“Good things happen when we’re eye to eye, face to face, and able to absorb the passion many of us have for our neighborhood,” said GNN facilitator and neighborhood volunteer, Gail McKeel.

The room was packed and our talking circle was large including representatives from Hope For The Inner City, Hardy Elementary Community PTA, Boyce Station Neighborhood, CALEB, GreenSpaces, Glass Farm Neighborhood Association, Glass Farm Block Leaders, Building Stable Lives, City Farms Grower Coalition (formerly Grow Hope Farms), East Chattanooga food pantry project, alongside members of the Glass House Collective board of directors and staff, and Glass Farm residents and volunteers.

The Good Neighbor Network was launched to be a sounding board for ideas and a way to keep and build momentum for the work all of these groups are doing individually. Today, as more eyes and energies are focused on Glass Farm and East Chattanooga, beginning the year with a re-group to build consensus on the best ways to stay connected, focused and supportive, was important to neighborhood leaders.

“With the help of all interested parties, we’ll be able to structure our meetings and form committees to set goals, share the facilitation of the meetings this year, distribute the duties, and have more productive meetings,” McKeel said.

We appreciate Miss Gail’s leadership pulling this conversation together. It is clear that the collective is getting wider and deeper and that everyone involved believes in the power of partnerships!

GNN’s next meeting is Monday, March 2 at 6:30pm at the GHC HQ.

LINKS:
GNN Facebook page
City Farms Grower Coalition
Change Makers Workshops at Hardy Elementary
East Chattanooga food pantry

But it doesn’t end there.

Nearly 75 Glass Farm residents have installed Historic Glass Farm Neighborhood Pride house banners or yard signs in front of or on their homes all around the neighborhood.  Along with our partners at Habitat For Humanity, volunteers spent several weekends this spring visiting, delivering and installing community-designed signs to let everyone know that we love where we live!

Our proud history and bright future together is now on display for all to see.

None of this would have been possible without the vision of Glass Farm residents who care deeply about their neighborhood and the place we call home. Thank you to Glass Farm Block leaders, Janette Richie and others, who worked with artists and members of the community to create the banners. These leaders spent time looking outward and forward for more ways for neighbors to connect to one another and remind one another that, collectively, we can work to lift each other up.

As a result, now it seems like no matter where you turn in the neighborhood, there is pride everywhere you look. These things don’t just happen. It took a lot of work and collaboration but sometimes something as simple as a sign is all you need to tell the world that we are proud to stand together as residents of Glass Farm.

Thanks to the Lilian Colby Foundation for sponsoring this project and making it a reality.

Get in on this! If you don’t have a house banner or yard sign yet and would like one for your home or rental, please stop by the Glass House Collective office for a free sign or email info@glasshousecollective.org or call 423-402-0565!

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

Speaking of pride, many of the new Glass Farm house banners were distributed at the Christmas party and we were so glad we were there to hear everyone’s excitement and plans to hang their banners on their homes. As always, our appreciation to the Lilian Colby Foundation for sponsoring this project, which was sparked from an idea at a Glass Farm Block Leaders meeting nearly two years ago. It is so gratifying to see ideas from our neighbors turned into action. Now, everyone who drives through Glass Farm, will be able to see banners flying proudly from homes all around the neighborhood. Coming next: Be on the lookout for more neighborhood pride signs to place in yards as we look for different ways to celebrate and utilize the new winning design voted by the community!

In all, the evening was really special and we are so proud to see so many people working together to celebrate one another. Archway, especially Michele Peterson and Nedra Davis, generously hosted the party in their space and were the party sponsor. All the presents were generously gifted by Lee/Santa with Progress Barber Shop on Glass Street. Events With Taste provided the delicious food. And The Glass Farm Block Leaders provided the postage for the Christmas party invitations. Thanks for inviting us!

PHOTOS HERE

Highlights from the day include that awesome streetscape simulator, watching all the Glass Street superheroes in their new capes, Gospel On Glass, delicious food made by our neighbors, and local art from around the community.

The Glass Farm Block Leaders booth was a busy place as Miss Janette and her volunteers gathered surveys and input from the neighborhood to select the design for new house banners for the Glass Farm historic district. The winning design will be revealed at this year’s Christmas party on Friday night! Janette said the survey participation during Glass Street Live was terrific and she really appreciates everyone who took the time to stop by the GFBL booth. Remember if you participated in the survey and signed up to receive a free house banner, free banners will be given to the first 50 who come to the Christmas Party Friday night, December 14th, at 6pm at 2523 Glass Street.

