2020 has been unusual to say the least. Between extreme weather and COVID19 we had to cancel our Northern Lights Eco Adventure Camp. (Part of our Take Bike the Streets Initiative check out takebikethestreets.org for more info.) However trail usage is up 200%+. We are producing a few virtual tours of area attractions that you can enjoy with your friends and family.
2020 has been unusual to say the least. Between extreme weather and COVID19 we had to cancel our camp. However trail usage is up 200%+. We are producing a few virtual tours of area attractions that you can enjoy with your friends and family.
#IndianaDunesNPS
#NorthernLightEcoAdventures
#TakeBikeTheStreets
Coviad Summer 2020 Virtual Tour of City of the Century Homes (Indiana Dunes NPS) 2020 has been unusual to say the least. Between extreme weather and COVID19 we had to cancel our camp. However trail usage is up 200%+. We are producing a few virtual tours of area attractions that you can enjoy with your friends and family.
#IndianaDunesNPS
#NorthernLightEcoAdventures
#TakeBikeTheStreets
In the summer of 2018 Northern Lights Eco Adventures piloted our first Region Service Expedition. It encompassed four nights and five days of expedition-based learning through the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Northwest Indiana. The campers started in Michigan City and ended at the Douglas Center in Gary. The campers backpacked/paddled/and biked through the dunes and beach while learning about the local ecosystems and natural history of the community. The students also participated in local service projects and community art projects. By the end of the trip the students created a goal with an action plan dedicated to an individualized service project committed to complete in their hometown. 2019 saw us do several day trips and win the American Planning Award. 2020 has required us to take our camp online. For more info on all our adventures please check out our Facebook and our blog!
Northern Lights Eco Adventures sprung from a desire to merge our community goals with local talent and expertise. A community plan is a living breathing document that grows with time.
In the summer of 2018 Northern Lights Eco Adventures piloted
our first Region Service Expedition. It encompassed four nights and five days
of expedition-based learning through the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and
Northwest Indiana.
The campers started in Michigan City and ended at the
Douglas Center in Gary. The campers backpacked/paddled/and biked through the
dunes and beach while learning about the local ecosystems and natural history
of the community.
The students also participated in local service projects and
community art projects. By the end of the trip the students created a goal with
an action plan dedicated to an individualized service project committed to
complete in their hometown. Check out their blog for more info on all our
adventures!
In December of 2013, Bethel Church became the new owner of
the 41,000-square-foot building formerly owned by the John Will Anderson Boys
& Girls Club at 225 West 5th Avenue. Wanting to utilize the building to
serve the community in greater ways Bethel leadership decided to establish a
separate 501(C)(3) tax exempt community organization in 2014. City Life Center
(CLC) is the fruit of that decision and was charged with serving the community
through programs, services, and acts of compassion that exemplified and
demonstrated faith in action.
Our volunteer community builder, Jessica Renslow, was honored to accept the 2018 Partners for Clean Air Annual Bicycling Actions Award for the State of Indiana on behalf of all our Take Bike the Streets volunteers.
Thank you to all our community partners, volunteers and donors for helping to make this possible. Read more about this annual event here.
Jessica Renslow, Zully Alvarado and Gretchen Sipp were honored to accept the 2018 Community Award for Diversity and Inclusion at the Urban League of Northwest Indiana, INC. luncheon.
Thank you to all our community partners, volunteers and donors for helping to make this possible.
(Jessica Renslow Accepting the 2016 American Planning Award for Excellence in Outreach at BSU.)
Marketing Partnerships
-StoryCorps (Chicago Office) recorded 12 pair interviews ( 24 people) in Miller on Saturday 3/19/16 and Sunday 3/20/16. This was the first time they had recorded in Indiana. They rarely do onsite interviews, but our Area Context Group convinced their producers that our neighborhood was ripe with interesting and positive tales to tell. The producers have recommended four of the 12 interviews for NPR’s national broadcast. Jessie Renslow garnered permission to edit and distribute the 12 StoryCorps recordings on all Miller Spotlight hubs/ local news media if so desired.
