Deer Park's Graffiti Competition August 27, 2011

Hey Everyone,
The local efforts to address illegal Graffiti have taken huge strides for the last few years. 


I am so excited that, as part of these efforts, positive strategies are also being explored and incorporated. I have been to many informal and formal meetings/discussions about Graffiti. Discussions led by groups of civic advocates, local artists, neighbors, and even governmental figures. It is no surprise that at most these meetings, someone says, "we need to do more than just erase graffiti!" 


Discussions move into topics ranging from having public spaces for people to display their art, to creating more new urban art programs. I enjoy strategies like these because they require a need to learn more about other groups of people, in this case those that openly display their public works. Some call such people vandals, others call them artists. Most new age strategies do not get hung up on discussions like this, but rather build around how to utilize local opportunities and or maximize community assets.


The principal idea behind many of the positive strateiges to address illegal graffiti is, "by offering people more opportunities to display their urban art either by projects, events, or spaces, we could minimize the amount of illegal tagging in our city". 


Google "Omaha Graffiti Art" and several recent local projects will come up that sought such strategies. The portfolio of these projects includes sponsors like local schools, the South Omaha police department, several non profit groups, and many businesses. 


Now, it is our neighborhood association's turn to try a project. With the help of several community partners, we will be hosting a city wide Graffiti Competition, information below. These event is intended for many audiences. It is truly amazing to see these people in action. See You there!                                                                 

Omaha.net article about Deer Park program What the Future Community Leaders of Omaha Are Doing This Summer

Last month Omaha.net ran a great article about our CCL pilot program. I recall answering questions about the pilot but didn't know when the article was going to run.  Sorry for the delayed notification, I just read this for the first time today. Below are a few highlights of the article.

Photo by Jessica Clem

"What the Future Community Leaders of Omaha Are Doing This Summer"

By Jessica Clem
Published on July 3, 2011

"When high school students picture summer, they typically imagine late mornings, late nights, and hours of carefree freedom.

But for 15-year-old Lucy Chung and and a dozen other students, summer instead begins with a 9 a.m. wakeup call, a 10 o’clock class, and community project work by 10:30. While many of her peers are still sleeping away a cheeseburger-and-soda hangover, Chung is out making her community better.

Her reason? “It’s good for the neighborhood!”

Chung is a participant in the 2011 pilot program Cultivating Community Leaders (CCL), a project focused on teaching young people the importance of community service and to help improve South Omaha’s housing stock. Created by Deer Park Neighborhood Association President Oscar Duran, this program encourages young people to recognize their potential as community leaders."

"CCL is a 10-week program that began in June and will wrap up in mid-August. Duran leads the classroom sessions, held at Metro Community College. Elizabeth Moldenhauer and I from the Neighborhood Center work in the field with the kids, with Duran’s home as base. It’s a versatile program that will not only enhance resumes but also create a sense of pride in their communities.

Duran has expanded the program by partnering with his employer Habitat for Humanity and the Neighborhood Center. Both organizations have helped in program development and have been assets to building upon the program mission. “I noticed that there was a gap in community service,” said Duran. “There was a significant difference in who had the energy and the resources to volunteer. I felt inspired by the active members of other organizations and started thinking about how we can improve the numbers of volunteers. Then I realized the number one asset was young people. That’s how this program came about.”

"This program requires commitment from the kids. A typical day would be me giving wake-up calls at 9 a.m., and to make sure everyone has a ride to Metro,” said Duran. “We get everyone together by 10 a.m., by 10:30 we are dispersing maps and are doing foot patrols through the neighborhood. We usually wrap up around 2:30 p.m. and then have lunch.”

"They are truly dedicated and work quickly and efficiently during scans. They have no problems talking with residents who are curious as to why they are looking at their homes, and can respond in English and Spanish, breaking language barriers. Maria Gomez, 14, has no issue talking to residents. In fact, she enjoys it. “I explain what we are doing so they know that we are not just scanning, but also helping them,” she said.

For these students, their summer is more ideal than the stereotypical dream. They are making their neighborhoods better and helping keep their communities alive and healthy. Through the CCL program, these kids will inspire people to take pride in their communities and their city for years to come."

A special thanks to Ms. Clem for such a great article promising the amazing work these kids are doing. Please visit this link to read Ms. Clem's full article.

Deer Park August Meeting Tonight- Honoring CCL Participants

Tonight, Wednesday, August 10, 2011, we will hold the monthly Deer Park Neighborhood Association meeting. Deer Park is dedicating the August meeting to the youth participants of the South Omaha Cultivating Community Leaders Pilot. These young community leaders have and are continuing to help with a variety of South Omaha projects including…

·        Deer Park Scan – Neighborhood Center & Habitat for Humanity Omaha

·        Storm Drain Project – Keep Omaha Beautiful

·        Spring Lake Park Beautification – Spring Lake Neighborhood Association

·        Program Outreach - Keep Kids Alive Drive 25

·        National Night Out – Deer Park Neighborhood Association

Cultivating Community Leaders evolved from the mission of Habitat for Humanity’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative.

