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Building consensus, finding language for quality-of-life plan

By Richard Muhammad on Sunday, October 26, 2008

A “die hard, core group” met Oct. 18 at St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church for a morning of discussion and feedback on a draft Quality of Life Plan. Washington Parkers are building consensus and crafting language to illustrate their needs, hopes and vision for the neighborhood.

Following a prayer by Bishop Ed Peecher to open the seventh Community Planning Workshop, Karin Norington-Reaves, chief of staff for Alderman Willie Cochran, ran through the day’s agenda. Discussions would focus on the Wellness, Safety, Housing and Senior strategies outlined in the draft as well as maps and potential stakeholders to take charge of specific aspects of the plan, she said.

Participants were urged to fill out comment sheets to capture any new suggestions or input.

Gus Tucker, of the Chicago Urban League, made a presentation about services available to help promote economic development and entrepreneurship.

After a few comments about its vision statement, there was a brief back and forth on what happens after the plan is crafted. It was explained that in the LISC Quality of Life Planning process, a lead agency pushes the plan forward and works with neighborhood leaders, community-based organizations, faith-based groups and any needed outside supporters to make the goals and strategies become real. The 20^th Ward Aldermanic Office has served as the lead on the planning process, but a non-profit organization is in development.

The organization will include an executive director and an organizer that will coordinate with neighborhood stakeholders taking responsibility for different aspects of the plan. If anyone fails to take the lead on an item, the item will likely be dropped—unless the community feels there is such a great need that an outside organization would handle it. The potential name for the new group is the Washington Park Consortium, which implies people coming together, said Norington-Reaves.

The schedule calls for having the plan ready in early 2009, she added.

Part of the planning process includes mapping projects, getting commitments for future work and finding where the gaps are, Norington-Reaves said. She ran through the 10 strategies contained in the plan with some discussions and some questions from the audience.

The Ten Ways to Forge a Strong Future for Washington Park Strategies:

1. Build community capacity to ensure Washington Park benefits from future development plans including the 2016 Olympic Bid.

2. Support healthy lifestyles and better health care.

3. Create an environment where people feel safe and accountable.

4. Provide a range of housing choices that support existing residents and attract new residents.

5. Build on Washington Park’s proud past.

6. Support education for youth and adults in and outside of schools.

7. Provide more supervised activities to engage and inform young people.

8. Build partnerships to improve employment options.

9. Develop locations for large and small businesses and retail opportunities.

10. Offer more services and a better quality of life for senior citizens.

The language in each section comes out of Community Planning sessions and we don’t want to lose the meaning of what was offered, said Norington-Reaves. But, she added, the point is to discuss and react to what was presented.

As the participants reviewed each section, there were discussions about language and the tone of the draft plan. Some felt that the language should be more “positive,” stressing where the neighborhood wants to go as opposed to pointing out problems that need to be resolved. Others felt being “positive” didn’t mean ignoring real issues and naming challenges. “Accountability” was a word that elicited a great deal of discussion, in particular in the section devoted to Safety. Some felt using language like “building a vested interest” in the neighborhood might be better. The language should be inviting and inclusive, they argued. If residents feel invested in Washington Park, their behavior will reflect their feeling of connection to the community, some said. “We don’t need to move this with angry language, though that was the way it was expressed,” said one participant.

Others weren’t so sure about changing the language, noting it was not just for Washington Park residents. One of the reasons for the strong language was based on the need to hold non-residents responsible, observed Murray Johnson, of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association. Some absentee owners simply collect money from tenants and don’t control their property, he said. “I don’t want us to lose the essence of the accountability for those who don’t live here,” agreed Bishop Peecher. “There should be some strong language that deals with people who don’t have a vested interest here, who don’t have ownership—then they have accountability. You have to take care of this property here and we will hold you accountable,” he said.

“Being vested includes responsibility and taking care of yourself and your neighbor,” said another participant. One problem is that people have not felt connected and should be invited into this process, she said.

Cece Hunt, of St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church, felt it was appropriate to use language that stressed accountability and language that spoke about having a vested interest in neighborhood progress.

Wellness, housing, safety and senior strategies 

Lindy Wordlaw, of Teska Associates, led the group through the discussions of Wellness and the six strategies, which were: Assess physical and mental health needs of the community and improve access to health care services. Increase wellness through education programs on exercise, nutrition and healthy social interaction as well as through support for sports and recreation. Develop civic education campaigns to reinforce positive behavior. Take advantage of existing health-related resources in schools and nearby health care service providers. Increase number of activity centers, support youth sports programs and build productive partnerships with appropriate agencies.

