the Sanneh Foundation about their vision for the center. D1 resident and chair
of the Conway Community Advisory Group (CCAG), Kris Gjerde, welcomed folks and
talked about the process that led the CCAG to unanimously recommend the
Foundation as the partner for the center. She spoke about the commitment,
skills and resources, and enthusiasm that the CCAG recognized in the Foundation
staff when they were interviewed on July 8.
District 1 staff member, Betsy Leach, outlined the schedule of outreach
activities and CCAG meetings since last October when the community first heard
about plans to partner the center. She introduced the CCAG members and thanked
them for their efforts in the process. Those community members are: Kris
Gjerde, Erika Martin, Sandy Rosbacka, Stacey Van Patten, Chris Dollar-Simmons,
Clara Ware, Kate Staples, Timothy Turner, Melvin Baker and Ebony Young. This
group of community members represents diverse users of the center. The city
staff who were members of the CCAG were Kathy Korum and Gwen Peterson from
Parks, and City Council President, Kathy Lantry.
Sanneh Foundation Executive Director, Tony Sanneh, then talked about the
various programs that his organization runs. These run the gamut from soccer
camps, to college prep activities, to anti-racism programming. (Here is a link
to the Foundation so you can check out the diversity of activities they do!)
He and his staff talked about their vision of building partnerships with the
community to make the center a vibrant place. He spoke about the goal of
keeping the center open from 9a-9p seven days a week - with the commitment that
these hours will be available weekdays and as many weekend hours as possible -
just how many hours will depend on funding, commitment from the community and
so on.
He talked about the current Community Education Senior Programming continuing,
and all of us working together to figure out how other activities will fit in
at Conway and elsewhere in the area. The goal is to keep activities going
throughout the center while the lights are on!
Questions from the audience included questions about how the Foundation is
funded and whether the Foundation was open to joint funding requests with other
community groups. The Foundation has a variety of funding sources including
fees for its soccer camps (other than these camps, all other activities they do
are FREE to participants), corporate support, foundation support, and other
donations. They are a growing organization. Funders are always looking for
partnerships among organizations, so pooling our resources and our requests
should be a natural way of doing business.
Questions also centered on which current programs would continue at the center
and which are likely to leave. The Foundation is trying to be as open and
honest with the community as possible, stating that undoubtedly there will come
a time when they have to say no about an activity that will take place at the
center. But for now, they are taking cues from the community about what is
wanted and what should and can be supported. They look to outcomes from
activities, as well as to commitment from community members to actively
participate, when assessing whether an activity should occupy time and space at
the facility.
Other questions centered on the role that Parks will play in this partnership.
There is a commitment from the City that a presence by Parks will be maintained
at Conway for a year (2014 budget year), probably on the order of two staff
members. This presence will help in the transition of management for the
center, and it will also help all of us think about the possibilities of what
this center can be. The CCAG will stay involved over that first year, as well,
helping to assess the effectiveness of the partnership, based on the original
request for proposals.
The City and the Foundation are still in negotiation about the details of their
contract, and the Foundation Board still needs to vote on approval of this plan
to locate the Foundation's programming at Conway. But we are all hopeful that
all these details will be worked out and that the Sanneh Foundation will be
present sometime in September. Communication about this ongoing process will
continue through District 1's outreach efforts, online and through community
meetings.