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(Beatties Ford/Trinity Park Neighborhood)Hosted by City of Charlotte Neighborhood & Business Services at CPCC Main Campus1
Beatties Ford Road/Trinity Park Neighborhood2015 Board RetreatBackgroundOn Saturday, February 7th 2015, the board members of the Beatties FordRd./Trinity Park Neighborhood participated in a board retreat facilitated by theCity of Charlotte, hosted at CPCC’s Main Campus. The following board membersparticipated in the retreat: Mr. Ben WorthyMrs. Bettye WorthyMs. Nancy Foard Ms. Gwen CherryJohnny JohnsonRuth HancockThe City of Charlotte values citizen leadership and its ability to make an impact in the communities, in whichwe all live, work, play and shop. With this in mind, the board retreat process was initiated to helpneighborhood based organizations develop strategic plans to improve quality of life in their communities.PurposeThe purpose of the board retreat was to Generate meaningful conversations around improving quality of life in our communitySet clear goals and priorities for the upcoming year(s)Develop a vision and strategic priorities for our communityBy participating in the retreat, our board earned a 1,500 Neighborhood Matching Grant credit to helpexecute one of the projects we identified.ProcessOur board retreat was conducted by trained facilitators tasked to keep our conversations on-task, productive,and focused on achievable objectives. The process was designed to help capture the best of the past, the bestof the present, and how we can add to our strengths to build a better future. The focus was: Developing a vision to guide our decision making and activitiesDeveloping strategic priorities that aligned with our visionDeveloping project ideas2
The agenda for the day was as follows: IntroductionsWhere Have We Been? Where Are We Going?: Arrow ActivityWhere We Want to Be: Vision Statement ExerciseSeeing the Forest through the Trees: Developing Strategic PrioritiesWorking Lunch – The Year AheadIdea Development – Time for participants for develop an action plan for goal achievement.Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?We began our day with paired interviews, using the “Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?” activity.The activity was intended to help us reflect on: What we valueWhat are the best things about our community and the people who live hereWhat are our past successesWhere are the potentials and possibilitiesAfter interviewing our partners we shared our discussion with the group, finding commonalities in ourconversations.Where We Were: Reflectingon our past, what were someof the best/worst moments? Problems with “cruisers”No street lights or sidewalksPrivate water & trashcollection (expensive)No public transportationNo community parkCounty Police – greatrelationship/connectivitylost when police forcesmergedActive “Optimist Club”involved in communityLeadership changedAnnexed into CharlottePrimarily home ownersWhere We Are: Why would orwouldn’t a person/businesswant to move into ourcommunity? Revamping NeighborhoodAssoc. Creating neighborhood history Traffic concerns with newdevelopment Nuisances like young menfiring guns in neighborhoodand loose dogs Building relationship withCMPD & other “Park”communities No entry signs welcoming toneighborhood Elem. School in neighborhood Need stop light at majorintersections Cars parking at Trinity &Evonshire are nuisanceWhere We Want to Be: If youcould make 3 wishes to makeour community flourish, whatwould they be? Positive “branding” of theneighborhood Stop lights at keyintersections Reduce/eliminate nuisances To have prior knowledgebefore group homes areestablished in theneighborhood.Our Vision3
Our vision is the unifying statement for our community that will guide our decision making and reminds us of what weare trying to reach. It is based on our shared values and preferences for our community’s future. It combines the best ofwhat was, what is, and what could be.OUR VISION:Welcome to Beatties Ford/Trinity Park: Anextraordinary neighborhood established in one ofCharlotte’s most vibrant communities.“The best neighborhood you’ll ever have is waiting foryou!”Strategic PrioritiesAfter committing to a shared vision, the board began to brainstorm on strategic priorities. This is where we began todefine what is most important to us in order to achieve our vision. Strategic priorities are initiatives that will help usmove closer to our vision of our community. The idea is to focus on a few things and do them very well as opposed tomany things and missing the mark.We started out thinking big and then narrowed down ourfocus using the Affinity Mapping Process, detailed below: Grab some sticky notes from the table. Keeping thevision statement in mind, write down as many of thefollowing as you can think of, one per sticky note:o Current action items getting you closer to ourvision.o Possible priorities/actions items to get us closerto our vision.Place the sticky notes on the wall.Organize the ideas by natural categories, once everyoneagrees on the groups, give each one a name.4
