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neat programs
The North End Action Team has taken a
leadership role in connecting North End children and residents
to opportunities that will enrich, engage, and provide
leadership training to build community competency and pride.
Providing healthy alternatives for children who live in the
low-income North End has become one of NEAT's foremost goals.
Exposing children to the arts and opportunities for arts and
outdoor education is seen by NEAT as a key component of
neighborhood revitalization.
free workshops
All workshops
are FREE and open to everyone, though registration is
required. All workshops are being co-presented by the North
End Action Team and the
Green Street Arts Center, with support from Liberty
Bank and funding from the
Bank of America.
All workshops will take place at the Green Street Arts
Center.
FIRST-TIME HOMEOWNER AND
CREDIT COUNSELING
With Rosa
Carrero of Liberty Bank
Thursdays in
September (9/4-9/25) ,
6pm-8pm
Rosa Carrero
from Liberty Bank present four info sessions designed to help
people take the
first steps toward
buying a home.
Topics include:
September 4th
(Session 1) credit counseling
September
11th (Session 2)
finding the right home
September
18th
(Session 3) the lending process
September
25th
(Session 4) understanding Legalities
Participants
in all four will receive A
certificate of completion that meets one eligibility
requirement for The City Of Middletown grant and down payment
assistance, CHFA and CHFA Down payment assistance programs.
Childcare is available by request
BUILDING COMPUTER BASICS
With
Shawn Hill
Thursdays, Oct 2- 23 from 6:30pm—8pm
The North End Action Team and
Green Street teaching artist Shawn Hill present a
short, free introduction to computer basics. Learn how to
create writing samples in
Microsoft Word
and explore the possibilities of budgets and lists in
Microsoft Excel. By the time you have completed all
four sessions, you will have the building blocks needed for
adding a new skill to your job application, or for organizing
your household bills. Absolute beginners, and people with all
levels of
computer experience, are welcome.
For more information on our
Free Workshops, or to register, call the NEAT office at
860-346-4845 or email at
neat@neatmiddletown.org.
Or, come on in!
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the da vinci club
The daVinci Club is made up of North End boys
and girls, ages 9 to 16 who participate in innovative projects
that require ingenuity, individual and group leadership, and
skill building. Thus far, the daVinci's have:
1) 2002: built a house (Dream House Project)
using the same process, start to finish, as would be used in
a commercial construction project;
2) 2003 and 2004: written, directed,
produced, and performed in two 30-minute video documentary
(Inside the North End: A Community Profile and The North
End: Then and Now); and
3) 2005: daVinci's Amazing Rowing Machine, a
30-foot catamaran designed and built by the club and a
competitor in the CT River Raft Race and winner of the
mayor's trophy in the 2005 Memorial Day Parade; and
4) 2005: sculpture project; a model of the
North End landfill and watershed made out of completely
recycled objects and depicting a goal of environmental
reclamation.
5) 2008: the good works
club was developed to increase civic engagement in the north
end.
1. The Dream House Project was the
subject of an article (click
here) appearing in the New York Times. The
videogaphy projects have received extensive exposure at
municipal, educational, and public events including the
Redevelopment Agency. The boat-building project received
extensive community collaboration and attention, and
participation. The Junior da Vinci's sculpture project won the
"best use of recycled content" award at a community
competition in November of 2005. To enquire about membership
in The da Vinci Club, please call the NEAT office at
860-346-4845. This club is restricted to residents of the
North End.
The Dream House Project
took place in the summer of 2002. Nine North End children
built a small-scale house from start to finish using the same
process as is used to build a full-scale home. The builders,
along with the project leader, Therese Desjardin, met with
architects to draw up blueprints, a builder to cut the wood, a
mason to lay the brick foundation, and a roofer to lay the
shingles. The house sports two windows, a door, and a drop
down panel to stick your face through to become part of the
Mona Lisa painting on the side of the house. The Dream House
served as a playhouse in the Ferry Street Community Garden and
is used to sell pickles, plants, and the da Vinci DVD's at
NEAT's fundraising events. The Dream House was funded by the
Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action Council.
Click here
to read all about the project on the New York Times' website.
2. Videography -
Inside the North End: A Community Profile
In 2003 and 2004, NEATs da Vinci Club produced
two video documentaries about the North End. They were titled
Inside the North End: A Community Profile and The
North End: Then and Now. The members worked with
videographer Dan Nocera to write storyboards, conduct
interviews, and edit the footage. In the end, they produced
two 30 minute documentaries illustrating both contemporary
life in the North End, and giving a glimpse into the deep
history of the neighborhood.
Click here
to see a sample clip of Inside the North End: A Community
Profile
To Purchase a DVD that
includes both documentaries, please send a check or money
order for $25 and a letter with your full name and address
to:
NEAT
666 Main St.
Middletown, CT 06457
Sales of this DVD go toward sustaining NEAT and its
programs. This project was funded by the Green Street Arts
Center and NEAT
3. Boat Building Project
Like all da Vinci Club projects, a
process-based approach took club members through the
boat-building project from start to finish. In a city-donated
workshop in the North End, the club consulted with boating
experts, drew up plans, and constructed the boat from
Styrofoam and fiberglass.
