Community Vision & Voice
2010 Progress Civic Participation
• Community listening, conducted through surveys and focus groups, documented 3,801 responses to various Village planning efforts to ensure a strong resident voice in the vision of The Village — 2 ½ times the number of people reached from the previous year.
• Going beyond providing feedback on issues and plans, 826 residents actively participated on working teams, many of them convening weekly in order to achieve key deadlines and move Village planning forward — a 33% increase from the prior year.
• Participation in Village Center Meetings totaled 1,965, up 9% from the previous year. These town hall meetings provided a forum for feedback from a broad range of community residents representing the various community networks and cultural groups.
• Since 1998, Working Teams have served as the primary platform for residents to lead change in revitalizing their neighborhood. The purpose and make-up of these teams vary depending on the work to be accomplished. To date, 44 distinct teams have been initiated to plan and implement Village work.
• Demonstrating the growing vibrancy of The Village, participation in Village activities and events grew 6% from the prior year to nearly 49,000 people. This is an increase of over 600% since 2005, when Market Creek Plaza was first completed.
Outreach & Organizing • The VOCAL Network — Voices of Community at All Levels — formed in 2009 and activated in 2010 as a group of 18 community and cultural networks, including representation from major cultural groups, neighborhood councils, school networks, Market Creek ownership networks, the Youth Movement, and other community organizations.
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Youth Development • To ensure a strong youth voice in all Village planning, two full-time Youth Movement staff and five part-time interns received training in outreach and organizing. Once the training was completed, the youth were assigned to work with VOCAL and each of the Village planning circles, covering civic, social, economic, and physical development. • Over 300 youth participated in Village development activities and events, including a college campus tour, the youth health initiative, the Lincoln High School campus recycling initiative, a youth-organized investment club, training in digital storytelling, various fundraisers, and resident youth meetings.