(Podcasting 101 at Steel City Academy.)
***January 3rd-6th 2017 Gary's Miller Spotlight volunteers covered equipment management, digital literacy and basics of podcasting for 4 days in course (Harnessing Your Narrative created by Jessie Renslow) . They taught Gary kids how to harness their narrative through podcasting at Steel City Academy in Glen Park.
***February 4th-6th 2017: Our community partners Family Folklore Foundation, Inc. and Almost Fairytales premiered a short film entitled "Radio Renaissance" at the Praxis Film Festival this February in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Congrats to these awesome volunteers. They have been helping us with our citywide digital time capsule project. The short takes place in the 46403 and explains the importance of digital literacy initiatives for emerging communities.
***August 3rd & August 19th 2017: On August 3rd our community partners, Family Folklore Foundation, Inc. and The Indigen Storytellers Guild, held a storytelling workshops that was attended by 14 people at The Stage Gary Business Incubator/ Coworking Space. Participants are performing their stories at The Stage Gary on August 19th as part of their August Small Business Saturday. They will host another workshop & performance in November of 2017.
***We have a potential partnership with one of our NWI/Chicagoland media syndicates to air the interviews as podcasts once we get 30 plus interviews completed.
Goal 2: Host quarterly social gatherings with at least 100 attendees to update the Miller Quality of Life Plan and secure volunteers for new initiatives.
(S'mores at the 2nd Annual Lake St Lantern Parade.)
-We hosted a Memorial Day parade down Lake Street on 5/28/16 with 42 people parading with 50+ spectators. We hosted this to kickoff the summer season and to bring at- tention to all the programming we are doing at Lake St Beach this summer and across the community as a whole.
-We hosted The First Annual Lake St Lantern Parade down Lake Street on Friday 10/29/16 with 116 people parading with 100+ spectators. We hosted this to celebrate the progress being made at The Dana Evans Community Corner (the former Ralph’s Wilco) and to bring attention to all the programming we are doing in the community as a whole.
(After party fun at the 2nd Annual Lake St Lantern Parade.)
-We cohosted Have S’more Fun Event with Councilwoman Wyatt and the Gary Rotary Club on 10/29/16 with 116 people at The Dana Evans Community Corner (the former Ralph’s Wilco). Locals were able to casually discuss the community goals and get excit- ed about projects happening across the city.
-We hosted our 4th of July in January on 1/28/17 at the MBACD from 1-3pm. Thirty-six people helped us celebrate our milestones and add additional goals to our updated Community Plan.
-On Sunday 10/8/17 from 5-8pm at The Stage Gary (located at 925 N Shelby St Gary, IN 46403) will thanked our volunteers and celebrated all of Gary’s Miller Spotlight’s milestones. There was a short awards ceremony highlighting our extremely active volunteers.
(Gary Rotarians helping run the 2nd Annual Lake St Lantern Parade.)
-We hosted The 2nd Annual Lake St Lantern Parade & Have S’more Fun Event on Friday 10/27/17. 100+ people paraded and 100+ watched. We hosted this to celebrate the programming we are doing and to bring a fun community event to the MBACD.
-We hosted a Main Streets info session on January 23, 2018. Gary’s Miller Spotlight volunteers are starting the process to become a Main Streets Community with the State of Indiana. This is a national program run in Indiana through the Office of Community and Rural Affairs aka OCRA.
(ARMP volunteers learning about OCRA's Main Streets Program.)
-Our community partners at the Aetna Manor Revitalization Program also hosted a Main Streets info session on February 17, 2018. The ARMP volunteers are also starting the process to become a Main Streets Community with the State of Indiana. This is a national program run in Indiana through the Office of Community and Rural Affairs aka OCRA.
Goal 3:Build virtual and physical community bulletin boards in 2016.
-Part A:
Our backbone organization MBACD partnered with our local IT gurus, Openhill, and have launched Dragonfly NWI (the virtual community bulletin board). We partnered with them to run two tech literacy workshops for our local businesses and organizations. 18 representatives attended these workshops. They represented most of our businesses and organizations. They are starting to adopt the virtual bulletin board.