It was great to see so many people interact with the streetscape installation, lead by architect, David Barlew. Glass Farm resident, Johnny Patmon, volunteered to help kick things off in the morning and said he appreciates how the block party became a place for productive conversations directly with the community who are impacted and advocating for change on Glass Street. “Thats who you should ask in the first place, is the community who wants to see change and improvement in their community. So we asked people if they lived in the neighborhood and for how long because that’s important,” he said.

Feedback on the streetscaping proposal and signatures of support were gathered in different ways throughout the day at Glass Street LIVE! Barlew said that Gail McKeel, who has lived near Glass Street for years, prepared several signs expressing different opinions of the mock-up and streetscaping plans. “Visitors to the installation were asked to pose for pictures with signs of their choosing that expressed their opinion of the proposed scheme. In all, Gail collected more than fifty photos of individuals, friends, couples, neighbors, and families sharing their thoughts about the mock-up,” David said. The pictures will be delivered to CDOT to show support for the proposed streetscaping.

As usual, Glass Street Live’s food vendor’s did not disappoint. In fact, Miss Dunyetta of D’s Eggroll’s says the block party continues to be a great venue for her small business and 2018 was her best year yet. “GSL is great for exposure. It opens our menu up to a lot of new customers. It’s so exciting to see the people and the support that they gave us. We really enjoyed ourselves,” she said.

GHC Community Relations Manager, Nicole Lewis, spent the day helping some of the neighborhood’s youngest superheroes earn their capes. Judging from the number of capes buzzing around Glass Street Saturday afternoon, the Capes and Superheroes activity was a hit. “The kids really enjoyed completing the tasks,” Lewis said. Be on the lookout for a fun campaign coming in the new year to celebrate these young neighbors who are superheroes for their neighborhood.  Also, a special shout out to Leo Ascarate. Leo screen printed Glass Street on the back of the capes. Thank you, Leo!!!

Hardly last and never least, starting the day with a full program from Gospel on Glass was the best. GOG curator and musical director, Deborah Bledsoe, did an amazing job selecting the performers and pulling the stage together. Miss Deborah said the whole day “felt like a big holiday celebration with friends and family!” Indeed.

Let’s do it again next year !

REVISIT THE DAY! Browse the photos here

Did you give your input recently about ideas for the new house banners for Glass Farm residents? This summer and early Fall, the Neighborhood Pride committee – including Block Leader, Miss Janette, business owner, Mr Joe, emerging young leader, Asia, and Pops, who has been living and renting in the Glass Farm area for a few years –  reached out and had conversations with their neighbors about what the community was most proud of and what they wanted to see represented on the new house banners.

The committee worked with their neighbors so that ideas from the residents of Glass Farm and the business owners along Glass Street would be shared with the creative team designing the banners for homes and light poles.

The design team took all the neighborhood input, worked hard and listened closely. Now that design proposals are in, there will be one more chance at Glass Street LIVE! for residents to choose the best design idea that will become the new banner.

Miss Janette is encouraging residents to visit the Glass Farm Block Captain tent at Glass Street LIVE! this Saturday. She will be on hand with volunteers helping distribute simple surveys for residents to fill out while attending the block party to help choose the best design for Glass Farm.

“The biggest number of votes for any one design will be the one chosen. So this is your chance to vote while the designs are in the booth and surveys ready,” Miss Janette said.

Also if you are one of the first 50 residents to give input  just remember to leave your contact information and receive a free house banner once they are produced. You can be one of the first Glass Farm residents to hang the new banner on your home!

Janette says she believes things can improve when more people in the neighborhood are involved in what goes on in their neighborhood and choose to get involved in shaping what’s coming next.

“House banners and a Pride program will help too. We want more people interested in what’s in their neighborhood now and what’s about to take place in their neighborhood. It will be alot better.”

Miss Janette says that this project is nearly complete. She hopes to receive a lot of surveys for the best design at Glass Street LIVE! so the committee can get the banners produced and delivered to residents soon.

Don’t miss the chance to leave your vote and check out what the committee and creative team accomplished after gathering input and inspiration from the community.

Glass House Collective would like to thank Miss Janette for her leadership and helping see this project through. We are proud and grateful of her entire committee, Mr. Joe, Pops, Asia, for their time and effort bringing in community ideas and new voices.  We would also like to thank the project’s funders from The Lillian Colby Foundation. We can not wait to see these banners hanging proudly on homes in the coming months!

This campaign, funded by the Lillian Colby Foundation, will create a visual celebration of neighborhood distinctiveness that enforces our community’s identity, cohesiveness, and pride of home. That means soon you’ll be seeing and hopefully displaying custom designed house flags, yard signs, videos, and banners.

