New Doors Opening Everywhere in January

On Sunday, January 10, 2016, our Miller Spotlight Property Improvements Action Group Volunteers co-hosted a fun engagement workshop with the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District, Doors to Miller. 

 

Based off of a festival in Italy, our volunteers though this would be a creative way to discuss blight and get more folks interested in ways in which we can help revitalize our community’s properties. 

  

Eighty-three people participated in the Doors to Miller project.  Ages ranged from toddlers to seniors! 

 

 A variety of folks with differing artistic styles and skill-levels joined in on the event. We even ran out of doors! 

 

We had to go back and grab some from our chairwoman’s recycled doors stash. (Jen White runs a non-for-profit that reuses materials from demolished properties to help fix up blighted properties.) All in all 26 doors were created from 1-5pm on this chilly Sunday afternoon and  a lot of fun was had by all. 

 

 

 The doors will be displayed for the rest of the month at the Marshall J. Gardner Center in the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District. Located at 540 S. Lake St. Gary (Miller beach), IN 46403. 

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 their will be a silent auction of the doors from 1-3pm. Funds from this event will go 50/50 to Miller Spotlight’s Property Improvements Action Group and the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District. These donations will further programming and property improvements in our community. 

Our Property Improvements Action Group volunteers on one of the other projects. 

 

They are always looking for folks to join the group and help revitalize our community!

 

Miller Spotlight’s Jobs and the Economy Action Group's online survey for Miller K Market is up. Please take it. Your opinion matters. It will close on 1/30/16 at 11:59PM. We are co-hosting this project with the MCC. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PJK55GG 

The survey results will be given to our local grocer. Sam and his family run Miller K Market. They started doing some improvements 2015 and are looking for constructive feedback on which facility and product upgrades to pursue in 2016. Help us hit our goal of 500 surveys! 

What’s next????

We are working towards accomplishing our 29 community goals. For a PDF of our community plan please email our community builder, Jessie Renslow, via millerspotlight@gmail.com. 

 

Cycle Miller Beach will host their next community Slow Roll on President’s Day (2/15/16). Many members of our Miller Spotlight Transportation and Infrastructure Action Group, as well as other Miller Spotlight volunteers, are part of the monthly Slow Rolls. 

Twenty-two riders of varying levels partook in their last event. These rides showcase a need for infrastructure improvements, while also allow folks to enjoy our neighborhood’s natural wonders. This group is hoping to help Gary’s Miller Neighborhood become more universally designed. 

 

The group always finishes with food and beverages at 18th St. Brewery. These same Miller Spotlight volunteers were also able to get 11 bike racks funded for our community via a Legacy Foundation Grant. We will host a workshop for those who want to help install them this spring. Our local playground company, Kidstuff Playsystems, is creating the ADA compatible racks at their shop on Miller Ave. 

Miller Spotlight Transportation and Infrastructure Action Group Chairman, Ken Parr, co-presented with the Marshall Taylor Chicago Chapter on 1/5/16 for Green Drinks Gary. Both groups promote urban populations adopting more bike riders. The Miller Spotlight Transportation and Infrastructure Action Group will attend many meetings with different government agencies this year to advocate for our community. If you’re interested, please email our community builder, Jessie Renslow, via millerspotlight@gmail.com. 

Miller Spotlight has committed to hosting a monthly Bingo Night at Park Shore Commons this year. It will be a chill engagement event where we will have fun and also be able to disseminate useful information and Miller Spotlight updates. As we have limited bus schedules, many folks cannot make it to our Miller Spotlight meetings, so we are bringing them on site with some fun too. Our first Bingo Night will be Tuesday, 1/12/16 from 4:30-6pm. We are looking for at least 5 volunteers. Please contact Jessie via millerspotlight@gmail.com if you’re interested.