Embedded Files
What is the Neighborhood Revitalization Coalition?
What is the Neighborhood Revitalization Coalition?
The Neighborhood Revitalization Coalition (NRC), founded by Carla Lewis Miles and the Greater Duval Neighborhood Association, began as an organized vehicle for communication between organizations and key members of the Gainesville community. This meeting space allowed community partners to collaborate on their projects, share resources, and build relationships amongst each other, fostering social and economic development in East Gainesville. As the body of participants grew and developed, more formal means of securing political and financial resources became necessary, but the founding members did not want to disband the NRC for the positive impact it had on the community. Instead, leadership of the NRC transitioned to the student sector with the goal of building positive and reliable relationships between students, university systems (UF and Santa Fe), and Gainesville community organizations.
What We Do
What We Do
A Community Collaboration Forum
A Community Collaboration Forum
During the first week of every month, the NRC hosts general body meetings where students and community organizations are welcome to hear what the NRC is working on, and to discuss current community-based projects and volunteer opportunities. Apart from our monthly meetings, our team also attends community-engagement events and summits focused on community development and organizing in order to maintain community relationships and remain up-to-date on our partner's projects and needs.
Campus Engagement
Campus Engagement
Throughout the the 2023 fall semester, the NRC team tabled in UF's Plaza of the Americas to educate students about opportunities to get involved in the Gainesville community, and encourage students to use their knowledge, skills, and resources to work towards a more equitable Gainesville. We have also begun teach-ins in classrooms and clubs to acquaint students with the NRC's mission. You can view our presentation at the link below.
Teach-Ins
Teach-Ins
Green Club Summit with the Community Weatherization Coalition
An empowerment teach-in with the Women's Student Alliance
Curriculum Development
Curriculum Development
In partnership with Uf S.E.R.V.E.S., the I worked in Gainesville during the summer of 2023 to develop curriculum that utilizes informative materials from the Gainesville community to educate university volunteers about socio-economic challenges in Gainesville and sustainable impact practice. A response to a need expressed by many community members, this curriculum equips students with the knowledge and context necessary to serve our diverse community sustainably, empathetically, and ethically. You may watch the video below to see Kevin Scott, the Co-Director of Just Income, discuss the harsh realities of poverty following a script I wrote for this project. This experience has prepared me to publicly advocate for change surrounding systemic challenges including poverty, crime, food insecurity, and health disparities which disproportionately affect black and brown communities.
Kevin Brown Center.movExchange Summit
Exchange Summit
Marquelle Ogletree, Manda Wittebort, a colleague, and me
When Manda Wittebort, the Path to Purpose Director at the Brown Center for Leadership and Service, asked Marquelle and I to be note takers at the Exchange and Elevate summit, we jumped on the opportunity to support this community-based collaborative initiative
Elevate Summit
Elevate Summit
Carla Lewis and Latashia Mayze-Brimm
Among an amazing group of presenters at the summit, Carla Lewis and Latashia Mayze-Brimm combined artistic expression with their narrative of lived experience of gentrification in Gainesville. Our small group engaged in conversation about the roles of accomplices, allies, and anti-oppressors in forging sustainable change for equitable development.
Expanding Our Mission
Expanding Our Mission
Since March 2023, the NRC has worked closely with Latashia Brimm, Project Coordinator for the Brown Center for Leadership and Service. Together, we are writing a virtual modular curriculum which educates students about socio-economic and cultural dynamics which characterize the Gainesville community and empowers them with the knowledge and sensitivity necessary to make sustainable impact through volunteering. Along with James Agan, a UF student and current BCLS Americorp Vista, we are co-building UF S.E.R.V.E.S., University-wide program which provides the infrastructure to train and track student volunteers who serve Gainesville partners. The NRC and UF S.E.R.V.E.S. have also co-hosted community partners including the Community Weatherization Coalition, Peaceful Paths, Family Promise, and the Repurpose Project, who graciously came to campus and to share their mission and to invite students to volunteer with them.
Community Advisory Panel
Community Advisory Panel
In light of these developing university programs, the Neighborhood Revitalization Coalition underwent a reevaluation period to determine how to work symbiotically with UF S.E.R.V.E.S. without replicating work. Wary of planning for community impact without community input, we assembled a panel of twelve community leaders, activists, and sustainable development experts to advise our plans for the future.
In preparation for the panel, we performed a needs assessment by surveying all 43 community partners, and requested personal meetings with each partner. Due to our partners' time constraints, we were able to meet with 13 partners who shared their most pressing organizational needs and concerns surrounding policy, available resources, and the university's footprint in Gainesville.
We collated these results and presented them to our expert panel for deep analysis.
Following guidance from the panel, the NRC is now closely partnered with Florida for All, a justice-based local and statewide advocacy and activism coalition, whose leader, Chanae Jackson, is guiding the NRC into closer partnership with the Gainesville community. Since partnering with Florida for All, the NRC has hosted informational community tours, and begun building teach-in curriculum to educate and mobilize students are the community-identified challenges. We are also branching into both grassroots and top-down organizing to tackle issues such as UF's abstaining from the Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance, UF's abstaining from commissioner Desmond Duncan-Walker's nonviolence committee, UF's withholding of resources from the community, and others.
Voices of Influence
Voices of Influence
Carla Lewis Miles: “Put the community in charge” and “always look for ways to follow up and follow through”
Abigail Perret - Gentil: “If power is not shared, we’re just treating groups like a monolithe”
Latashia Mayze-Brimm: “Unintentionally or intentionally working in silos limits capacity and momentum toward change which can be increased by connecting with others who are doing similar work and being intentional about desired outcomes”
Andrew Telles: “When you’re looking to address community needs, the community needs to be a part of that from beginning to end...There has to be a reciprocity, a give and take
Stay Connected
Stay Connected
Visit out website to sign up for emails and learn more about us!
Connect with us on Instagram to keep up with our meeting schedule, upcoming volunteer opportunities, and other important updates!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse