Launch of Your Vote, Tu Futuro Video Series

We're incredibly excited to announce the launch of the Your Vote, Tu Futuro video series!

For decades, voter turnout of the Latino community has lagged behind the rest of the Texas population. Your Vote, Tu Futuro was born from a desire to walk potential voters through the voting process. This web-video series will cover the importance of voting, a basic overview of government and party structures, where to find candidate information, Texas’ voter-ID law, and the methods the voter can utilize to ultimately cast their ballot.

This installment will be 8 episodes long, with new episodes being released each week starting this July. Episodes will can be found on YouTube and on the project website below. Additionally, supplemental resources may be hosted on the website.

Episode 1 of the Your Vote, Tu Futuro series covers the importance of being a voter, addresses so misconceptions and/or fears about voting, and looks at the incredible opportunity we have to affect change in our country, state, and city.

Follow the series' website and YouTube channel for more videos in the coming weeks!

Designer Social: July 2016

[bc] invites you to join us for a DESIGNER SOCIAL on WED, JULY 27th from 6:30-7:30pm at 416 S ERVAY ST, DALLAS, TX, 75201.

Designer Socials are opportunities to meet peers, share work, and test ideas in a small group setting with local designers. Throughout 2016 [bc] will continue to share local opportunities, programs, and resources in the Dallas area for designers, architects, artists, engineers, landscape architects, and other design-related professionals to get involved in community-based projects.

At this Designer Social we will share the following opportunities to get involved in your community:

  • Ashley Hollon and Melanie Wood will share how the AIA Dallas' Young Professionals Committee aims to direct young professionals to give back to the community through design. Their mission: Providing networking, professional development and opportunities to give back to the community through design for unlicensed, newly licensed and other young professionals up to 10 years after registration.
  • Patrick Blaydes and Amruta Sakalker will discuss the proposed code amendments affecting existing and future Little Free Libraries in Dallas, and how designers can become advocates for public space. Read more about Little Free Libraries / Libros Libres here.
  • PARK(ing) Day Dallas organizers will share how designers can get involved in this year's event on September 16th, 2016. Attendees will be able to register to reserve a parking space on Main Street to transform into a park for the Downtown Dallas event or sign up to assist other participants with their design or construction needs.

[bc] is convening active and interested designers and design-related professionals to share our experiences and to learn how to build our capacity to help others. At each social we ask attendees to answer questions about their experience with community-based work. Read the recaps of our Designer Socials in February & April!

If you would like to share about a local program or project that you are involved in at our Designer Socials, let us know! Email elizabeth@bcworkshop.org for more information, and sign up to our monthly newsletter to stay up to date on volunteer & partnership opportunities!

Meet the 2016 PDII Jury

Learn more about Public Design Impact Initiative.

The Public Design Impact Initiative was successfully launched in the Rio Grande Valley. We received 6 proposals that address some of the issues border communities face. [bc] has convened a great jury with representatives of the nonprofit, design and grassroots leaders community to provide recommendations on which proposals should be selected for the 2016 PDII projects. Read more about the jurors' backgrounds below: 

Michael Seifert is the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network Weaver, a coalition of eight community-based organizations serving more than 100,000 residents on the Texas/Mexico/Gulf Coast border.  The RGV Equal Voice Network has achieved important policy changes in immigration, housing, access to health care, education and jobs for its clients.

As a former priest who worked for many years in Mexico and Brownsville’s Cameron Park, Seifert has lived and worked in rural underserved communities and colonias in the Rio Grande Valley for the past 28 years. In 1998, he and other Cameron Park community leaders founded Proyecto Digna, a community-based organization which was instrumental in the nearly complete reconstruction of that community's infrastructure. He is currently a resident of West Brownsville, Texas.

 

 

In practice for over a decade, Carolina Civarolo, a Registered Architect and LEED Accredited Professional, has spent her career building experience through various design firms and projects. She began her professional career while attending the University of Houston, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture. In 2003, Carolina worked in Barcelona, Spain for the office of Enric Miralles + Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT), where she gained a passion for graphics and presentations. She worked for seven years at the local architecture firm Boultinghouse Simpson Gates Architects (BSG), where she collaborated on different building types and scales and gained experience as a project manager.

