Ideas for your Neighborhood (Engaged-Green-SafeHealthy

Neighborhoods are the building blocks of our community and neighbors who work together are stronger and healthier. The City of Valparaiso encourages neighbors to work together to make their neighborhoods engaged, green, safe and healthy. The activities outlined below will allow your group to build neighborhood pride and increase your engagement with the Valparaiso community. If your neighborhood has stories of success or new ideas to share after trying one of the activities listed below please share with us at 462-1161!

Engaged

• Neighborhood Directory – Sign up to add your neighborhood group to the city-wide neighborhood directory. • Communications – Consider opening up more communication channels with your neighbors. Using social media, paper materials, e-newsletters or yard signs can be affordable, easy ways to reach more people about activities, plans or events.

Browse different online “app” options like Next Door. • New Neighbor Welcome Program – Organize a “Welcome

Committee” with some neighbors to greet new neighbors as they move in. You may bring information about your neighborhood or HOA, a Valpo Chamber Newcomer’s Packet, information about community organizations and more – or simply introduce yourselves so they can meet some friendly faces in town! Browse some creative ideas. • Improvement Project – Organize an improvement project in your neighborhood. The project could range from volunteers to help with common area landscaping to submitting a grant application up to $15,000 through our Neighborhood

Improvement Grant program. • Block Party – This toolkit provides tips on hosting a fabulous block party in your neighborhood. Contact us if you need any road closures and browse some creative ideas. • City Government Academy – Participate in our City

Government Academy program to learn more about the role of your local government presented classroom style by city leadership team members. • Group Volunteer Projects – If you and your neighbors have shared interests in giving back to the community, you may be able to find a group volunteer opportunity in or outside of your neighborhood boundaries. Check out the Northwest

Indiana Regional Volunteer Center and keep United Way of

Porter County’s Day of Caring in mind to participate with hundreds of members throughout the community and county. • Seasonal Neighbor Assistance – During the fall and winter

months consider organizing a group of volunteers to help rake leaves and shovel snow for seniors or neighbors with disabilities. This could be a good project to get youth and teens engaged in your neighborhood for a great cause. • Outdoor Movie Night – Plan an outdoor movie night for your neighbors to come together on a summer night. Consider a family-friendly movie for all to enjoy. Review this blog post for more tips and check out these fun ideas. You may also consider getting a group to walk, bike or carpool to Central

Park for a Valparaiso Events Summer Outdoor Movie. • Scavenger Hunt – There are many creative ways to organize a neighborhood scavenger hunt! You could make this an activity at a block party or a separate endeavor. Consider having people use cameras on their phones to take pictures of items on the scavenger hunt list. The list could highlight neighborhood assets, noteworthy houses or common neighborhood items like a sports ball, bicycle or fire hydrant. • Book Drive or Little Free Library – Consider organizing a neighborhood book drive for an existing library or creating your own neighborhood Little Free Library (LFL). This map shows you existing LFL’s in our area.

green

• Tree Planting – Consider organizing a neighborhood tree planting in partnership with the Department of Public Works.

Your neighborhood can help the city prioritize where new trees should be planted in city-owned right-of-way property. • Clean-up Day – Organize a neighborhood clean-up day where volunteers can help pick up litter, spruce up landscaping and more. Contact us to help organize with support from our

Public Works and Code Enforcement Departments. • Yard Waste Management – Tree branches, leaves and grass clippings can all be turned into mulch or compost and returned to your yard. Check the City and County’s Compost Site for what they offer. • Public Transportation – Encourage your neighbors to take advantage of public transportation options available in

Valparaiso. Learn more about the V-Line routes and Chicago

Dash. Additional transportation options for individuals in need exist through community organizations like Porter County

Aging and Community Services and Opportunity Enterprises. • Community Garden – Use your green thumb to develop a neighborhood garden. There are different ways to organize – you may want to use common space in your own neighborhood, rent a space with the Parks Department or a local church or

simply have a gardener’s club where you can share best practices or split plants among your neighbors. If you really want to be your neighborhood’s expert gardener, you may want to participate in Purdue Extension’s Master Gardener program! • Rain Barrel Program – Encourage households in your neighborhood to participate in the City’s Rain Barrel program. Saving water not only helps protect the environment, it saves residents money and energy. • Dog Waste Management – Encourage your neighbors to pick up after their pets. We want a clean neighborhood and clean stormwater runoff. The City has launched a Dog

Waste Management Campaign and provides dog waste bags for free. They can be picked up at City Hall and Valpo

