Grant Funding

Benedum Grant Summary

Strategies and Activities
Through December 31, the Create Huntington team seeks to engage in the following activities:
Formalize a collaborative structure.
Implement an assessment and planning process.
Develop a structure to organize and encourage citizen engagement.

Formalize a collaborative structure
The Create Huntington team recognizes the power of an association to engage citizens in a planning process and the ongoing implementation of its recommendations. It wants to find a way to formalize a collaborative structure that can have the capacity to support ongoing work. As a part of this one year planning process the team hopes to:

• Identify best practices in the development of collaborative steering teams.
• Meet and share information with other cities and communities who have implemented successful planning and implementation processes.
• Learn more about the Community Development Model and the Tupelo Models of Development.
• Define a collaborative structure and identify the appropriate representatives.
• Develop a guiding document for the work of the collaborative structure, i.e. philosophy and by-laws.
• Appoint members to the newly developed structure.
• Identify sources of funding to support the work of the steering team.

Implement an assessment and planning process
The Creative Community team will implement a RFP process to contract with an experienced, qualified and impartial consultant(s) to develop and implement a community assessment and planning process. The planning process includes substantial opportunities for citizen input through public meetings and online feedback. The consultant(s) will also be required to assemble plans from Huntington’s associations and organizations and synthesize them into the planning process. The final deliverable will be a comprehensive city plan that identifies the community’s shared vision and recommendations for getting there. The plan will guide city development and be a tool for leveraging additional funding for city projects.

Organize and encourage citizen engagement.
Key to harnessing the energy of citizen enthusiasm is to organize and channel efforts toward a shared vision of the future. The Create Huntington team willestablish an infrastructure that inspires citizen engagement and facilitates appropriate connections. This will include the continued development of an online interactive database, a “match.com” for civic engagement. Citizens will be able to find groups seeking volunteers based on subject areas and skills/talents. Also in the first six months, the creative community team will complete plans for a “Get Engaged to Huntington” campaign that will promote civic engagement and drive citizens to the web-based tool.

The combination of these strategies will develop a solid foundation for Huntington to move forward. The energy of Huntington’s citizens, organizations and institutions will be maximized, with the guidance of a “road map” to the future and tools to make appropriate connections. A guiding structure will be in place to make sure that the process stays on track and that the plan is in the forefront of city decision-making.