November 2003
Cedar Park Neighbors Newsletter Cedar Park Block Leader Conference: Inspiration and Information By Angie Coghlan aturday, November 8th dawned bright S and clear as 35 block captains and leaders from Cedar Park gathered at Hickman Temple, 50th and Baltimore, for an information-packed program designed by a Cedar Park Neighbors planning group to invigorate and support the efforts of the area’s unsung heroes, its block captains. Visitors from neighborhoods in Overbrook Farms and Southwest also came to learn and take information about Cedar Park’s efforts back to their own communities. The program was designed to showcase efforts of successful blocks in fighting problems common to everyone—how to organize for a zoning contest, get a vacant lot cleaned, enlist community support for greening projects, effectively report crime and safety problems to the police, and many other topics. After a general welcome given by Carol Walker and Maureen Tate, Vice-President and President of Cedar Park Neighbors respectively, attendees introduced themselves by name and block, indicating participation throughout the Cedar Park boundary. Following was a slide show, prepared by CPN members Bilal Bell and John Ellingsworth, featuring neighborhood geography that highlighted the strengths and problems faced in our community. It was obvious that growth and development as well as decline can be seen wherever you might look in Cedar Park. The task
before the block captains is to maximize strengths and address problems, never losing sight of the fact that they are not alone in caring about the neighborhood. To empower the group to solve those problems the conference had a dynamic group of speakers. Amanda Benner, coordinator of the Spruce Hill Block Improvement Program and executive director of UC Green, gave a presentation on greening projects and their role in building a sense of community. John Fenton, Director of Operations for the University City District, spoke about efforts to make our area more clean and safe. Robert Solvibile, First Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Licenses and Inspections, spoke of ways to work with communities on the many problems of vacant buildings, code violations and the like. Ed Schwartz of the Institute for the Study of Civic Values invited participants to join block leaders citywide in the Phillyblocks network and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell spoke about the West Philadelphia Improvement Program and quality of life issues. Representatives from the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee and West Philadelphia Townwatch and officers from the 12th and 18th Police Districts were also on hand. After the presentations the group broke into smaller sessions where they could ask the speakers specific questions.
Cedar Park block captains and leaders gathered at Hickman Temple on November 8 for a Block Leaders Conference.
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Cedar Park Neighbors Community Meeting: Bring a Neighbor! View a preliminary design for improvements at Cedar Park… see a demonstration of our new Web Site…pick up some “hot off the presses” CPN brochures to share with your neighbors… and tell us what you think! Since our community meeting last February, the CPN Board and membership have been working steadily to implement
the long-range plan that was shared with community residents. Many of you have come forward since that time and are involved in a variety of efforts. We welcome this opportunity to report to members and residents on where we are and what lies ahead. We have exciting news to share about progress on all four parts of the plan: Community
Promotion and Development, Block Organizing, Education and Organizational Development. We will also outline some of the challenges we face as a community and as an organization as we try to accomplish our goals. We need community feedback about how we are doing. Please plan to be with us and invite a neighbor to come along!
Save the Date: Tuesday, December 9 7:00 - 8:30 pm Calvary Community Center 48th & Baltimore Avenue