Do you want to hear how your neighbors, local non-profits, and the City of Covington are using innovative approaches to face community challenges? Come to the 2016 Covington Neighborhood Summit on Saturday, February 20 to learn about some of the projects currently underway in Covington.
The 2016 Covington Neighborhood Summit will feature examples of innovative efforts being taken to address vacant properties, improve access to healthy food, teach children business skills in tandem with introducing them to agronomics, and creatively address code-enforcement challenges.
Attendees of the summit will learn about exciting projects in Covington and nearby communities, and walk away with ideas on how to make a difference in their own neighborhood.
Liz Blume, Executive Director of the Community Building Institute at Xavier University in Cincinnati, will be the key speaker at the summit. Ms. Blume, a former planning director for the cities of Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio, will talk about the importance of being engaged with others in your community to effect change, and how we learn from working with one another.
Other presenters and topics include:
Covington resident Gus Wolf will talk about the Orchard Park Urban Farm, the Covington Farmer’s Market, and the creative use of vacant spaces to advance urban agriculture.
Bob Runyan, a teacher at Latonia Elementary, will be joined by several of his students who will describe their hydroponic vegetable growing operation and how they are learning practical business skills through this activity.
Alexa Abner and Jessica Starr will share their efforts to build a Covington-based Community Supported Agriculture initiative that will allow subscribers to purchase a fresh, locally grown vegetables.
Mike Yeager, Larisa Sims, Jessica Moss, and Emily Ahouse from the City of Covington will be joined by Lisa Sauer of Progress with Preservation to discuss Covington’s new approach to code enforcement.
Rachel Hastings, Program Director of Community Development at The Center for Great Neighborhoods, and Tom Guidugli, Executive Director of Neighborhood Foundations (Newport, Kentucky) will describe their experiences with acquiring and renovating vacant properties, particularly utilizing the new Comprehensive Community Development Initiative to expedite the acquisition of foreclosed properties.
The Summit is Saturday, February 20 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Gateway Community and Technical College’s Urban Campus at 525 Scott Boulevard in Covington. Breakfast and lunch will be served and free parking will be available in the City of Covington garage at 5th and Scott. Attendees are asked to pre-register online at http://gateway.kctcs.edu/landing/rsvp.aspx
The Summit is sponsored by Covington Neighborhood Collaborative working in partnership with The Center for Great Neighborhoods and Gateway Community College.
From the Center for Great Neighborhoods