The Center for Great Neighborhoods has receive a $75,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to assist with the planning of a food oriented creative placemaking initiative.
The grant is part of the Fresh, Local, & Equitable: Food as a Creative Platform for Neighborhood Revitalization (FreshLo) Initiative. It will be used for planning and designing a neighborhood-based project that demonstrates creative, cross-sector visions of food-oriented development.
FreshLo is an initiative from The Kresge Foundation’s Arts & Culture and Health programs that envisions healthy, vibrant communities strengthened by the deliberate integration of creative placemaking and food-oriented development. As part of the FreshLo community, The Center will create and enhance pathways to opportunity for people in low-income, urban neighborhoods.
“We’re excited for this project because it takes two areas we’re passionate about and connects them in a unique and innovative way,” said Sarah Allan, Program Director, Creative Placemaking at The Center. “The Kresge Foundation has been a big supporter of our Creative Placemaking initiatives over the past several years, and we’re looking forward to being part of this new program.”
The Center’s project includes a four step planning process that will maximize resident and partner engagement in the Westside. The first step is a series of food mapping events to identify priorities of the residents and business owners in the Westside.
Food mapping is a community development tool that creates art while simultaneously mapping food sources and conversing about the personal health, community, economic, and ecological impacts of food systems.
Pilot projects will launch after priorities and opportunities for growth and improvement have been identified. The Center will incorporate artists into the food system in the Westside to tackle the priorities identified by the community and work together with residents to create pilot projects. Examples of pilot projects that may be implemented include cooking classes, place-based marketing, and training youth in gardening and agricultural techniques.
“Food and cultural expression are inextricably tied together, and have been throughout history,” said Stacey Barbas, senior program officer with Kresge’s Health Program. “FreshLo seeks to use that relationship to help local organizations build creative and invigorating pathways to better health and opportunity in urban low-income neighborhoods.”
The Center’s project was one of only 26 selected from 500 applications nationwide. FreshLo embodies The Kresge Foundation’s philosophy that catalytic change to improve opportunity for low-income persons in America’s cities requires a multi-layered approach – not simply one program or one sector working alone.
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