Missed this month's BLUH meeting? Here's what we covered!
Community Check-In
The majority of the conversation focused on House of Charity updates. Paul Verrette, House of Charity, shared the following:
Shelf of Hope - Food Shelf Information:
Open to all people on Wednesdays from 10:00-1:00. Due to the pandemic, less fresh produce is being offered and pre-packed food packages are being distributed.
Food Centre:
Not serving kitchen cooked food, instead serving bagged lunches. Mural coming soon on exterior of building.
Park 7 Update:
61 studio apartments, (permanent housing) serving youth (18-24) and the long-term homeless. Construction is going well and will hopefully start moving people in during the beginning of August. Fully furnished housing, and pet friendly. Will have a virtual grand opening, hopefully mid September. Check out a virtual tour of an apartment here.
Elliot Park Community Vision
Vanessa Haight, EPNI Executive Director, presented a rough draft community vision from the work done in 2019. See the presentation slides here. Given that so much has changed since 2019, Vanessa asked attendees for their thoughts on if the info still seemed relevant and how best to move forward.
Comments included:
- How do we keep affordable housing but also add retail?
- Can we get pro bono help with adding signage to the neighborhood to highlight "Elliot Park Neighborhood"?
- Parks and green space have always been important but now they are especially important
- How can we encourage a more significant partnership with NCU?
- Can we get crosswalks on Chicago?
- It would be nice to solidify how the neighborhood identifies itself and reduce this to a fewer words and use as a marketing strategy
Overall, the group felt like the information was relevant and felt comfortable moving forward with bringing it back to a broader community conversations with hope to finalize a community vision by the end of 2020.
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We hope to see you at our next BLUH meeting on Thursday, July 16th, 6:00 PM on Zoom!