The first version of the boat (2005) was a 28
foot catamaran-style vessel, with one main hulls with an
outrigger canoe (each seats 12 rowers) and a deck in between.
In July, 2005, The da Vinci Club members raced the boat in the
Connecticut River Raft Race and won second place in their
category, finishing the 4.1 mile race in just under two
hours. The boat also won the Mayor's Trophy in Middletown's
2005 Memorial Day Parade. You can read all about their race
in the
Summer
2005,
Fall 2005, and
Fall
2006
NEAT News.
The final version of the boat was also a 28
foot catamaran with the canoe outrigger replaced by a second
handmade hull and no deck. The final boat seated 24 rowers.
In the 2006 raft race, the daVinci Club's boat, The Amazing
Rowing Machine, took first place in its division. This
project was funded by the Middlesex County Community
Foundation, the Middletown Area Substance Abuse Prevention
Council and the Middletown Rotary Club. Boat builder and
environmental activist George Frick directed the project and
served as the crew's captain in the CT River Raft Race.
5. The Good Works project:
The
idea for the next project of the daVinci’s, THe Good
Works Club, was influenced by an awareness that the
North End neighborhood has the distinction of being the lowest
income neighborhood in Middletown and one that would benefit
from increased civic engagement and proactivity. NEAT has
played a prominent role in developing the human capital within
the North End but recognizes that civic awareness and interest
on the part of North End youth is perhaps an even more
effective means to: 1) engage youth in positive activity; 2)
encourage civic education and participation; 3) provide an
educational project to connect North End youth and adults with
their rights and responsibilities as citizens; and 4)
institutionalize long term positive change.
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math tutoring
The NEAT Math Club
was created for North End children and adults who need
assistance with and/or enjoy mathematics. It is run by
Middlesex Community College professor, Pam Wahl, who is an
expert at demystifying math and breaking down barriers to
learning. Middletown Public School teachers encourage students
to attend for extra help or challenge, and many students enjoy
attending of their own accord. Pam also tutors adult students
in GED programs.
Math tutoring is by appointment.
hiking club
NEAT Hiking Club
is for North End girls and boys ages 9-16. Club members have
hiked extensively in Connecticut and New England. The hiking
club is designed to encourage group dynamics, develop
self-confidence, the ability to set and reach goals, and to
teach outdoor education and hiking to kids who have not had a
lot of exposure to the outdoors. Over the last four years, the
group has gone on approximately 40 hikes, with every
participant making it to the summit of the mountain and/or
reaching the end of each hike successfully. The hikers have
completed a good portion of the Mattabesset Trail and almost
all of the Connecticut Appalachian Trail.
Each year in August, the group has taken a
three day trip to New Hampshire, where we stay in an AMC lodge
and hike nearby mountains. In 2005 and 2006, the group
climbed Mount Cardigan at the southern tip of the White
Mountains. Each trip was a great success, and the
approximately 20 kids who hiked all reached the 3155 foot
summit.
In 2007, the group took on the challenge of Mt.
Washington, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi and
an altitude of 6288 feet. This mountain was an incredible
challenge and only the most experienced hikers attempted (and
reached!) the summit. The younger and less experienced group
still took on the challenging Tuckerman's Ravine Trail and
hiked to almost 5000 ft., quite an accomplishment for a young
group that has only been on a handful of day hikes!
The hikes were all accomplished with an
emphasis on safety, respect for the environment, and on mutual
support regardless of ability. Adult volunteers paired with
smaller groups of various ability levels to provide to
encourage one-on-one child and adult interaction. Each hiker
has been able to see their ability increase as they achieve
longer and more challenging climbs, and have been able to set
and reach attainable goals. Many of the participants had never
been hiking before and they have been able to view the natural
world in a new and more personal way than ever before. As
Tyrell, an 11-year old hiker exclaimed upon reaching the
summit of Mt. Cardigan, "this looks like heaven."
The 2008
hike is scheduled for August 21-23rd and is to Noble View
Camp in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.
The Hiking Club has attracted 15 adult
volunteers and approximately 30 children ages 9-16 who
participate regularly in the hikes.
The Hiking Club has been funded by the Finish
Line Foundation, the Middlesex County Substance Abuse Action
Council and the Middletown Substance Abuse Prevention Council
along with private donations.
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community gardens
The Erin Street Community Garden and the Ferry
Street Community Garden
NEAT has boasted two community gardens,
The Ferry Street Community Garden (FSCG)
and the
Erin Street Community Garden (ESCG),
which serve(d) different smaller neighborhoods within the
greater North End. The Erin Street site is in its second year
and is thriving, while the Ferry Street site was moved to make
way for new apartments on Ferry Street.
The Ferry Street Community Garden was started
in 1999 as a way to create attractive community open space
available for use by North End residents and truly became a
focal point of the neighborhoods east of Main Street.
