RESIDENTS

Over 10,000 University of Utah residents have helped or continue to help build reciprocal relationships between the University and west Salt Lake neighborhoods over the past five years. Last year, UNP reached nearly 5,000 residents and over 1,000 youth been reached through UNP partnerships. UNP community-wide festivals—like Partners in the Park and the Rose Park Community Festival—have drawn over 7,000 attendees. Thirteen residents have served as UNP Community Ambassadors, 60 have been trained as Community Advocates, and nearly 100 have graduated from the Westside Leadership Institute.

What is UNP’s role when residents want to become a partner?:

All residents involved in UNP partnership are partners. Those enrolled in our Westside Leadership Institute sessions, attend Community Advocate training, or receive training through Hartland Partnership Center’s ELL, financial literacy, or life skills sessions are all partners. Residents who participate in the Youth Book Exchange lending library, or who stop by to receive academic counseling, or who attend Community Day or Partners in the Park events are all partners. Parents with students who participate in our pilot programs, like Adelante at Jackson Elementary or through the math and science program at Washington Elementary, are all partners. Residents who become Community Ambassadors or provide feedback to students in the community revitalization class through the Westside Studio are also UNP partners.

UNP works to recruit and inform residents of partnership opportunities, by distributing flyers, posting notices in community spaces, and by creating a network of UNP partnership alumni who can inform each other of upcoming events and opportunities.

 What do residents say about UNP partnerships?:

Cathy Valerio, west Salt Lake resident
I was impressed with all the available resources the University and community partners had already put into place. For example, I never knew about the opportunity for parents to get involved through United for Kids at the Northwest Multi-purpose Center. Being a part of Community Day opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me.

Alma Yanagui, Community Advocate graduate
Si yo no tubiera ido al curso de entrenamiento de Unidos po los Niños, yo no habiera tenido la confianza necesaria como para redamar mi derecho a opinar sobre la education de mi hija. (If I had not gone through the training with United for Kids, I would not have had the confidence necessary to exercise my right to voice my opinion about my daughter’s education.)

Rosa Hernández, Community Advocate graduate
Lo que aprendi en el entrenamiento de abogacia en educación fue el como ayudar a nuestros hijos en la escuela. Lo más importante que aprendi fue que debemos:

• Estudiar/leer en voz alto con nuestros hijos
• Tenemos que participar más con los maestros
• El hacer preguntas a los maestros para saber de que manera podemos ayudar a nuestros hijos a sobresalir en sus clases es muy importante
• Hay que preguntar que podemos hacer cuando las cosas no van bien en la escuela
• Tenemos que visitar la biblioteca con nuestros hijos
• Hay que apagar la televisión
• El contar nuestras historias familiares es muy importante
• Debemos tener más comunicación en casa
• Hay que ayudar a nuestros hijos para pensar en la universidad o en perseguir carreras técnicas

Si usted esta interesada/o en participar en el próximo entrenamiento yo se lo recomiendo porque aprende lo que uno quiere y puede hacer para nuestros hijos, como mejorar su educacion para que se superen más que uno y sobresalgan en la vida.

(I learned how to best help our children during the parent advocacy training. The most important things I learned was that it is important to:

• Study/read out loud with our child
• How to best collaborate with the teachers
• To ask teachers how to best participate in our child’s education, so they succeed in school
• To ask questions of the teachers to know how to best help our child when things at school aren’t going well
• We must visit the library with our child
• Turn off the television
• Telling our family’s history to our child is important
• We have to communicate more with our children
• We must help our child think about pursuing a higher education or a technical career

I highly recommend this training to those of you who wish to learn about how to help your children strengthen their education so they can succeed and be better prepared in life.)

Enrique Medina Linares  y Ángela Muñoz, Jackson Elementary parents
Adelante helps my daughter because whenever you take her to the university she returns excited. I wish it (Adelante) was implemented throughout the school, the state. I wish more schools became interested in Adelante, so that we all learned about different people, their roots, and their backgrounds so we understand each other, all races.

Judy Fuwell, former Community Ambassador, WLI grad
While working at Northwest Middle school after recovering with a bout with cancer, I saw a flyer for the Westside Leadership Institute and thought it would be a good way to get back in the community. Once in the class, I found that I loved the interaction with the university folks, which probably put me in the mindset of thinking about school again. I also gained a new perspective of community engagement. It was the little things that people became focused on—a community garden at a school, for example—that benefitted the community as a whole. I’d never thought about the larger impact of these small projects. I continued to be connected to UNP by becoming a Community Ambassador, where I saw my role as promoting the idea of higher education to the young people of the community. It was while at a Partners in the Park event, that I heard about a free, year-long college-level introductory humanities course taught by university and college faculty offered by the Utah Humanities Council. When I heard about this opportunity, I thought for the first time—why not me? I applied, was accepted and attended classes at Horizonte with a cohort of 20 other students. For two nights a week for a whole academic year, I earned eight credit hours in art history, a literature, creative writing, American History, and philosophy. This exceptional learning experience was personal, therapeutic, it was alive. It ultimately convinced me that I could finish up the college degree I had started 30 years ago. I am now a sophomore at the University of Utah.