To get the ideas flowing, the Glass Farm Block Leaders formed a committee early this summer and set out to gather input from the community as a way to identify what we’re most proud of in the historic Glass Farm district as well as the business district along Glass Street. The committee is comprised of a homeowner, renter, business owner, and youth from the Glass Farm Neighborhood. These passionate neighbors will each receive a stipend for their time and commitment.

The committee distributed and gathered surveys in the recreation center, the residential neighborhood and the business district. The survey asked a few simple but important questions, including: What are you proud of in your neighborhood? And, If people were more proud of this neighborhood what it would look like?

Amber said she is most proud of “The amount of effort people are putting in the community to make it great.” Audrey is proud that there are “Expectations of becoming a great community.” Glenda mentioned that she feels most proud of “Neighbors keeping up their yards and houses.” Charlotte is proud that “Everyone knows everyone and everyone watches out for each other.”

Now that the surveying is complete, creative teams are forming to take the lead in turning all of this great input into a meaningful visual campaign that tells the world how proud we are to live, work and play in East Chattanooga. In the meantime, The Chattanooga Design Studio put together a collage of images of places in the neighborhood our resident committee is proud of. The creative teams will draw their inspiration from the over 50 surveys and photographs completed and combine that with a few more community work sessions. “This process is in place to empower our neighbors and business owners to work with a team of artists to instill a sense of pride amongst the residents and provide skills development opportunities to the area through Rondell Crier’s Studio Everything,” Community Relations Manager, Nicole Lewis, said.

The goal is to reveal the exciting results at the Glass Street LIVE block party on November 3.

If you’re a neighbor with more ideas, please get in touch with Nicole Lewis via email or phone to be added to the campaign contact list and stay informed about future planning sessions. nicole@glasshousecollective.org | 423-618-9865

Block leaders in the Glass Farm neighborhood recently coordinated a yard sale to raise funds to jumpstart the initiative. It was a huge success in pairing neighborhood investment with support from the CFGC and Lillian Colby Foundations. Block Leaders coordinator Janette Richie is excited to discuss ideas with her fellow neighbors. “I take pride in my neighborhood just like for us to become one big family.”

Thanks to foundation investment, it looks like we now have the funds to move forward.

Using national models, our Neighborhood Pride campaign plan is to produce banners, house flags, yard signs, and videos using our well-known resident – artist centered protocol.

We’re excited to continue partnering with Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization team to implement the residential component of the pride campaign including the yard signage and house banners. Studio Everything will be another crucial partner in designing and building pride signage to help mark and welcome passers-by to the neighborhood.

If you’re a neighbor with more ideas, please get in touch with Nicole Lewis via email or phone (nicole@glasshousecollective.org 423-618-9865) to be added to the campaign contact list and stay informed about future planning sessions.

This year friends and partners of the neighborhood revitalization work in this community have all been personally invited to join the fun as we mingle and share food together. It’s been a challenging year for many, but those organizing agree that there is also so much to celebrate and be festive about, so we welcome the chance to join in.

The party will take place at Mark Making on Thursday, Dec. 15 from 6-8PM.

Please RSVP  via e-mail if you have not yet done so and plan to attend:

teal@glasshousecollective.org or call Nikki Lewis at 423-618-9865

DJ Million Dollar Man kept attendees laughing and dancing throughout the evening, and the kids loved playing games with area CPD Officers and Firefighters who brought their trucks for the kids to climb on.

Hot dogs were provided from a generous community donor, and served up by friendly volunteers. Dr. Everlena Holmes offered free brand new backpacks to the first 75 kids to stop by her Affordable Care Act table, and Sam Jaser of Fast Stop sponsored the popular Bounce House play area, while GHC sponsored a face painting station with Mary Ann Twitty.

A hallmark of the evening was the continued sense that it was truly a community owned event sponsored by 7 neighborhood associations and leadership groups including:

East Chattanooga Improvement
Highland Park Neighborhood Association
Wheeler Avenue Neighborhood Watch
Good Neighbor Network
Avondale Neighborhood Association
Battery Heights Neighborhood Association
Glenwood Neighborhood Association
Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association

A collection of community organizations set up information for visitors to learn including:

Cricket
CNE
EMPOWER
East Chattanooga Leadership Advisory Committee
Affordable Care Act
Step One
CPD
Health Department
Habitat For Humanity
Hope for the Inner City

The night also provided an opportunity for our city leaders to visit with community members, experiencing the joy, music and collective spirit of among neighbors coming together to highlight the vibrancy of East Chattanooga. As artist and Highland Park neighbor Olga de Klein expressed when she handed out the “Extra Mile” service award to CPD Officer Zachary Crawford, it truly felt like a night out among friends and partners old and new with a positive common goal.

Visit our NNO Photo Album on our Facebook page by clicking HERE