Improve overall wellness by expanding access to fresh food and produce through nearby farmers markets and conducting outreach to make residents aware of healthier choices available. Information will also be provided to illustrate connections between nutrition and health and to explain how nutritional needs change over time.

Suggestions for revising the section included using existing health entities to acquire data, ensuring coordination between existing health-related and heath care providers, finding ways to ensure that financial constraints for residents who can’t afford health services are overcome, and adding intergenerational programs and activities. There was also a question about what role Provident Hospital should play in the community.

Wordlaw also led discussion of the Safety section of the plan. The Safety strategies included: Organize beautification and cleanup efforts. Support broader participation in CAPS (Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy) activities. Involve youth in safety and beautification efforts by awarding service-learning hours. Enforce traffic laws, tow abandoned cars and enforce street-cleaning regulations. Stress personal accountability to improve safety. Increase parent participation on safety issues. Support creation of block clubs and incorporate the work of block clubs into safety strategies for the neighborhood.

Suggestions included looking at broadening one strategy to include enforcement of property standards and increasing parental participation in after school programs and recreational and youth activities. It was also noted that, particularly in the summer, visitors to Washington Park linger in the neighborhood after the park closes, sometimes on nearby vacant lots. These visitors often break the peace and litter and this is a problem that needs to be addressed, said Dr. Cheney.

Cynthia Smith led the discussion on Housing. The strategies included: Expand homeownership and mixed-income opportunities. Preserve quality rental housing. Invite community participation on all development proposals. Develop an up-to-date profile of the housing situation. Explore financial vehicles to support housing improvement. Develop or link to housing education and assistance programs. Embrace supportive housing as tool to help alleviate homelessness and dependency. Combat foreclosure to improve neighborhood stability.

It was noted that outreach to the community is needed along with greater incorporation of green housing, adding non-profits to support housing improvements, creating a housing assistance center, and playing a proactive role in community development—instead of reacting to plans offered by others.

Room to grow 

Scott Goldstein, of Teska Associates, said the feedback was the reason for the session and needed to be heard. He also shared data compiled from the Cook County Assessor’s office by a Teska employee. Home ownership in Washington Park is low, 10-13 percent (as compared to the City of Chicago’s homeownership rate of approximately 33% and the national figure of 64%), an additional 5,100 units of housing can easily be supported, he noted.

Washington Park has a great deal of available land so the challenge is building community capacity and finding money to support the neighborhood vision, said Goldstein. He asked participants to consider what would be a good number for increased housing for the community, including in-fill housing.

The housing would not take away from land needed for business or other development, he added. It assumes a range of density from single family homes, town houses, condos and apartment buildings, Goldstein added. The consensus of the housing group was to raise the ownership rate closer to the city rate, he said.

The Seniors session was led by Norington-Reaves and its strategies included: Create or engage a central agency or ombudsman to serve and advocate for senior citizens. Create a financial counseling and literacy programs for seniors. Use informal surveys and project mapping to identify existing programs and determine the needs and desires of senior citizens. Focus on overall improvements in safety and greater parental and community accountability for how youth and others deal with senior citizens. Conduct outreach to home-bound seniors and the residents of senior buildings, and create a volunteer group to check on seniors and distribute information on social events and services. Build senior-youth relationships. Improve nutrition through coordination with nearby farmer’s markets to offer seniors fresh food and produce and educate seniors about good nutrition and how nutritional needs change with age. Help seniors with housing needs related to foreclosure prevention, property maintenance, home improvements and weatherization. Create a door-to-door shuttle service and take advantage of CTA shuttle service for seniors.

The breakout group tried to respect the range of activity and interests among seniors, said Norington-Reaves. Some suggested additions to the section included acquainting Washington Park residents with senior landlord assistance programs and tax relief programs.

Gus Tucker, of the Chicago Urban League, closed the session by offering information about services offered by the 90-year-old civil rights organization. The Urban League offers assistance in the areas of human capital development, workforce development, entrepreneurship, real estate development, education and research. The Urban League Entrepreneurship Center offers a range of training sessions and programs from business planning to business development, one-on-one business tutoring and experts in finance, he said. Other programs help place people who have lost jobs and people who are working and want to progress, said Tucker. The Urban League has a foreclosure assistance program and works with high schools to provide entrepreneurship and business training, he said. These services are available to help meet your goals in Washington Park, said Tucker.

Click here for a copy of the draft plan reviewed during the Planning Workshop.

(Please contact Richard Muhammad at 773-616-5058, or e-mail straightwords@sbcglobal.net, if you have corrections or changes.)