Neighborly Connections

from Hamiltonian Magazine - Plan Hamilton Edition 2022

Sip and Stroll in Hamilton's CED and DORA Areas

17 Strong, a citizen-led initiative coordinated by the Department of Neighborhoods, has grown substantially since officially formed in 2016 after more than four years of discussion of how to promote neighborhood engagement in Hamilton.

The City of Hamilton has seen a lot of strength grow out of neighborhood engagement, and as a result, 17 Strong has grown up as a way to gather people who are similarly interested in being engaged and informed about how to make their neighborhoods strong.

“The broader effort could be simply defined by the fundamental belief that safer, cleaner and stronger neighborhoods can only come from more engaged and informed residents who are proud of where they live,” says Brandon Saurber, director of neighborhoods for the City of Hamilton.

Brooke Wells, the neighborhoods coordinator at the City of Hamilton, has noticed that the City can be far more responsive and get information out to citizens easier when they have a strong network in all of the neighborhoods. There’s a role for everyone, even if it’s just through the person across the fence from you.

“There are all different kinds of engagement, from people who volunteer to people who get into a leadership role,” says Wells. “Any contacts we make through the microgrants build our network, but at its heart, 17 Strong is neighbors helping neighbors, so you don’t have to get involved with us. Getting to know your next-door neighbors builds on our sense of community and pride in where you live.” 17 Strong works to empower neighborhood change-makers in many ways, including through awarding microgrants. The first ones came out of City funding that specifically asked citizens to develop projects to engage their neighbors inside and across neighborhoods, whether it be to get to know each other, beautify their common spaces, or grow more connected to each other and the resources the City has to offer.

Now, there are multiple microgrant programs, from awards for community events and projects to grants that pay for external home repairs to beautify multiple homes in a localized area.

Other 17 Strong efforts have included creating a mobile trailer full of clean-up equipment that citizens can reserve for neighborhood cleanup days, and neighborhood education efforts about everything from how to use the City’s service request app, MyHamilton (311), effectively to how to start a neighborhood association.

What all of the grants have in common is that they are informed by neighborhood champions, people who choose to volunteer and step into leadership roles in their areas of the City. For example, the neighborhood of Lindenwald has a community organization, PROTOCOL, which holds meetings led by neighbors who learn about initiatives in the City and ways to address their own neighborhood concerns. When their group comes up with a project they’d like to complete to engage more neighbors in their area, they can apply for a grant from 17 Strong.

Neighborhood champion Aaron Simpson is a pastor in the Jefferson neighborhood who was born there himself. Simpson’s attendance at a 17 Strong event led to him getting more involved with Jefferson’s own neighborhood organization, the Jefferson Alliance, and helping to participate in getting more programming in the new park that recently opened in Jefferson.

The park itself grew out of 17 Strong’s connective power when it was realized that Jefferson was the only neighborhood without a park. A generous land donation from Frank and Joanne Pfirman and a strong commitment from the Parks Conservancy made this new park possible.

“We came to the soccer idea because Jefferson Park is a flat, fieldlike surface, conducive for soccer,” says Simpson. “The diversity of culture in Jefferson is also one of its strengths, and soccer is a unifying thing worldwide, so you see it in the clinic we created and who came out. It was a really great team effort between churches, Serve City, and 17 Strong. We want to make it an annual event.”

While Simpson already had the passion to make his neighborhood a great place to live, getting access to funds for the Jefferson Cup soccer clinic in the park gave them access to both money and connections to make programming possible and effective. 17 Strong involvement also connects him to relevant City employees when Jefferson residents have a concern.

To get to know the currently available 17 Strong programs, visit 17stronghamilton.org ❑