What will change the most challenged neighborhood – one racked by poverty, crime, and the disintegration of lives –into a “learning organization,” a place that nurtures expansive ideas and encourages all of its residents to see the whole picture, together?
CoreChange wants to be part of the solution. The community-wide effort aims to pull together partners of all types in order to co-create solutions that will enhance the best parts of the city's core.
Co-chaired by Victor Garcia and Byron P. White, with help from its steering committee and design team, CoreChange is working in coordination with the Community Building Institute. This institute focuses on community development that is driven by the community itself, not by outside organizations. In its planning, it looks first at the community’s physical assets and the energy and needs of its residents, rather than just building a structure or fixing a problem.
CoreChange wants to bring community members together to strengthen that development process. It hopes to compliment regional planning efforts by addressing three issues that are difficult to sustain in urban renewal: systemic solutions to poverty; effective public investment in those solutions; and the engagement of people who live outside the urban core. The message is clear: no neighborhood alone can heal itself.
CoreChange’s primary strategy for accomplishing these changes is the CoreChange Summit, a three-day gathering of hundreds of residents and leaders over President’s Day weekend, Feb. 17-19. Titled “Igniting Strengths to Invent the New American City,” the sessions will allow participants to share ideas and hopes.
Do Good:
• Attend: the CoreChange Summit, “Igniting Strengths to Invent the New American City,” is Feb. 17-19, 2012, at the Millennium Hotel. Call 513-745-3896 for registration or details.
• Donate: to CoreChange and join a growing network of supporters who believe in the effort to improve the quality of life in Cincinnati.
By Becky Johnson
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