Please come and show your support of our young community leaders. They have the internal drive to continue to do great things and we need to show them that we are behind them 100%.

Deer Park Neighborhood Meeting

7:00 PM – 8:15 PM, Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Sheet Metal Workers International Association

3333 South 24th Street

Omaha, NE 68108-1852

View Deer Park Meeting Location in a larger map

Deer Park's Night Out Tomorrow, August 2, 2011!!!!

Deer Park Health Festival Saturday, July 23, 2011

Saludable Omaha is a group of Latino youth activists from South O working to create a sustainable health movement in the Latino and wider Omaha community.  

It is the Saludable Omaha mission to inform, inspire and mobilize a wide range of community members to live healthier, more active lives. Their group aims to create an environment and partnership network right here, right now - that supports and sustains healthful community living.

I am excited to announce, the Saludable team now includes; South Omaha High School’s Packasso Project, Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s NRI project, Rybin Plumbing and Heating (Head of our Vinton Merchants Committee),  and guess who ....
                                                  The Deer Park Neighborhood Association!!!

Together, we invite YOU to be part of this network!

Please Join us this Saturday for a fun, educational, and entertaining festival.

Saludable Omaha Health & Wellness Festival (official name TBA)

Bag & Save parking lot

1826 Vinton Street, Omaha, NE 68108

Saturday, July 23, 2011

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

What will you find/see at the event?

Children’s’ activities, food demonstrations, physical fitness booths, a healthy cooking demonstration, a 5 piece mariachi band, a Krock Center membership raffle, and most excitingly the dedication of a new community mural on Rybin Plumbing & Heating (18^th and Vinton).  

Two youths from the Packasso Project started the mural today, July 20, 2011 and the message within the art is very positive. The dedication ceremony will be around 11:30 am.

Please tell as may people about this event as possible, it is so exciting to see an event held by the joined efforts of  local youth, a neighborhood association, local merchants, and organizations like UNMC, Habitat for Humanity and South Omaha High School.

Together, we can create a community that makes it easier to make healthy choices a habit.

A special thank you is in order to (1) Bag and Save for allowing us to use their parking lot for the festival and for providing water for this summer event, and (2) Rybin Plumbing and Heating for offering the West wall of their building to house a beautiful two story mural. We are so fortunate to have such strong and active business neighbors in our neighborhood. 

Thank You!

Deer Park's National Night Out - August 2, 2011

Deer Park Awarded 2011 Beautification Grant

Hey,
I had this wonderful news early last month, but I held off on announcing it online until we were ready to implement the next stage of our awarded project. Because of the tremendous generosity of the Sedgwick fund through the Omaha Community Foundation, The Deer Park Neighborhood Association was awarded a grant for $6,510 for our Vinton Business District Beautification Project.

If you did not know, over the last five years, our Neighborhood Association  has assisted in raising and investing an abundance of monetary and capital improvements on the Vinton Business District located at the core of our neighborhood. Since its existence, it has served as a gathering point for neighbors as well as an imperative source of goods, services, and neighborhood pride. The portion of Vinton Street between 16th Street and South 20th Street angles southwest and is one of the few streets within South Omaha oriented diagonally to the surrounding street grid. It is within this subsection of the Vinton Business District where our project will occur.

Photo by Larry Ferguson Studio

As part of our ongoing strategy to progress the appearance, ambiance, and use of this part of our neighborhood, DPNA maintains 31 flower planters, 44 tree wells, and 8 trash receptacles.

In this year's project, DPNA will...

• till all soil beds,
• have the tree wells mulched,
• have planters cleaned and replanted where necessary,
• fund yearly trash removal services of the trash receptacles we installed last year
• replant our 20th Street Identity Garden
• and paint a series of  community focused murals on the Vinton street planters.

Photo by Oscar Duran

For the planter murals process, DPNA will collaborate with students of South Omaha High School Packasso Project to design a series of murals for the Vinton street planters. This piece of the project will begin with a series of meetings, storytelling, and one-on-one conversations with a special Deer Park Arts Committee to learn the history of the neighborhood and  proceed to paint murals that will depict the rich past of our neighborhood.

Together, the above mentioned efforts will drastically add to the beautification of the Vinton Business District. The serviced trash receptacles will decrease the amount of litter on Vinton. The tree wells, identity garden, and planters will improve the quality of the green space, and the planter murals will aide in the establishment of a unified identity for the Vinton Business District while educating patrons of our neighborhood's history. With these improvements Vinton visitors and patrons will be encouraged to return to the Deer Park neighborhood and to help spur our neighborhood pride. In addition to the aesthetical gains, this project will strengthen the relationships and cooperation between DPNA, Deer Park residents, and local high school students.

This project is supported by the Sedgwick fund through the Omaha Community Foundation.

We will be collecting submissions from the Packasso group late August and will have completed the planter murals by late September. Come back to this blog or come to our monthly meetings for updates.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget, our monthly meeting is this Wednesday night at the Sheet Metal Workers Union #3 at 24th and Deer Park Blvd  68108.

Oscar Duran : Deer Park President