Jes Beals – Page 18 – Muncie Neighborhoods

July 19, 2018October 19, 2018

Second Harvest Survey 2018

The survey of clients in the surrounding eight counties has been requested by Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. The goal is to provide data similar to that from a now-discontinued survey conducted by Feeding America. The Feeding America survey was conducted every four (4) years and the data it provided was used by Second Harvest for purposes such as (but not necessarily limited to) promotional outreach material and grant proposals. It is hoped that this proposed survey will fill the information void left and bring new communities stories to light.

Faculty Mentor: Melinda Messineo
Department: Sociology
Community Partner: Second Harvest Food Bank
Students: Victor Boggs, Rachael Finchum, Dorothy Forster, Alli Goins, Sam Halter, Samaria Hamilton, Katarina Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Danae King, Catina Mccord, Jessy Menker, Peter Moskalew, Olivia Power, Jenny Schultz, Daphne Scott, Iynsey Shockley, Darren Svitko

July 19, 2018October 19, 2018

Reimagining Muncie’s Foodshed

Indiana is an agricultural state with the value of agricultural products sold in excess of $11 billion. Then, why do we still have hungry people in our backyard? Like many Rust Belt regions of the country, East Central Indiana (ECI) experienced a slower recovery from the 2008 economic downturn. Once a reliable choice, careers in car and industrial manufacturing have been severely limited. ECI counties show some of Indiana’s highest poverty and unemployment levels. As well, nearly 17% of ECI residents and 25% of children are food insecure. How can we help local farmers expand their share in the food market AND help feed hungry people in our communities? These issues are complex and multi-faceted. In this project, students explored the issues surrounding food insecurity and methods of developing sustainable food systems in Muncie and East Central Indiana. We explored ways to best serve our community and empower a resilient and sustainable food-based economic engine that has the capacity to provide fresh, healthy foods to its residents.

Faculty Mentor: Josh Gruver
Department: Natural Resources and Environmental Management
Community Partner: Muncie Food Hub Partnership, Edible Muncie, Urban Garden Coalition, Ball State Student Farm
Students: Kaitlin Carroll, Libonique Chandler, Kristina Chier, Praphulla Devanapally, Abby Fischer, Dylan Ford, Maryssa Gosnell, Rachael Hanley, Paige Jones, Mitch Kaverman, Kami Kleefisch, Kate Koenig, Tyler Mulhall, Garrett Mullins, Hunter Phillips, Preeti Samra, Caroline Tegeler, Taylor Wilson, Nora Zaher

July 17, 2018July 17, 2018

Ross Community Center Renovations and Baseball Fields

The Ross Community Center, located at 1110 W 10^th St in Muncie, has seen some major renovations in the past year. June 2^nd marked the grand opening of the new Ross Center baseball fields. The development includes youth baseball and softball fields, and other recreational facilities for the surrounding communities. The land for the baseball fields were paid for by a grant funded by the Ball Brothers Foundation and a donation from the Vectren Foundation. The anticipation of the fields sparked many other transformations at the center. Most recently, volunteers from Lowe’s worked on the construction of 10 pergolas, mural paintings on the building, painting of new picnic tables, and the construction of a stage with future plans of building an amphitheater. Lowe’s donated $2,500 in materials and two days of labor to the community center. The community center hopes that these renovations will help to revitalize the surrounding Thomas/Avondale neighborhood and bring more economic development opportunities to the area.

Photos provided by the Ross Center Facebook Page:

Photos provided by Heather Williams:

July 11, 2018

Muncie Historic Preservation Plan

“In 2015, the City of Muncie Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission (MHPRC) initiated a partnership with the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation in the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University to develop a comprehensive and citywide Historic Preservation Plan. The Plan’s purpose was to review the City’s historic preservation program and recommend action steps to strenthen and prioritize the program. Through a series of community meetings, a public input survey, studying best practices in other cities, and utilizing an updated historic resource survey, the Ball State students developed a plan that was then further edited by the MHPRC to meet Muncie’s needs.”

Check out the Muncie Historic Preservation Plan!