Parks office. • Grass Clipping Management – Grass clippings can be a treasure to your lawn – or a nuisance to our ponds and creeks. Encourage your neighbors to learn the Do’s and

Don’ts of grass clippings. This brochure shows everything you need to know. • Be a Good Neighbor on Pollution Prevention – A lot of pollutants can be generated in our everyday activities without us noticing. This Household Guide to Prevent

Stormwater Pollution brochure shows what you can do to help with the problem. Be part of the solution; stop stormwater pollution. Clean water starts with us! • Yard Sale – One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Organize a neighborhood yard sale event or use your neighborhood communication channels to offer goods that you may be ready to pass on. • Recycling and Waste Reduction – The Porter County

Recycling and Waste Reduction District provides information on current events, tips for going green and more. Stay up to date by checking their website regularly. • Report a Polluter – If you see something, say something.

The City’s Stormwater Program has set up a report-apolluter hotline email as MS4@Valpo.us. • Tool Lending Library – A neighborhood tool lending library is a way to connect neighbors with shared resources that already exist in your neighborhood. Perhaps one neighbor has a large shed with tools that they use infrequently that neighbors could borrow, or neighbors can go in on a shared inventory of tools. This guide outlines some thoughtful suggestions for getting started.

• National Night Out – National Night Out is an annual event typically held in August that unites the Valparaiso Police

Department and neighborhoods throughout the city as one to show support against crime. The national program provides an opportunity for neighborhoods to organize special events like cook-outs, ice cream social and block parties while the police department visits each group that signs up. Look for updates during the summer months on their Facebook page. • Valparaiso Police Department Citizens’ Academy - The

Citizens’ Police Academy (CPA) provides an opportunity to participate and learn about police procedures and become familiar with the officers that work to protect and serve our community. • Neighborhood Watch – The Valparaiso Police Department (VPD) can meet with your neighborhood group and discuss ways that you can work together to ensure a successful neighborhood watch or communications system. Contact the VPD Community Relations Division to learn more. • SafeCam Program – Register your home surveillance camera to assist the VPD when they are investigating a local crime that may have taken place in your area. Once you’re registered, the VPD can contact you to request any possible video evidence. Learn more. • Safe Exchange Zone – The VPD parking lot at 355 South

Washington Street offers a safe exchange zone where residents can meet locally to exchange items they’ve sold online, all while under video surveillance and with police officers a few steps away. • Out to Alarm Valpo – The Valparaiso Fire Department (VFD) and Martin Security partner to provide free smoke detectors and installation to Valparaiso and Center Township residents.

Learn more about the Out to Alarm Valpo program and consider hosting a “smoke detector blitz” in your neighborhood. • Car Seat Program – The VFD is a permanent fitting station for child safety seats. Contact VFD for a free car seat inspection or installation and inform your neighborhood of this community program. • Disaster Preparedness – You may want to develop a disaster preparedness checklist for your neighborhood. Porter

County has outlined key safety tips to keep in mind in case of emergency.

• Smart 911 – Encourage your neighbors to register with Smart 911, a program being driven by Porter County Government that allows residents to provide important household information that can be used in emergency situations to help inform Police, Fire and EMS.

HEALTHY

• Valparaiso Market – Get a group of neighbors to walk, bike or carpool to the Valparaiso Market to shop for fresh local produce, handmade products and beautiful plants and flowers. Beginning in January 2021, the Market is year-round and available for curbside pick-up. • Neighborhood Walking Routes – Check out the Valpo Parks’

Neighborhood Walking Routes (print version available at Parks

Office). Organize a neighborhood walking group and log your progress. If your walking group organizes in the evening that may be another way to promote a “neighborhood watch” program in your neighborhood. • Healthy Communities Activities – Valpo Parks Healthy

Communities initiative offers programming for residents of all ages throughout the year. • Fitness Groups – Get creative and consider organizing fitness groups in your neighborhood. This could be a Tuesday evening walking group, biking club, a Sunday evening yoga group or anything else you can think of. See what your neighbors’ interests are! • Walking School Bus – To promote a healthy lifestyle and celebrate our neighborhood schools, put together a “walking school bus” that brings together children and parents to walk their kids to school together. This might be a fun way to celebrate back to school time. • Activities for All Ages – Neighborhood parks or common areas might be a good place to organize regular programs for children, teens, adults and seniors to get active. Maybe one of your neighbors knows karate or yoga and can volunteer time to host the activity. • Healthy Recipe Sharing – If your block party is held “potluck” style, encourage neighbors to bring healthy food options and a recipe card. An organizer could compile all the recipes into a document to share with the neighborhood.