Cliff Uckerman, Community Ambassador
My name is Clifton Uckerman. I am 25 years old and run a Youth Employment program (YouthWorks, Salt Lake Neighborhood Housing Services) for high risk youth ages 14-18 on the Westside of Salt Lake. I graduated from the University of Utah last year with a Bachelor of Social Work degree and would like to pursue a graduate degree in Public Administration. My success comes from the many relationships with people in the community who cared about my education and deemed their success through my success. One person of great importance that I share that success with is Irene Fisher, former Executive Director of University Neighborhood Partners (UNP), who not only taught me about UNP’s mission but allowed me to be a part of the creation of all that it is now.  

My story is just one of many stories of someone who has been impacted by University Neighborhood Partners because of the clear mission and the reciprocity in how partnerships are built and relationships are bridged. Meeting Irene at 19 years old was an unbelievable and extraordinary event. I still remember the conversation over coffee and how she just sat there and listened as I spoke of both our community strengths and needs. As a young person of color who had been in some deep trouble and living on the Westside, a college education was a distant dream. However, getting involved in the community and showing other people the ambition and compassion I had to make a difference for marginalized youth was all I really wanted. I longed for the day when someone would just listen.

Quickly, I was recruited as a Community Ambassador. I was the youngest person of the six other Ambassadors and shared the responsibility of playing an integral role of defining what UNP was and what it did. We met quite often and shared our thoughts about things that could be better in the community and assets we already had. These conversations helped us to see the bigger picture and helped us see other people’s perspective. The Ambassadors were very diverse but charged straight through any barrier that came up; language, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, etc. The consensus was: “We want our youth to succeed and go to college and we want those outside of our community to recognize this community as a valuable asset to higher education.”

I was one of those youth who made it to college in spite of what some call barriers. Now, I can say that UNP has impacted me greatly. My voice was heard and action was taken.  The gift of education was given to me. I worked hard for it and I’ll never stop working hard for it. Today, I am still a Westside Community Ambassador leading others to step up and speak out about what needs still exist and how we can take care of those needs by bridging partnerships and giving back to others whatever it is we take. As long as UNP is housed and doing business on the Westside, my involvement as a community partner will continue.

Kyle LaMalfa, WLI graduate
I found out about the WLI when I was listening to the radio. At the time, I was commuting to work at Park City Ski Resort. I figured that a leadership class might do me some good.  Really, I thought that with the right leadership training, I could advance in my, then dead-end, job. In the end, the class had opened my eyes to such a new world that I quit my job and went back to school. I still run into my classmates from time to time in the community. It's always a great experience. Many of them have gone on to be leaders on their local community councils and organizers of notable community events.

The instructors were great. The one I remember most was Bruce Parsons. He was the first lecturer on the first day of the first WLI.  He facilitated an imagination exercise. I'm not sure about the rest of the class but to this day I can still remember my vision of old ladies walking around the neighborhood during a full moon...  Making the neighborhood feel safer was my mission at the time.

For me, the WLI changed my life in two important ways. First, I learned to empower myself to make change. Instead of complaining about how things should be, I take action towards an end.  In the vacant lot next to my house, I go pick up the trash—I don't wait for UDOT's annual cleanup.  Second, I changed my perspective from consumer to producer.  Instead of measuring my wealth by the products I consume, I measure it by what I produce. In the last three years, I (and other volunteers) produced the People’s Market, an open-air, community market where over twenty vendors show up and pay fees on a weekly basis. Since attending the WLI, I have a more positive attitude about my ability to create change in the world.

Through my experience with the WLI, I had the confidence to quit my job and go back to school. I am much wiser, happier, and better employed as a result.  Also, I am engaged in the public process. I have submitted comments to matters that concern me to bodies such as: the planning commission, UDOT, and the UDAF. I even testified before the Utah Legislature two times regarding bills that were important to the People's Market.

I am a huge fan of the leadership program.  If anything, residents learn that they can participate and make a difference.  I would, and have, recommended the WLI to friends and neighbors. Whenever I get a chance to do public speaking related to the People's Market, I mention the WLI and to see me afterwards for more info. Every time there is at least one person and sometimes more who are interested.

I know several WLI graduates (including myself) who have gone back to school either to start or finish a degree.  As far as I'm aware, we are all non-traditional students either working or with families, but all older than a typical college student. Furthermore, I think that University faculty is often isolated from the broader community.  Both the nature of the WLI participants and the venue serve to benefit U of U faculty by diversifying their experience.

Rosemary Bennett, Rose Park resident
 I’m a long term resident of the Rose Park community, and over the last two years have been involved heavily in the Rose Park community festival. The Rose Park Festival came out of a group or students at the University under the direction of Professor Luke Garrott, meeting together with the Rose Park Community council members determining that there was something that both could put together that would improve the community and would reach out to more of the residents. And learn more about their diversity and how to pull them together. There was concern that perhaps how our more minority members were not involved in our community, and there was concern as to why and how that they could make that change. The purpose of starting the Rose Park Community Festival was to bring together the different cultures in our community, We wanted some form of event that would let all different residents in Rose Park, come together and learn about each others cultures. Hence the festival was born. I think that it has done a great job in bringing our different cultures together, making us a more solid community.

