maintained 24 trees removed 4 new art displays 6 lot cleanups 7 park cleanups 19 grant applications 7 grantees awarded funds 49 Volunteers Recruited 37 Volunteers Maintained 164 residents aware of new skills or resources

Money and In-kind Services Monetary funds because of LYB TruGreen TruNeighbor Grant $18,500 In-Kind Services Meeting Space three times a month at the NEC and one grant workshop A PhotoVoice and Grant Workshop at ANC A PhotoVoice at SLCDA A PhotoVoice at MotorWheel Loft An invitation to present LYB at SoupGrant Lansing

The Collaboration with Parks & Rec Thanks to the wonderful team at Parks & Rec, led by Director Brett Kaschinske, we were able to get donated services to provide: MSU student volunteers 2.A parking lot removed at Everett Park 3.A new Everett Park sign 4.A repainted Edmore Park sign

The VISTA value: Love Your Block Grant Through Cities of Service, Lansing received two full time AmeriCorps VISTAs/year for 3 years. This is an annual value of 4160 hours of skilled volunteer service, which is valued at $23/hour or a total annual monetary value of $95,680 of human capital to the City of Lansing.

Thank You! That’s All, Folks!We appreciate it!