As an extension of my work in Ward 5's Gateway, I joined up with a team of equally eager students who were working along the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor in Ward 7. Similar to my work in Gateway, the team performed an extensive needs assessment, conducting interviews with the local stakeholders, and developed a plan to continue the work of past John's Hopkins Carey Business School Students who have focused on this neighborhood. Through this needs assessment, we developed two main project tasks over the last eight weeks designed to progress the community forwards.
The first was designing and building a website. Communication is vital for a community to succeed, in fact the definition of a community, a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals, speaks to the need for community members to communicate these attitudes, interests, and goals to one another. Before now, Pennsylvania Avenue East, which consists of Penn Branch, Dupont Park, Fort Davis, Hillcrest, Fairfax Village, Randle Highlands, and Fairlawn, didn't have a platform where residents could learn about events in the community or engage. Therefore, pennaveeast.org was born. Leveraging the skillsets of our John's Hopkins education, collectively we build a website for the community.
The first was designing and building a website. Communication is vital for a community to succeed, in fact the definition of a community, a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals, speaks to the need for community members to communicate these attitudes, interests, and goals to one another. Before now, Pennsylvania Avenue East, which consists of Penn Branch, Dupont Park, Fort Davis, Hillcrest, Fairfax Village, Randle Highlands, and Fairlawn, didn't have a platform where residents could learn about events in the community or engage. Therefore, pennaveeast.org was born. Leveraging the skillsets of our John's Hopkins education, collectively we build a website for the community.
The website's homepage features an overview of the neighborhood and upcoming events in the neighborhood. A video highlights the natural beauty of the neighborhood while featuring local residents talk about the community they love. Finally, an interactive map with data about the collection of communities that make up Penn Ave East rounds off the page. An about page, projects page, and gallery page gives a more in-depth look at the community while the resources page aims to better equip Penn Ave residents with the information and tools they need to become more engaged in the community. Finally, a contact page allows residents to get in touch with neighborhood leaders and also connects residents to the newly created Facebook and Twitter pages which our team worked extensively on.
My role in particular was developing the data for the community and analyzing it. Our initial approach was to analyze the data and pull out trends that paint this underserved community in a positive light. We saw numerous statistics like homeownership, green space, average home value, and more which far exceeded most of their District of Columbia counterparts. However, the search for data transformed into a search for understanding within the community. By pouring through thousands of data points, we were able to supplement our needs assessment and get a birds-eye, unbiased view of our community through the lens of historic data and shift and adjust our deliverables to help solve the multifaceted challenges that Penn Ave East faces. This shift in my mindset on how to use data was extremely beneficial for me as it opened up new usages for data and allowed us to even more deeply connect with our mission of generating meaningful change within communities.
My role in particular was developing the data for the community and analyzing it. Our initial approach was to analyze the data and pull out trends that paint this underserved community in a positive light. We saw numerous statistics like homeownership, green space, average home value, and more which far exceeded most of their District of Columbia counterparts. However, the search for data transformed into a search for understanding within the community. By pouring through thousands of data points, we were able to supplement our needs assessment and get a birds-eye, unbiased view of our community through the lens of historic data and shift and adjust our deliverables to help solve the multifaceted challenges that Penn Ave East faces. This shift in my mindset on how to use data was extremely beneficial for me as it opened up new usages for data and allowed us to even more deeply connect with our mission of generating meaningful change within communities.
The second task was to create a toolkit based around mural arts. Looking at other cities like Chicago and New York which have revitalized underserved communities through art, our group wanted use art as a means to provide meaningful impact to this community. By reaching out to local not-for-profit groups, we have begun the process of securing the first few walls that are slated to become works of art. The community will get the chance to review and provide feedback on each of the pieces of art which will be painted by local artists. While further connecting the community, the mural arts project also hopes to drive traffic to the neighborhood as it has in other places across the United States. The toolkit provides easy to access information on how the community can progress through a mural project starting with selecting a site and getting permissions from the District and local governing bodies, the funding process, the selection of artists, the preparation and painting processes, all the way to the commissioning of the artwork.
Developed around the mural arts project are further ways to engage and connect the community through the arts. Developing art workshops, providing children opportunities to paint murals, field trips, shows, and more, along with engaging community partners like churches, restaurants, and other community associations allows Penn Ave to create anchors of art that engage the community, beautify the community, embrace the culture of the community, and catalyze the growth of the community.
The toolkit is available for download below.
Developed around the mural arts project are further ways to engage and connect the community through the arts. Developing art workshops, providing children opportunities to paint murals, field trips, shows, and more, along with engaging community partners like churches, restaurants, and other community associations allows Penn Ave to create anchors of art that engage the community, beautify the community, embrace the culture of the community, and catalyze the growth of the community.
The toolkit is available for download below.