Class Notes 1/7

January 7^th, 2015

1^st  Wednesday Night Meeting

Griffin VanMeter

·         * Involved in the neighborhood association, Kentucky for Kentucky, Community Development Cooperation (CDC), and North Limestone community development.

·         * Used to just drive through the area, but moved here in the early 2000s.

·         *  Started fixing up houses with Marty after going to neighborhood association meetings.

·         *  He and Marty say that when you develop a community, pay attention to what is already there. Completely changing or redoing the area tells its people that what they already have is unimportant and not good enough.

Tanya Torp

·          *  Her house is the Justice House (has a Facebook page and is at 552 Elm Tree Lane)

·          *  The Justice House hosts community events, including a Saturday morning breakfast (9:00-11:00). The front yard is a community garden used to provide the neighborhood with fresh foods they otherwise could not get.

·          *  She is a Faith Feeds ambassador, which also gets fresh food to the area.

·          *  Be Bold—empowers girls and young women. “Your body is not your currency.”

·          *  She and her husband moved to the area planning to change it, but it changed them instead. She sad that it had been an arrogant notion and she learned to listen to the neighborhood and let it lead.

Felice Salmon

·          *  Became involved with the area through relationships made through her non-profit youth work.

·          *  When she had a child, she started doing youth empowerment from home.

·          *  Youth come to her home (specifically girls) to do family activities and make friendships with other children.

·          *  Said that there are three things she has learned that you need to focus on

o   Connection

o   Creation

o   Contemplation

Jeremiah Meyers

·         *  Part of Lexington Habitat

·          *  Lexington Habitat are the ones providing the typewriters

·          *  This is first meeting with CETA

Drew Hashimoto

·          *  Current president of the neighborhood association.

·          *  Was in the area as a young adult because of the punk rock community, but was originally from eastern Kentucky.

·          *  Left the area, became a single mom, and recently rejoined the area.

·          *  While away from the area, she got her bachelors in cultural anthropology.

Marty Clifford

·          *  Lived in the area as a youth, then joined the army and lived in California for a while.

·          *  Came back in the 90s to develop houses but stayed and became part of the community.

·          *  Formed the neighborhood association and is the former president.

o   Said that they usually form and are only active when there is crime in the area.

o   He wants the NA to be actively improving the area.

o   Also, politicians communicate with neighborhoods through NAs, so they are important to keep active.

·          *  Said that community involvement helped him mature and grow.

·         *  Also said that if you don’t get involved in your community, others will. You might not like what they do with it.

·          *  Been with CETA since the beginning.