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My Collection | My Story

There is an exciting opportunity to participate in Minnetrista’s first community collection exhibit. My Collection | My Story will showcase local collections of a variety of items, ranging from Beanie Babies to rare coins. Minnetrista is asking for submissions from anyone who lives, works or goes to school in Blackford, Delaware, Henry, Grant, Jay, Madison, & Randolph counties. The end date for entries is March 15, 2015. For more information, please visit the collection entry page.

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IUH / BMH Effort to Reduce Infant Mortality in our Community

For East Central Indiana moms and moms-to-be, enroll with WeCare Indiana to receive timely messages about healthy living, having a healthy pregnancy, and caring for your baby during the first year of life. You can choose to receive your messages through text message, email, or a smartphone app.

Messages will include information on:

  • Preparing to be a mom
  • Breastfeeding
  • Delivery and Labor
  • Baby’s Health and Immunizations
  • Baby Development
  • Safe Sleep for Baby
  • Car Seat Safety
  • Baby and Mom Nutrition

WeCare will also send you information on local resources to help you along the way, such as:

  • Breastfeeding assistance and support groups
  • Nutritional supplement programs (WIC, etc.)
  • Free and low-cost childbirth classes
  • Free and low-cost parenting classes
  • Free and low-cost baby supplies

For information on how you may enroll in this service, please visit the website: http://wecareindiana.com/

You may also find them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wecareindiana

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Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Survey – Spring 2015

Melinda Messineo (Ball State University) in partnership with the Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Association will work with a group of BSU Sociology capstone students during spring 2015 to create and administer a Neighborhood Survey. These capstone students will work with the association to survey the neighborhood in an effort to:

  1. Help residents describe the benefits of living in the neighborhood (to assist with branding and campaigns)
  2. Identify goals that the neighborhood has for the next 3 years
  3. Identify the perceived boundaries of the neighborhood areas to help with getting people together
  4. Identify untapped participants and resources.

The neighborhood association hopes to learn how to successfully leverage the strengths of the neighborhood and increase shared identity among diverse pockets of the neighborhood.  The students will kick-off their efforts at the January 28th meeting of the Riverside/Normal City neighborhood association to begin designing this project.

January 28, 2015 – To help design the survey, the students conducted a brainstorming conversation with active members on Wednesday night.  Resident’s were asked to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the neighborhood.  Also, discussed at the meeting were opportunities for the neighborhood in the next three years and whether there are any risks or “threats” that we need to be considered.

April 21, 2015 – The students presented the final results of the Riverside/Normal City survey at the monthly Neighborhood Presidents Council meeting. The final report includes the survey results as well as the student’s interpretation of the resident responses.

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2015 Carnegie Elective Community Engagement Classification

Ball State University has received some great news – they are the recipient of the 2015 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching!  The prestigious classification is awarded to institutions of higher education that have demonstrated “excellent alignment among campus mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement.”

Ball State’s collaborative partnership with the Whitely Community Council was included in the Carnegie application as a prime example of a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources.  This partnership is an essential part of Ball State’s mission to “transform information into knowledge, knowledge into judgment, and judgment into action that addresses complex problems.”

Carnegie Application (pdf)

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January 19, 2015 – Shaffer Chapel Museum Opening

Historic Shaffer Chappel, 1501 E. Highland Ave.

In order to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., a public opening of the newly created Shaffer Chapel Museum took place from 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm on January 19, 2014. The museum celebrates the historical significance of Shaffer Chapel, as well as the history of the African American community in Muncie. Co-created by members of the Shaffer congregation, the Whitely Community Council, and Ball State University students and faculty, the museum is a testament to the power of community mobilization in realizing positive social change.

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Importance of Neighborhoods

– Collier’s Article – Why Neighborhoods Still Matter (February 2012)

– Here is an infographic (pdf) of why neighborhoods are important

– AARP created an online index of livability that rates communities across the nation for the services and amenities that impact our lives. Take a look to see how Muncie was rated.

– Place matters, especially for children. The New York Times published an interactive map that compares the potential for a child’s future success depending on where they live. This information is part of a larger studyundertaken by the Equality of Opportunity Project on how we can improve economic opportunities for low-income children. The most recent phase of this project looks at how neighborhoods affect upward mobility.

– The American Planning Association published an Urban Naturalist Guide based on “Genius of Common Sense,” by Glenna Lang and Marjorie Wunsch, which describes Jane Jacobs’s life and her insightful ideas about communities. The guide provides instructions on how to observe the community characteristics that make neighborhoods “vibrant, safe, and interesting places to live and visit.”