This activity led us to the following categories and action items being identified as important within our community: Branding the Neighborhood(Improved) Community Outreach and InvolvementStrengthened Neighborhood AssociationEach participant was provided three (3) stickers to be used for voting. Stickers could be placed all on one or two itemsor shared amongst all of the ideas identified. The three categories receiving the most votes are the strategic prioritiesthat are most important for us to begin working on to achieve our vision, these are:123Branding theNeighborhoodImprove CommunityOutreach andInvolvementStrengthen theNeighborhoodAssociationAction Items for 2014-2015The three activities selected as most impactful toward achieving our strategic priorities are activities in 2014-2015 are:Apply forNeighborhoodMatching Grant forNeighborhoodEntrance SignGet training on “Howto Be GoodNeighbors”To include: workingbetter together andgetting young peopleContinue neighborhoodmeetings and establishorganizational dues2015 Neighborhood Board Retreat Summary5
Beatties Ford/Trinity Park Neighborhood AssociationOUR VISION:Welcome to Beatties Ford/Trinity Park: An extraordinaryneighborhood established in one of Charlotte’s most vibrantcommunities“The best neighborhood you’ll ever have is waiting for you!”TO HELP US REACH OUR VISION; WE WILL FOCUS ON THREE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:123Branding theNeighborhoodImprove CommunityOutreach andInvolvementStrengthen theNeighborhoodAssociationIN 2014-2015, WE WILL WORK ON THESE ACTIVITES GUIDED BY OUR PRIORITES:Apply forNeighborhoodMatching Grant forNeighborhoodEntrance SignGet training on “Howto Be GoodNeighbors”To include: workingbetter together andgetting young peopleinvolvedContinue neighborhoodmeetings and establishorganizational dues6
Resources to Get StartedProjectGetting Started ChallengeProject #1neighborhoodApply forto create a logoNeighborhoodMatchingGrant forNeighborhoodEntrance Sign Enhance areaaround sign byplanting trees orflowers Raise funds forsignApply toNeighborhoodMatching Grant Project #2Get Trainingon “How to BeGoodNeighbors”To Include:WorkingBetterTogether andGetting YoungPeopleInvolved Start a weekly email blast toinclude “GoodNeighbor” ideasRequest “Need aSpeaker” forgood neighbortrainingResourcesHow to Brand YourNeighborhood: the-neighborhood-pages-278.phpMore Neighborhood BrandingTips: %20CS%20Forum%2012 11 12.pdfTips for Organizing a CommunityCleanup: zecleanup.shtmlCharlotte Beautiful has grants and volunteers for cleanups:www.keepcharlottebeautiful.orgIdeas on what flowers to plant and grow:www.pinterest.comNeighborhood fundraiser how-to-fundraise.htmlNeighborhood Matching Grants communityengagement/nmg/Pages/default.aspxMail Chimp: Free online newsletter creator:www.mailchimp.comTypes of neighborhood cle/Association/Effective HOA CommunicationTips on Being a Good pEtiquette/a/NeighborhoodEtiquette.htmNeed a SpeakerContact: Andrew Bowen, abowen@charlottenc.govWebsite: spx7
Project #3ContinueNeighborhoodMeetings andEstablishOrganizationalDues Create a financecommittee toaddress dues Plan and holdcommunitymeetingsBoard development online resources:Board Source - https://boardsource.org/eweb/How to organize a pxMeetings tips for article/Association/Effective MeetingAgendaIncrease neighborhood icipation-in-homeowner-committees/City of Charlotte Northwest Service Area ContactsRandy HarrisNorthwest Service Area LeaderPhone: 704-432-2433rgharris@charlottenc.govKim BarnesNorthwest Service Area SpecialistPhone: 704-336-8408kbarnes@charlottenc.gov8
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Welcome to Beatties Ford/Trinity Park: An extraordinary neighborhood established in one of Charlotte's most vibrant communities "The best neighborhood you'll ever have is waiting for you!" Beatties Ford/Trinity Park Neighborhood Association 1 Neighborhood . 2 Improve Community Outreach and Involvement . 3 Strengthen the Neighborhood
