November 14 — IMAGINE-Nation: Neighborhood Creativity and Collaboration
Photographs by local youth inspire new conversations, and a coalition of homeless adults creates a community newsletter—these are just two stories that champion the ingenuity of community engagement. Connect with these artisans of civic life, witness how they create meaning through collaboration, and get inspired to take action in your own neighborhood.
When: Friday, November 14, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Englewood Christian Church 57 N. Rural St., Indianapolis, IN 46201
This is a Spirit & Place event. Free. Presented by Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, Broadway United Methodist Church, Englewood Christian Church, Lafayette Square Area Coalition, Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church, Norwood Place Neighborhood Association, One Paycheck Away, The April Show, and Zion Hill Baptist Church. Questions? Call 317-920-0330 or e-mail mmcaleavey@inrc.org.
Jim Diers, author of Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way, will talk about imagination and collective action in neighborhoods. Enjoy a display of creative local action projects, savor cuisine from ethnic restaurants in the Lafayette Square neighborhood, view an exhibition of artists who have overcome significant obstacles, and hear talented local musicians. Chat with representatives from these local projects: Broadway United Methodist Church’s Eden in Indianapolis (youth engagement), Hawthorne Neighborhood’s Hootenanny Fiesta, Indy Food Co-op, One Paycheck Away (homelessness), The April Show (artists), Lafayette Square Area Coalition’s Taste the Difference (asset development), Norwood Place Sign Design (youth engagement), Old Speedway City Neighborhood Association (architectural heritage), and Zion Hill Baptist Church’s Elements of Art Through Photography (youth engagement).
Participatory democracy has been Jim Diers’ preoccupation and his career for the past 30 years. In his work with grassroots community organizations, the nation’s largest health care cooperative, and city government, Jim has found ways to get people more involved with their communities and with decisions that affect their lives.
In 1988, Mayor Charles Royer appointed Jim to direct Seattle’s new Office of Neighborhoods. Jim was reappointed by the subsequent mayors, Norm Rice in 1990 and Paul Schell in 1998. By the end of Jim’s 14-year tenure, the Office Neighborhoods four-person staff had grown into the Department of Neighborhoods with 100 staff.
The Department’s mission is to decentralize and coordinate city services, strengthen communities and their organizations, and work in partnership with these organizations to preserve and enhance the neighborhoods. The Department manages 13 Little City Halls that provide basic services to citizens and serve as meeting places for neighborhood organizations. It supports about 400 community self-help projects each year through a $4.5 million Neighborhood Matching Fund that was recognized by the Ford Foundation and Kennedy School of Government as one of the most innovative local government programs in the United States. Another program of community empowerment involved 30,000 people in the development of 37 neighborhood plans. The Department also manages the City’s historic preservation program, a P-Patch Program of 75 community gardens, and a leadership training program. In 2000, the Department received the Full Inclusion Award from the American Association on Mental Retardation for its Involving All Neighbors program and a Best of the Best Award from HUD for its Cultivating Communities program.
In 2001, Jim was named Public Employee of the Year by the Municipal League of King County. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from Grinnell College.
After leaving the Department of Neighborhoods in 2002, Jim worked for a year as Interim Director of the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association and for three years as Executive Director of the South Downtown Foundation.
Currently, Jim spends most of his time at the University of Washington, where he teaches courses in architecture and social work and supports community initiatives with faculty and students across all disciplines. Jim also speaks frequently in other cities as a faculty member for the Asset-Based Community Development Institute and as the author of Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way.