Web Friendly Version (pdf)
High Resolution Version (pdf)

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018

Whitely Community Food Pantry Wins National Award at the NUSA Conference

On Friday, May 25^th at the 43^rd annual NUSA conference in Birmingham, Alabama, the Whitely Community Food Pantry was named the 2018 Grand Prize winner of the Neighborhood of the Year (NOTY) Award. The food pantry was also awarded first place in the Social Revitalization category of the NOTY. Whitely was recognized for creating a sustainable food pantry, strong partnerships, an educational resource on nutrition, and future-focused projects to combat hunger in the community.

Seeing that over 38% of Whitely Neighborhood residents are living below the poverty level, the food pantry has made it their mission to “resolve the serious problem of food insecurity in our area.” With the 2017 closing of Marsh Grocery, the neighborhood has become a “food dessert” that is lacking quality nourishment for residents and their families.

Whitely has formed partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana to obtain food at a low cost and with Purdue Extension for nutritional information about cooking healthy foods. The food pantry served on average 100 households or 200 individuals each month (nearly 8% of the entire Whitely population) in 2017 alone.

The Whitely Community Food Pantry is held from 4-6 pm the third Thursday of the month at Harvest Christian Fellowship, 1010 E. Centennial. It is open to anyone in the Whitely area or Whitely Community Council members. The food pantry is actively seeking volunteers and financial support. To become a volunteer please contact Jay Zimmerman at pantryprojectwhitely@gmail.com or Mary Dollison at 288-1892. You can also support the pantry through their GoFundMe campaign.

June 16, 2018July 11, 2018

Whitely Community Council Wins National Awards At Neighborhoods, U.S.A. Conference

Awards were presented by NUSA president Tige Watts and accepted by Kenyonta Hudson, Whitely Community Council Executive Director; Cornelius and Mary Dollison; Rebecca Parker, Technology Coordinator for Muncie Public Library; and Frank Scott, Whitely Community Council President.
Article by Erin Moore

Devotion. Commitment. Enthusiasm. Collaboration. Inspiration. Inclusivity. These six words only begin to describe Mary Dollison’s legacy in the Whitely neighborhood and Muncie at-large. Her significant contributions to our community were nationally recognized at the 42^nd annual Neighborhoods, U.S.A. (NUSA) conference in Omaha, Nebraska, this May.

Mary was a recipient of NUSA’s “Who’s Who in America’s Neighborhoods” award, which recognizes individuals across the country who promote neighborhood development, participation, and collaboration. Mary’s nominator, Heather Williams of Ball State University’s Building Better Neighborhoods initiative and the Muncie Action Plan, noted her key roles in building the Whitely Community Council which boasts 90-100 attendees at its monthly meetings; creating the Motivate our Minds educational enrichment program; securing support from the city, county, area foundations, Ball State, and the local private sector to reopen Whitely’s Roy C. Buley Community Center and restore the historic Shafer Chapel; and partnering with Ball State faculty to create the award-winning “Schools within the Context of Community” teacher preparation program.

The Whitely Community Council’s Year of Color and monthly newsletter also received first-place prizes at this year’s NUSA conference.

The Year of Color, an ambitious series of public and private beautification projects consisting of painting, planting, repair, and public art installation, was awarded the first-place spot in the “Neighborhood of the Year” Physical Revitalization category. The campaign was successful in drawing positive attention to the neighborhood as well as strengthening relationships and pride among Whitely residents. Project leaders Rebecca Parker and Frank Scott presented the Year of Color to a panel of judges at the NUSA conference.

Whitely’s newsletter took home first place in the monthly newsletter category after being evaluated by a jury panel for content, layout, and overall appearance.

Whitely Community Council members, Muncie Action Plan’s Aimee Fant, and Building Better Neighborhoods’ Heather Williams were able to attend the conference in person through the generous support of the Ball Brothers Foundation.

“We share [these awards] with every volunteer involved and with our community partners, among them Muncie Parks Department, Muncie Delaware Clean and Beautiful, Ball State Office of Community Engagement, and the Muncie Action Plan,” said Rebecca. “Muncie is doing great things!

The community is invited to celebrate the Whitely Community Council’s success!

WCC Awards Reception
Monday, June 19
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Cornerstone Center for the Arts (520 E Main St, Muncie)