April: Loralyn Fabian

EAST LIBERTY DEVELOPMENT, INC.
Sustainable Community Fellow

NEGLEY RUN BLVD.
Event: Saturday, March 27th, 2010
Conducted Negley Run Blvd. site assessment on March 8th, 2010, with Erin Copeland (PPC) and Myrna Newman (Allgheny Cleanways)
We were already receiving a great amount of CMU students to volunteer for the day to clean-up the site
Outreach conducted to the bordering neighborhoods to recruit community volunteers
Goal was to create an event to foster green networking and education between neighborhoods and the students

Created flyer / map to promote event, but mainly to explain event through face to face interactions at meetings
Outreach conducted through attending community meetings and sending announcements over community group email servers
Recruited remaining crew leaders through a SCA staff member, PPC staff member, my co-workers, etc.
Along with recruiting volunteers and crew leaders, I had to plan and organize everything that goes into an event
Contacted DPW for dumpsters, traffic division, scrap metal removal contact, arranged all materials needed (a lot through AC), bathrooms, food (and $ for food), etc.
Wrote up work plan, wrote up crew leader outlines for day-of speeches, planned actual process of how sites were to be cleaned / how many people needed / etc., etc.
Conducted crew leader training meeting, along with several other meetings with individual leaders that could not make original meeting
Pick-up along Negley Run Blvd. between Collins Ave. and Washington Blvd.
95 CMU students came out that day to clean-up, as well as 18 community members, 12 additional volunteers, and 16 PSU students
12 Crew leaders (counting Josie/Scott as one)
5 "supervisors", including myself
157 VOLUNTEERS TOTAL!
Significant amount of trash / litter picked-up
Each crew had a reflection period at the end to harness community member and student green discussion/education
Prep for the event, and clean-up after the event conducted by supervisors
Thank you letters, typed and hand written, sent to partners and volunteers

Student volunteers benefitted through:
Spending time outdoors/connecting with nature, working as a team, sense of accomplishment, exercise, pollution education / awareness to not litter, interacting with their local community
Community member volunteers beneffited through:
Spending time outdoors/connecting with nature, working as a team, enhancing their community, sense of accomplishment, sense of pride and ownership over one's neighborhood green asset, making connections with their neighbors, exercise, pollution education / awareness to not litter, interacting with local college studets
Crew leaders benefitted through:
Spending time outdoors/connecting with nature, crew leader training, leadership skills, team player skills, sense of accomplishment, exercise, pollution education

TREEVITALIZE
TreeVitalize is a program managed through Western PA Conservancy, WPC, but community members and CDCs make the projects happen
Three separate potential sites for tree plantings
Black St. - East Liberty and Garfield borders
Sheridan Ave. - East Liberty
Stanton Ave. - East Liberty and Highland Park borders
Had meetings with partners from each site to discuss project, get them on board, and begin strategizing outreach to residents
In order for a tree to be planted, the resident who's house it would be in front of must comply and sign a request form so created flyers with image montages for each site / focus: conserving money
Outreach door to door on many dates at each site with partners / flyers distributed / request forms signed by each interested resident
Wrote the TreeVitalize applications / attached request forms

RAIN GARDENS
Funding to implement 5 residential, urban rain gardens in NegleyPlace neighborhood (Garfield, East Liberty, Highland Park)
6 potential sites located by our partner Gary Cirrincione - where the residents would like a rain garden and have a green thumb
6 sites scientifically assessed to determine which 5 are best suited for gardens
• Water infiltration test, soil tests, calculating area of roof runoff, drainage area, etc.
• Assessment report developed by our partner, Barton Kirk
Volunteer recruitment from the residents family, friends, and neighbors
Recruitment of crew leaders (rain garden experts)
Draft up the designs in AutoCAD on the computer
Order plants from RGA

CAR FREE FRIDAYS
Meeting with Lou and Karen to discuss Car Free Fridays
Event in East Liberty in June to promote alternative and green transportation methods
Will have tent at Whole Foods to promote with breakfast
Developing neighborhood bike tour and designing map for tour
Developing separate East Liberty walking tour route for different date in June
Promotion will start soon: Posters, Eblasts, articles in the community papers and blogs
Event: June 18th and 26th

ELM ST DISTRICT
Also in the midst of locating great places for additional tree planting in our Elm Street District
Meeting with Matt Erb from Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest
Budgetting
Finalized by June 1st

STORYTELLING DEVICE
Read through ELDI's annual reports and community plan
Will now consult with Nate to develop ideas for the ultimate storytelling graphic device to get ELDI's story across to others

STUDENT CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION
SCA: GREEN CITIES BLUES FESTIVAL
Event decided: Tag on an existing event, make it sustainable and promote green initiaves/Green Cities too
Developed list of potential partners for event and their contacts
And list of supplies / SWAG must get
And what green initiatives can actually be embedded into Festival
Created deadlines
Created Facebook page and photo to begin early promotion
Divided partners three ways along with Ray and Lori
Begin contacting potential partners
Event: July 23, 24, 25

SCA: COMMUNITY DAY
Managing communication amongst Fellows through emails
Researched and developed list of potential community contacts for Fellows
Developing GIS analysis maps
Keeping in contact with primary contact Jim Ritcher, ED of Hazelwood Initiative, Inc.
Developed Google Doc to keep Fellow's contacts organized
Developed deadlines / possible community meeting day

SCA: Website
Will develop in the next week