Having graduated its first class of youth participants in the new GreenRoots Leadership Development Program and commenced an adult track earlier this month, ReNU Niagara, a community outreach program of Niagara University, will now address a very unique demand, offering the same program for adults living in subsidized housing managed by the Niagara Falls Housing Authority.
The free, eight-week program is made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
“This program will empower residents, of both the HOPE VI project and other subsidized housing, to address issues in their own neighborhood and take ownership of making their neighborhood a place of which they can be proud to call home,” says HOPE VI Community and Supportive Services Coordinator Carol Poole.
The program will enable Housing Authority residents to take ownership of a local environmental issue and develop methods to implement the desired change. Throughout the program, participants will gain insight from community leaders and Niagara University’s faculty and staff. The concepts that program participants glean from these presentations will be applied to their final projects.
The schedule will commence with an introduction of the program by members of the ReNU Niagara team along with an idea generation workshop and a lecture on environmental issues in Western New York. The following four sessions will allow participants to develop their projects and hear from presenters on topics such as leadership, community building, volunteer management, budgeting and several other subjects. The final week will consist of a graduation ceremony, featuring formal project presentations and a reception.
Schedule for the Niagara Falls Housing Authority track of the GreenRoots Leadership Development Program:
- Tuesday, June 14, 2011
- Monday, June 20, 2011
- Monday, June 27, 2011
- Monday, July 11, 2011
- Monday, July 18, 2011
- Monday, July 25, 2011
All sessions will take place from 6-8 p.m. in the Center Court Office Building’s Meeting Room.
ReNU Niagara, established in 2006 with government support and university investment, has worked in partnership with non-profits and other community-based organizations to build individual and organizational capacity in the City of Niagara Falls and surrounding areas. Consistent with the core values of Niagara University, its mission is to engage, empower and educate diverse community stakeholders to improve Niagara Falls and the surrounding areas.
For more information, please contact Leehe Shmueli, an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving as a project coordinator with ReNU Niagara, at 716.205.0289 or ude.aragainnull@ileumhsl.
