West Ward Neighborhood Partnership

Description

CACLV’s approach to neighborhood revitalization in Easton’s West Ward is informed, shaped, and guided by the community, where the people who will reap the benefits of a well-executed plan live. Easton’s West Ward Neighborhood Partnership (WWNP) was created in 2005 after a Ten Year Neighborhood Revitalization Plan was developed from interviews, surveys, and community meetings involving West Ward residents of all ages. Easton Hospital and Lafayette Ambassador Bank made 10-year funding commitments at $1,000,000 each, supported by tax credits from Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). WWNP also became the City of Easton’s Elm St. Program, with funding through DCED. A Steering Committee, consisting of community leaders, educators, and neighborhood residents and business people was formed.

The West Ward, bounded by the Lehigh River to the south, the Bushkill Creek to the north, 16th Street to the west and 6th Street to the east, has a variety of needs which were identified in the Plan. The following programs, operated from WWNP’s 668 Northampton Street office and throughout the neighborhood, have been developed in response to the Plan:

  • The Façade Grant Program offers grants of up to $5,000 to help West Ward residents improve the appearance and safety of the facades of their homes.
  • The Walkable Neighborhood/Safe Sidewalk Program offers up to $2,000 to West Ward homeowners who need new sidewalks in front of their homes. Old stumps may also be removed and trees planted.
  • The Business Signage Program offers $1,000 in matching grants to West Ward business owners to assist them in upgrading or purchasing new signs for their businesses.
  • The Youth Mosaics and Murals Program involve low-income youth in the creation of large outdoor neighborhood artworks, under the supervision of professional community artists.
  • The West Ward-Northampton Street Gateway and Streetscape Improvements Project, funded by a Hometown Streets Grant from PennDOT, will provide streetscape enhancements to the 600 block of Northampton Street, the main gateway to downtown Easton from the West Ward, to calm traffic, beautify the area, install traffic lights, improve pedestrian safety, and encourage investment. This project is slated to begin construction in the spring of 2008.
  • The Youth Activities Coordinator position is funded in partnership with the United Way and administered by the Boys and Girls Club of Easton. The new West Ward Youth Activities program, “The Club” is based at 1100 Northampton St. and welcomes West Ward youth ages 12-18 in a program that coordinates existing neighborhood resources in the arts, recreation, and sports, and adds new activities where they do not exist. The program also works closely with the Easton Area School District.
    For further information on the program, contact Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Dean Young at 610-253-5846, (f) 610-253-6041. You can also email the Center at eastonteencenter@fast.net.
  • The Rising Tide Community Loan Fund, a CACLV subsidiary, makes micro-loans available to low-and moderate-income entrepreneurs and offers ongoing technical support that will help them to launch and expand their small businesses.
    Call Chris Hudock, Project Director of The Rising Tide, for an appointment, at 484-893-1039. For more information, visit: www.therisingtide.org.
  • The Two Rivers Urban Ecology (TRUE) Project grant has been sent to the Wachovia Regional Foundation. If funded, Lafayette College and Easton’s West Ward would be joint collaborators to foster a vital, sustainable, and globally connected community that supports the health, morals, safety, economic opportunities, educational achievement, and general welfare of all residents and seeks to become a leading innovator and model for the application of urban ecology.

We welcome your participation in the revitalization of the West Ward. To speak with a WWNP staff person about any of our programs, or to share concerns, issues or ideas, please contact us:

Gary Bertsch

Program Manager

gbertsch@caclv.org

Sophia Feller

Administrative Assistant

sfeller@caclv.org
 

668 Northampton Street

Easton, PA 18042

  

610.515.0891

(fax) 610.515.0895

  

Annual Plan

View the 2008-2009 Annual Plan in Adobe Acrobat format.

 

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