***We are continuing to do one-on-one training with folks who need extra help transitioning to this new platform. Checkout http://dragonflynwi.com
-Part B:
We have a bulletin board secured at Wells Street Beach. The Pickford family partnered with us to update the board all summer.
We have partnered with The Charter School of the Dunes who have a digital sign. They are located at one of our community entrances (US 20 and Old Hobart Rd.) So, they post updates for the community when we make a request.
(Bulletin board coming soon!)
3rd physical bulletin board is being built by Mary Duggard for the Dana Evans Community Corner (aka the former Ralph’s-Wilco).
We would like a 4th physical bulletin board on the east side of town (since we have the westward one at Wells St. and the digital one in the middle of town). We have approached a local artist and one of our local woodworkers. They have verbally agreed to create the physical bulletin board. We are setting out a timeline for this currently.
We have expanded from our original Goal 1: Identify and engage at least ten (10) key regional partners involved in development, improvements and funding of transportation infrastructure to advocate for and find means to achieve our short and long term goals beginning 10/31/2015.
We are continuing to advocate and push to create communities that all residents can grow up in and old in, aka life-long neighborhoods/ age-friendly cities. NICTD is planning to extend its double track and so there has been a great amount of attention placed on Gary’s tourism opportunities. As group we are showcasing critical mass and advocating for complete streets across Northwest Indiana and the state as a whole.
Our initiative is designed to increase ridership and investment in our blue/green trails. (Particularly close to our hearts is finishing The Gary Green Link and uniting Deep River with more accessible kayak launches. We would love to help install a launch in Lake Station at Bicentennial Park and one one New Chicago along the river.) Cyclist, paddlers, ecotourists and the disabled will travel if opportunities are there for them.
Goal 2:Increase number of residents biking, rolling and walking in Miller 500% by 2025.
In 2018 we are creating an inclusive biking program with our community partner, The Blind Social Center (who caters to 600+ patrons). We plan to create a tandem cycling club that tours the region advocating for infrastructure improvements. Take Bike the Streets: Biking with the Blind is a project for people of all abilities to encourage recreational collaborations to implement tourism, wellness and economic development in Gary, Indiana and beyond.
We are also looking to expand our Ken Parr Build-a-Bike Shop hours and have partnered with Northern Lights Eco Adventures to launch an expeditionary, service-based learning camp for teens for the summer of 2018. Our hope is once some of our build-a-bike participants turn 18, they will also be able to be hired by Zagster to maintain our bikeshare cycles, thus creating a cottage industry for Garyites that could expand across the region.
Goal 3:Bike Share and Car Share programs will increase from zero users to a combined twenty (20) users per day by 2019.
We are seeking community partners to help fund the 2018-2019 season of Zagster as well as looking for parties interested in participating in a car share program.
(Gary's Miller Spotlight volunteers enjoying the new Zagster Bike Share.)
Goal 4: Provide shuttle bus services to 500 Miller residents on weekends and for special events by summer 2016 and increase numbers by 10% each year until the beginning of 2018.
This service actually launched a year early in the summer of 2015! We have been working all summer to up the ridership and market this amazing service/ partnership with the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. We will continue to work with NPS on this project.
Goal 5:Develop a website tracking physical obstacles to accessibility in Miller and improve the 10 public sites identified as least accessible by 2020.
Access Miller has partnered with Barrier Free Beach 2020 and The City of Gary on this project. We ran 6 workshops on this subject and received a 2016 ADA Indiana Community Grant. We created a multi platformed educational series on accessibility. Access 4 All premiered as part of the Directed by Women Global Film Festival this September. A portion of the series Access 4 All: Progress in our Parks was featured in the Indiana Dunes Film Festival.
Goal 6: Make all Miller Spotlight web content accessible by 2019.
We have designed our content to be as universal as possible and continue to do so. Please email any notes/ recommendations to millerspotlight@gmail.com.
