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| Volunteers prep Hinchliffe for painting. Photo provided by the New Jersey Community Development Corporation |
Seeing as how the website views have officially climbed over 3,000 views without much promoting over the past week, it's probably a good idea to update everyone on the latest positive news in Paterson as well as the progress of our mission and our next courses of action.
Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed citizens from all over the city buy in to this whole concept of working together toward a common goal. It started with the Victor Cruz Parade (obviously things have been in motion since before that) but after that, the positive news just keeps flowing:
- Our launch was reported in the Paterson Press and we are currently exploring other promotional opportunities in local and national papers.
- The citizens elected two very promising new School Board Commissioners in Manny Martinez Jr. and Reverand Corey Teague. A veteran board commissioner, Errol Kerr, also re-claimed his position on election day. In my dealings with all of them, I can say for certain that all three men have an unquestionable commitment to helping build a better Paterson and will be giving their best effort in that venture.
- In addition to the exciting board member news, Paterson Public Schools also kicked off a new series of Positive Parenting Workshops that are likely to continue being an offered service for any citizens eager to attend and learn.
- Last weekend on Saturday April 21st and Sunday the 22nd, multiple youth groups took part in a variety of community service activities: a Mary Ellen Kramer Park Clean-up, a clean up in the city's 1st ward, and the NJCDC's AmeriCorps program led an initial Hinchliffe restoration effort as they painted the stadium walls.
- Inspiringly enough, the effort to paint Hinchliffe has prompted the city's Department of Public Works (DPW) to finish the job this Saturday the 28th. All volunteers are welcome and DPW will be meeting at Overlook Part at 9AM to prepare for the day of work on our historic stadium. Volunteers for a 4th ward clean-up effort will also be meeting at Overlook Park at around the same time.
- The school district held a community forum this week and everyone in the city is now on the same page that we will no longer promote our students to the next grade unless they meet all the requirements for promotion. In the past, public pressure has allowed students to advance grades despite not being ready to do so. This will no longer be the case and the city's children will be better off for it. This new direction we are headed in ensures accountability, a trait we must exhibit daily in order to remain credible. Another community forum will be held this Monday the 30th to discuss all the initiatives happening around the school district to improve academic performance.
- Last night, Wednesday the 25th, Mrs. Donna Ivy concluded her month-long Quality of Life evaluation of each ward in Paterson. Citizens gathered together to discuss all the problems going on in each part of the city and proposed solutions and action plans were developed together. Naturally, I found myself working alongside Mayor Jones as we bounced ideas off each other about the city's media promotion and awareness plans going forward. It was a very productive session and again supports what this website is trying to accomplish.
- City Council debates were also taking place this week.
- There is more that I'm forgetting at the moment but I will make sure to update and/or have a new submission of positive happenings as soon as possible.
- Lastly, progress on our Facebook page since our first week of major promoting has been great. We officially have 368 'likes' on our page and counting. With that support, we have the potential to reach over 167,000 people and alert them to our cause. Again, that number does not include support from Victor Cruz and most of our elected officials; once they are alerted to the cause and get on board, we can expect to make an exponential jump in visibility
I will be away for the weekend but come Monday I will get right back to work on the next phase of this project. The plan is to produce a quick yet informative promotional video for the city that will hopefully assist our plans to catch people's attention on Facebook. My goal is to have that finished by the end of next week so that we can begin one more major promoting period after I discuss our plans with city officials at the city council meeting on May 9th.
In other news as well, Cease-Fire Paterson will soon be launching a campaign for our fundraiser happening in June that will hopefully allow the proactive anti-violence program to continue operating in the city. Cease-Fire is a highly effective model of violence prevention that has been proven to work in many cities across the country and it is imperative that Paterson continues this program. More information will follow on that immediately once I receive the final details for the event. We will have a page here devoted to these fundraising activities.
That's all for now so stay tuned for more updates and keep up to date with other news and events happening on the Facebook page.
The support for a positive Paterson has been in abundance and I look forward to continue promoting all the amazing happenings going on in the city.
Thanks to all once more for the support and please know that it is forever appreciated!
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