Over the past two years, NEAT has founded the
Erin Street Community Garden on the corner of Erin and High
Streets in the North End. In Its second season, the Erin
Street site has also become a center for community activity
and connections. It hosts 22 plots, worked by residents,
neighbors and children.
The gardens are or have been funded with
support from the
Middletown Substance Abuse Prevention Council, the
Middlesex County Community Foundation, the Middletown Garden
Club and an Anonymous Foundation. We have also received
support from our many friends and through donations from local
nurseries.
Erin Street Community Garden:
[click
here
to hear the Erin St "Garden Song" by North End Resident - Ed
Corvo]
A
team of enthusiastic North End residents have transformed the
corner of High Street and Erin Street into an oasis of
beauty. The City of Middletown has made the lot available to
NEAT, Middletown Police and Public Works removed junk cars and
debris, Baldwin Lawn Furniture has donated an arbor to place
at the entrance to the site, the EPPCO/Ferguson Company of
Newington has donated a hydrant which was installed by
personnel from the Water and Sewer Department. The Middlesex
County Community Foundation and the Middletown Garden Club
have provided financial support for the project and volunteers
from the Middlesex
Master Gardener Program are providing technical
support.
Children attending
the Macdonough School site of Kids Corner are working a plot
along with residents from Mazzotta Place, Pearl Street, Erin
Street, Lincoln Street and beyond.
If you would like to
help with the garden, have tools or other gardening supplies
to donate, or would like a plot in the garden call NEAT at
346-4845. This garden also has a website and a list serve.
To visit the garden's website or to join the list serve, click
HERE.
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arts in the garden
The very popular Arts in the Garden series is
back again this summer! Enjoy the pleasure of a summer evening
during this weekly series of participatory arts workshops held
outdoors in the Mary Susan Gawlak Memorial Garden at the Green
Street Arts Center.(51
Green St) and at the Erin
Street Community Garden (corner of Erin and High Streets).
Arts in the Garden offers FREE, fun
activities for children, adults and families, co-sponsored by
the North End Action Team and the Green Street Arts Center.
Light refreshments will be served. Children under 12 must be
accompanied by an adult. In the event of rain, Arts in the
Garden will be moved indoors.
Schedule of events is as follows:
WEDNESDAYS, 5:30–6:30pm from June 25—July
23
(no workshop
on July 9)
June 25: Scarecrow Building: (Erin Street) David Brown
July 2: Vejigante Masks (Green Street) Enoc LaVeira
July 16: Steel-pan Drums (Green Street) Bill Carbone
July 23: Jewelry Making (Erin Street) Cookie Quinoñes
July 30: African Dance & Drumming (Erin Street)
Abdoulaye Sylla
Co-sponsored by the North End Action Team and the Green Street
Arts Center with
support from the Middletown Commission on the Arts
Arts in the Garden is a participatory arts
program for children and families that has taken place in the
summer months since 2001. The workshops have included music,
visual arts and dance, and have introduced a diverse range of
artistic styles to residents of the North End and the city
at-large. African dance, drumming, capoeira, and
instrument-making ere only some of the arts events that have
taken place in the North End's own oasis of beauty, the Ferry
Street Community Garden. Due to the North End Housing
Revitalization Project, the Ferry Street Community Garden has
been relocated from its original lot, and during this
transition, the Arts in the Garden series has been held in the
Mary Susan Gawlak Memorial Garden at the Green Street Arts
Center. This project is a partnership with the Green Street
Arts Center, who collaborated with NEAT and its resident
leaders to organize the workshops.
NEAT is committed to a grassroots approach to
neighborhood revitalization. Engaging children and families in
artistic opportunities and experiences is an important means
to develop the skills and experience of North End children
while, at the same time, raising the awareness and profile of
a neighborhood.
The goals of the series are:
1) To foster artistic and cultural awareness in
North End children and residents, 2) To teach and explore the
history, traditions, and diversity of the past and future
residents of the North End, and 3) to use art as a vehicle to
build community identity and stability in the North End, which
has been targeted by the City of Middletown as a priority area
for revitalization.
Arts performance and education serves as a
grassroots community-building tool to develop the skills and
interests of children within their environment. The project is
important because children living within the low-income North
End are known to have less exposure to arts and cultural
opportunities than their middle class peers. The described
project allows diverse forms of art and culture to become
accessible to a population that has a distinct lack of
transportation, communication, education, and resources.
NEAT's collaboration with Wesleyan University's
Green Street Arts Center is seen as a critical link to North
End children, families, and the neighborhood. The Arts in the
Garden summer series is an arts project for and about the
North End and its future as a healthy neighborhood within the
City of Middletown.
All programs are free, open to the public, and
have neighborhood involvement in all parts of planning and
execution.
The series has been funded by the North End
Action Team, Wesleyan University and the Green Street Arts
Center, The Middletown Commission on the Arts, the Connecticut
Commission on the Arts, the Middletown Prevention Council, and
through private donations.
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