Gail Mitchell said she attended 5 meetings in 5 days for a variety of topics from Area 3, to CBA, Good Neighbor Network, and all on her own time as a volunteer. And there are so many others who also make it a priority to continue to show up for their community even when it feels relentless and real change takes so long.

So to get her mind off of those things for a minute, Gail decided to ask her neighbors to help organize around something fun. They came up with throwing a MayFest as a way to celebrate working together and the small successes along the way.

Gail knows its important for everyone to stay connected when laughing and enjoying life together.

“It’s just one more way of showing up for your community and keeping the energy going and that’s so important,” Gail said, “Plus, how often do we ever see each other laughing and cutting up and just having fun with one another. We usually just see each other at meetings!”

We agree! We are also so excited that we will be attending MayFest as guests. We loved driving by and seeing a new and unexpected sign go up and were so proud to learn about this completely resident lead pop up.

The neighbors found a funder and decided together how to spend the budget. They decided to have live music and some good food. There will be a community walk to kick things off and a free and healthy salad bar with fresh fruit and veggies. Gail said there will also be lots of flowers and streamers and the little block at 2523 Glass Street will be all dolled up for MayFest.  Homemade fliers are being handed out now around the Boyce Station and Glass Farms homes. Healthier Glass Farms, Glass Farm Block Leaders and Building A Better Boyce Station are all partnering with the residents to make it all happen.

Relationships are what it’s all about. Glass House Collective is so proud of our relationship with these rising community leaders who take on their own projects, decide what’s important and get it done again and again. MayFest is another supreme example and we can’t wait to see everyone out there on May 4!

Check out MayFest write-up on chattanoogan.com !
Good Neighbor Network has more event info on their Facebook page here. 

MAYFEST
Saturday, May 4
12 noon- Community Walk
1pm-4pm  MayFest
2523 glass street

So when Gail moved into her new home on Wilder Street in 2017, right around the corner from her mother’s home, it wasn’t too long before she started to notice what was just outside her front door and began to see its future differently.

At the end of her driveway, Gail sees a lot of traffic, car after car passing through coming down off Campbell Street heading north straight toward the Tennessee River; or racing up Wilder climbing up to Campbell Street and heading east. All getting somewhere in a hurry.

Wilder is a long stretch that begins at Campbell Street in Glass Farm, near the bottom edges of Sherman’s Reservation, and continues north intersecting with Wheeler, Taylor, Dodson, Curtis, Roanoke, North Hawthorne and all the way to Riverside Drive.

It’s not uncommon for a heavy stream of traffic to come through with drivers driving easily 15 miles above the speed limit in either direction, she said. It’s also not uncommon for these drivers to just see Wilder Street as their own twice-daily cut-through commuter route instead of seeing a place, a neighborhood of homes and of families.

Adding to the anonymity, there are no sidewalks nor crosswalks to signal that human beings live here, walk here, visit here, play here, and are also trying to use the road just to leave their driveways, walk their children to their grandmother’s, or simply cross the street.

City officials had already told residents that installing speed humps was not an option primarily due to Wilder Street being a major route for emergency vehicles. Traffic calming humps are a burden to firetrucks and ambulances needing to get quickly across town. But, in her short time living on Wilder, Gail says she has already seen her share of near emergencies. Without designated crosswalks at any of the intersecting roads across Wilder, pedestrians, including many children, have no sure place to cross the street and are forced to negotiate with fast moving traffic.

This summer, Gail decided to take the issue to the next meeting of the Chattanooga Urbanists (CURB), a community organization that “seeks to connect emerging professionals who are interested in how design and planning affect how the city looks and feels.”  During a CURB meeting that was taking place in the Glass House Collective office, CURB’s founding member and co-director Sally Morrow, an Urban Designer with the Chattanooga Design Studio, teamed up with Aaron Cole and Lauren Dunn, both with the Chattanooga AIA Extended Studio, and together took on Gail’s vision of slower traffic on her street.

For the next few months, Gail and the Extended Studio team stress tested some of the city’s new processes for handling requests involving citizen-lead temporary solutions for their streets. Other partners like Range Projects came on board to help create a reusable and large template that the team could use for their first installation.  Even the brewers at Velo Coffee Roasters provided hot coffee for volunteers.

The end result is a series of multi-colored painted dots down the middle of Wilder Street located at every intersection as a visual device to try to slow down drivers. On installation day 20 volunteers came out on a weekend before Christmas to help paint the large circles up and down the street. The coming weeks and months will tell how effective the tactical art project has been and what else can be done.

But so much more happened as a result of this experiment. For one thing, after going door to door to let everyone know that the road would be closed for the installation day, Gail was able to introduce herself to more of her neighbors than she ever knew before. And, when the street closed for a few hours, even the Wilder Street kids came out of their homes and met one another in the street as a safe and temporary playground, if just for a few hours, to play with their remote control cars.

Wilder Street residents now know that in teaming up with the AIA Extended Studio they have an actively engaged and informed crew of advocates who can help them navigate and develop new ideas to improve their streets.

“Getting the right people to talk to each other can sometimes have barriers. But this kind of process can help reduce those barriers, especially a project that is easily executed, temporary in nature, but impactful,” said Laura Dunn, with AIA Chattanooga.

Dunn also said she understands there can be frustration inside the neighborhood with how to work and communicate effectively with the city, often leaving many feeling left out or unheard. “Hopefully, this process will create more positive thinking, encourage more ideas, and knowledge that some one is listening,” she said.

The chance to work with the Wilder Street residents was also an opportunity to have that larger conversation about how our streets are used and who has a say.

“We want to highlight that city streets are the most abundant public space we have and they should be made more friendly for pedestrians,” Cole said.  Highlighting Wilder, a street widely used by commuters, brings up the other side of the conversation. “These are places where people live, so how do we respect, prioritize and give those people a little more say in how their streets are being used,” he said.