I think any resident group that comes together in that kind of event like our community festival, it brings the community closer together, it erases some of the concerns that residents might have about other residents.  Sometimes we become so stereotyped that we forget that we can enjoy each other, despite where we are from and what our traditions are and what our cultures are.  And so the festival has brought to the forefront the opportunities for us to enjoy our different cultures, and to understand and to perhaps enhance…just simple enjoyment of being together as a community.

At the beginning of each year that we start our festival planning, Professor Garrott’s class comes and meets with the Rose Park Community Council and technically anybody from the community who wants to be involved in the festival planning.  We kind of hash out all of the themes and maybe perhaps what our involvement is going to be.  We use the students to kind of co-chair along with the community member each of the areas in the festival, and it’s a great opportunity for them to be on a simple level, such as community government, to understand what processes take place in the community, and for community council members and community members to work with a wonderful and intelligent group of young people.

I do think professor’s class helps build good community leaders.  I think it is great to teach them what is involved in community government and community service, gives them hands on experience in aspects of not perhaps on the community council, but involved with the community council, and with the festival it teaches them how to put together something, an event of this magnitude cannot be put on by one person. But a group of people who come together with their ideas and concerns certainly, I cannot tell you how much I have learned from the students I have worked with.  I have had two great students that have served with me on the volunteer committee, just from their enthusiasm, and perhaps their youth, and their intelligence, it’s an amazing experience.

I would like to see the West Side Community come together with the understanding that it is OK that we are all different, that we can live next door to each other and we can be good friends and neighbors. I would like to see us improve our image of the West Side.  I’d like to think that Rose Park is Salt Lake’s best kept secret. I would like to see the Rose Park Community Festival continued, I believe that it is a best way to bring our community together. 

I think campus community partnerships helps both sides of the community, the academic side, and the community resident side, to come together, it bonds them, it teaches both of us, both the areas new things, It helps the students to reach out from their academic environment, and it helps the residents to remember how to be young and full of energy and full of ideas.

Brad Bartholomew, Rose Park resident
I’m from Salt Lake, lived in Utah all my life. My major was in urban planning with a minor in geography. I graduated in 2005. I found Luke’s Neighborhood Democracy class in the course catalog. It looked really interesting. I’ve always been interested in political science and it went along with my major, urban planning.  As an urban planner you do a lot of community work, working with the citizens of the community you work for.

Luke’s class was probably one of the best classes I took at the university, well, in my whole academic career. I thought that he had a unique way of teaching the class and maybe it was because it was a smaller class there was maybe a dozen of us and so we all sat around a big round table and the communication was there, just the way Luke had his classroom set up and the way he facilitated his class was an excellent learning experience. I think it had an influence on my getting involved with the community council. 

I believe every student would benefit form Luke’s class.  It would almost be a good high school course. When you’re going to a university you kind of, you’re not so much involved in the community—you’re more involved in the university and student life and then when you move out of that and into the community it’s a whole new life style and taking a course like Luke’s would help in that transition and also help once you move into a community you’d be more inclined to get involved in that community.

When I was in Luke’s class, it was the first year they did the Rose Park community festival and I volunteered during the festival, helping out wherever they needed me.  Last year, we just bought our house in Rose Park and we were remodeling so I didn’t make it to the festival.  And this year, I was part of the community council, and I was just a volunteer, helping out. I became a community council member kind of at the end of organizing the festival for this year. I will be more involved next year I suppose. Some of my goals as a community council member would be to get more of the younger 30 or 40-year olds involved in the community council.  I notice one thing at the meetings is that there’s a lot of elderly people there and that’s great but it would also be nicer to get some of the younger people involved.

What I took from Luke’s class was more of a sense of community participation.  To be a community member you don’t just live in a community, you participate. It’s more than just maybe showing up to community councils or city council.  It’s getting to know your neighbors, getting involved with your neighbors, saying hi, getting to know them so that you build a community that way.

Rose Park is a nice quiet community. It’s about one of the last affordable areas in the city.  We’ve enjoyed living here, we’ve enjoyed our neighbors and Rose Park specifically gets a bad rap. There’s a lot of pride in Rose Park. A lot of the people that live here are the second and third generations.  The people in the 50’s moved in and raised families and those families have stayed and now the grandchildren are moving and staying in the neighborhood also.

I think there’s a couple benefits for the residents of Rose Park as a result of the neighborhood democracy class and UNP. One is the community festival.  We wouldn’t have had that without Luke and his class. I imagine there’s a lot of residents who would have liked to start something like that but there was really no form or they didn’t know how to start it and now that Luke has started that hopefully even after Luke’s class is over that we can continue with the Rose Park festival.  Another thing I think Luke’s class has done is brought the community council kind of more into the spotlight, more into the forefront of the community. I think the residents are starting to see that and I believe that helps the community as a whole.