The Collaborative’s New Board Members
by Erik Kojola — February 10th, 2010 | At the Collaborative
The Community Design Collaborative is pleased to announce the election of Mary Ann Conway and Joe Matje to its board of directors.
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At the Collaborative
The Collaborative Launches Project with Cramer Hill CDC
by Erik Kojola — January 21st, 2010 | At the Collaborative, Service Grants
Collaborative volunteer James Curry, MetEast senior Angelo Drummond and Angelo's adviser Keinan Thompson discuss the Cramer Hill project.
Every Community Design Collaborative service grant begins with a kickoff meeting to present the volunteers with background on the project, the site, the neighborhood and the client and their mission. Last week Angelo Drummond’s vision for a teen lounge in the Cramer Hill neighborhood of Camden, NJ moved one step further when the Community Design Collaborative held a kickoff for a project with the Cramer Hill Community Development Corporation to create a conceptual design for a community center based on Angelo’s ideas. At the meeting, the volunteers heard about Angelo’s research while project manager Heidi Levy showed them photos and maps of the site and surrounding area.
Angelo, a senior at MetEast High School, decided to focus his senior thesis on researching and developing a community teen lounge after looking around his neighborhood and seeing that teenagers did not have a safe place to hang out after school. MetEast is a public school established by the nonprofit Big Picture Learning and encourages students to pursue their passions through internships and a senior project that benefits the community. Angelo wanted to help reduce violence in the community by creating a space for teenagers to spend time and participate in events and activities.
2009: A Year in Review
by Erik Kojola — December 22nd, 2009 | At the Collaborative
$610,000 in pro bono design services, 28 completed projects, 37 new service grants, 6 groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings…
As the numbers show, the Community Design Collaborative had a busy, successful 2009.
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The Collaborative Takes Second in Philebrity Awards
by Erik Kojola — December 10th, 2009 | At the Collaborative
The Collaborative came in second with 569 votes in the 2009 Philebrity Awards Poll for the Collaboration of the Year category!
Many exciting Philadelphia organizations were featured in the poll, including some of our partners and clients like Next Great City, Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, Project HOME and New Kensington CDC.
A Full House!
by Erik Kojola — October 16th, 2009 | At the Collaborative, Events, Volunteers
Our volunteer recognition event during DesignPhiladelphia was a huge success! Over 120 people attended and the presentation was standing room only.
The talk by Terry Schwarz raised interesting issues about vacant land and temporary reuse. Her work with Pop Up City in Cleveland provides some creative ideas for revitalizing urban areas, fostering community engagement and utilizing neglected infrastructure. Schwarz discussed past Pop Up events including a winter festival called Leap Night, a community celebration on a neglected bridge and an artists’ bazaar in an empty building.
The Collaborative will continue working on these issues with our Infill Philadelphia: Industrial Sites Interim Use Charrette on October 30. Design professionals, public artists, and nonprofit and city planners will devise creative temporary projects to enliven vacant small-scale neighborhood industrial sites in Chinatown and Kensington.
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A Groundbreaking Year
by Haley Loram — September 29th, 2009 | At the Collaborative, Clients, Events, Service Grants, Volunteers
Who could have predicted that in the midst of a recession year, the Collaborative would be recognized at more nonprofit ground-breaking ceremonies than ever before?
Celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of our volunteers, nonprofits and civic associations who have dedicated their time to strengthening neighborhoods through design:
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You understand the value of the Community Design Collaborative’s work in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Here’s a simple way you can impact both. Make a donation before October 13th and you will help save paper and postage!
The Collaborative thanks you!
A Tale of Two Fellows
by Erik Kojola — August 27th, 2009 | At the Collaborative
The Collaborative's current and former Philly Fellows, Erik Kojola and Haley Loram.
Remember what it’s like to be the new person in the office? Both Haley Loram and I – Erik Kojola – joined the Collaborative through a post-graduate service program called the Philly Fellows – check out this recent Inquirer article on Philly Fellows. I’ll be taking on Haley’s job as Communications Associate and the work of publicizing and documenting the Collaborative’s work. Haley will transition into her new role as Program Assistant, managing the creation of the Collaborative’s new database and conducting program evaluation. Haley and I sat down recently to compare notes and introduce ourselves to you.
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