Whats more, now City officials know that there are many people who care, are watching, are willing to do the work, and want a say in the changes needed to make their streets safer.

“When it actually works it gives you a boost!,” Gail said

Thank you, Gail, for showing us how it’s done!

Check out photos from the day here .
Media coverage in the Times Free Press.

photo credit: AIA Chattanooga, AIA Extended Studio

We were so pleased with his work, reminding us once again how important a solid team is, as we depend on one another to accomplish progress in this community.

Together we’re here on Glass Street, listening to our neighbors, planning and hosting meetings where crucial conversations and enlightening exchange can take place, fundraising and organizing those funds, pushing up sleeves and lacing up boots to get outside, clearing paths, building partnerships, telling the stories of people proud to be living here as they reach for improvements and resources needed to make their neighborhood shine.

Read more about who we are, and see the new photos here.

The team was tasked with transforming 4 residents’ homes and 6 public spaces with simple landscaping improvements.  And they showed up to work.  At 9:00 a.m. that Saturday morning pick-up trucks full of wheel barrows, weed eaters, chainsaws, rakes, and other goodies began filling up Glass St. And the characters piling out of the trucks did not disappoint.  As they gathered at Rondell Crier’s Studio Everything to enjoy breakfast from the Glass St. Breakfast and Lunch House it became clear that they meant business.  They weren’t just checking a service learning requirement off a list, they wanted to know where they were, why they were there, and most importantly, who they were helping.  They were there for all the right reasons.  They knew they were playing a part in a much larger whole.

After breakfast we split into two groups.  One group took tools of destruction and began clearing the public space sites in preparation for Glass House Collective’s Gospel on Glass concert.  The other crew began working on the residential sites.  That is where the heart of the day took place.  The Glass Street area has a high concentration of elderly people living on fixed incomes who don’t have the resources or physical capability to care for their lawns.  And it was these folks whom we were there to help.  Not only did we clear over growth from their yards but we planted a Maple tree, Stove Pipe Junipers, Boxwoods, Nadinas, Clematises, Canna Lilies, and Monkey Grass, while also pressure washing their sidewalks and awnings and painting posts and front door steps.  It is amazing what a difference was made.

Glass House Collective will continue this work in 2016 thanks to a generous grant from the Benwood Foudation.  We can’t wait to see the transformation that will take place!

Please visit this album for before and after pictures.

The morning began with a detailed learning session from the City Forrester, Gene Hyde, who shared information on the types of trees and the proper way they should be planted into the soil.

With the help of all the volunteers including students from area schools, Volkswagen employees and City of Chattanooga employees, in less than two hours, 18 beautiful trees had been planted along Glass Street.

Seeing everyone get their hands dirty planting trees on a Saturday morning, only further emphasizes that trees really can unite a community!

Outcomes:
Over 200 volunteers
18 planted trees
over 20 Volkswagen employees
7 of City Employees
50 student volunteers
over 20 heavy duty shovels

Media
Photo album can be viewed here.

Live performance schedule includes:

12PM: Mt. Canaan Baptist Church, Voices of Triumph
1PM: Olivet Baptist Church
2PM: Orchard Knob Missionary, Men’s Choir
3PM: Terra Vista Baptist Church
4PM: Worlds Church of the Living God

Gospel sets will last 30 minutes each.

Urban Artformz Institute will perform a live painting and poetry reading in between gospel sets.

Food Trucks will be on site. RSVP on Facebook here.

One of the most impressive elements of the morning was not just the number of volunteers that showed up but how many student volunteers stepped up to help.  Many of the students were overjoyed to help.  When asked what prompted him to participate in Glass House’s National Arbor Day celebration, Notre Dame High School student, Brad Young, responded, “To help with the community and be a good citizen”.  That same sentiment was felt amongst the rest of the students volunteering.  Student David Hodges also of Notre Dame High School pointed out that his participation meant that he was ‘saving a community’.

The highlight of the day was seeing the volunteers being thanked by a Glass Street resident who was driving down the street.  The smile on the faces of the volunteers who were on the receiving end of the thank you were priceless.  “Trees help a community”, says Kay Fiorello, environmental specialist with Volkswagen.  “The community needs this. This neighborhood has changed so much over the last few years…in a good way,” Fiorello continued.

We believe that allowing countless volunteers to help in planting the trees instills ownership in the process. We couldn’t make history along Glass Street without help  from volunteers and residents. This was made possible because of them.

Facebook photos can be viewed here.

There will be food, artwork, music, and even a crowning of the Royal family for the event!! Keep checking back for more details as the event gets closer on the Good Neighbor Network Facebook Page here. 

This is a FAMILY EVENT, so please plan accordingly.

How do you plan a holiday party with hopes of high attendance and ensure the event is community-owned?

You let the community organize it. On Monday, December 16th Glass House Collective asked the Good Neighbor Network  to organize their neighborhood Christmas party. The night included a visit from Santa, chili, cookies, DIY ornament making and an overall good time between residents, partners, and supporters.

Daniel Crelinc and Gail McKeel provided the Christmas lights and decorations. Their crafty and creative talent filled the room along with families from the neighborhood waiting in line to share their ‘wish list’ with Santa.

Halfway through the evening, Katherine Currin made a surprise announcement inviting all guests to join her outside for the lighting of the first phase of pedestrian lights along Glass Street. The eleven lights started blinking at the same time along with excitement, cheering, and smiles from everyone in attendance.

Outcome:
Over 75 guests attended

Media:
Facebook album can be viewed here

Outcome:
Engaged over 35 individuals to reclaim a part of Glass Street.

Media:
Youtube Video can be found here.