Cole Reflection

     Overall, I believe the community engagement event went as well as we could hoped for. The odds certainly played out in our favor as the storm was held off and the sun did not make the day unbearable.

      Going into the event, I did not think the turnout was going to be as good as it was given the situation. From what I saw at the event and given the feedback we received, the community seems to believe in our endeavor which can sometimes be a major hurdle in community development. My thoughts going into the event were that no one would show up and that those who did would just be from the neighboring blocks. To improve the event, I would have publicized it more with signage and what not. The boards were great but they did not stick out when traveling by their locations.

     One of the more surprising things that I learned was that many people who come to the area, for church and what not, commute from outside the area. Their concerns generally gravitate towards the overall health of the community such as crime and public amenities such as play spaces for children. The most important thing for the neighborhood is to provide a safe place where people, both residents and visitors, can flock to and engage with one another. On a positive note, the neighborhood has a body of people who seem genuinely concerned about its welfare and would love to see our actions come to fruition. To further increase community input, I would do more physical work in the community. People will read manual labor as a much bigger commitment to change that just planning and doing research. The most engaged I ever felt was when we were doing site cleanup and people stopped to ask if we needed help.