Today, she is founder and partner at ORANGE MADE, an architecture studio that explores the process and impact of design and construction of various building types, master planning and adaptive reuse of existing structures. Carolina believes that our clients’ ideas help motivate our solutions. She has served on the Executive Board of the Rio Grande Valley American Institute of Architects Chapter as Secretary/Treasurer + Vice President and currently serves on the City of McAllen’s Building Board of Adjustments and Appeals. Carolina was born in Cordoba, Argentina, grew up in Houston, Texas and now resides in McAllen, TX.

Lourdes Flores is the president of the Support Center at A Resource In Serving Equality (ARISE), an organization of women engaged in leadership development and community-building in four neighborhoods in South Texas. Flores was born in Reynosa, Mexico and moved to Mission,Texas at the age of 12. After high school she joined A Resource In Serving Equality (ARISE). ARISE’s mission is to aid communities by helping residents identify life goals and build capacity; Its guiding tenet: Don’t do anything for anybody that they can’t do for themselves. The organization’s founder, Sister Gerrie Naughton, recruited Flores early on and encouraged her to share her skills. Lourdes, now 42, continues to provide resources that help residents achieve life goals on their own. Under Lourdes’ leadership, this community center network responds directly to each community's needs, combining them with larger efforts that transcend neighborhood boundaries. Lourdes is also a cofounder of one of the ARISE centers in Colonia Muniz. In 2012 she co-founded the first Community PTA know as ARISE South Tower Community PTA, and since then five more comunitario pta’s have been formed.

 

Emma Alaniz is a Colonia leader from Edinburg, TX. She organizes neighborhood meetings and has experience with community outreach and door-to-door canvassing. She believes in equity for all and that all communities should receive essential public services. Emma is committed to the civil rights fight.

Emma has been an active advocate for her community at the local, state, and national levels.  At the local level, Emma represents her Colonia Curry Estates, at Commissioners Court meetings where she has issues regarding flooding and trash collection.  She encourages her neighborhood committee to fight for solutions, succeeding with the development of drainage infrastructure in her Colonia. At the state level, Emma was very active in the fight for Street Lights legislation and has advocated for State issued Driver’s Licenses. The Street Light legislation passed in 2015 and Emma and her neighbors submitted an application to the county to obtain lighting installed in her colonia.  At the national level, Emma traveled with a group of colonia residents and community advocates to advocate for a just and fair comprehensive immigration reform.

As a LUPE member, she has the opportunity to organize on several initiatives like Unidos por RGV and the Planning Committee for the Annual Cesar Chavez March.

Welcome Skyler Fike!

Skyler Fike is a Design Associate at buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. As a Dallas native, he brings with him a strong understanding of Dallas and Fort Worth, and a commitment to these cities for the foreseeable future. He is primarily working on making projects in Dallas.

In his other time, Skyler is a photographer, and hopes to use this medium in tandem with his practice of architecture, and service to the greater community. His greatest desire is to see homelessness and poverty come to an end, and to use these practices to tell compelling stories and empower communities.

Skyler holds a BA in Architecture from the University of Oklahoma.  In 2012, Skyler attended a small liberal arts school on the eastern shore called the Trinity Fellows Academy, where he received a year-long fellowship to study under some of the greatest minds in the arts, religion, culture, and sociology, as well as alongside a community of diverse peers. This time spent in the northeast profoundly shaped his understanding of architecture, people, and why remaining grounded in one place serves to better a community and a the city at large.

 

Crossing the Street: Ivy City

See more posts about our work in Washington, DC. 

[bc] with LISC are excited to announce a call for collaborators for the Crossing the Street: Activating Ivy City project. This art and creative placemaking initiative in the historic Ivy City neighborhood of northeast DC will implement a temporary, creative action that promotes community building, reflects the neighborhood’s rich heritage, and declares residents’ vision for the future of Ivy City.

Crossing the Street: Activating Ivy City will be carried out over the next four months produced and curated by [bc] with LISC in partnership with the DC Office of Planning. [bc] and LISC believe collaboration of local and technical expertise is essential to quality placemaking.

Residents and artists, are encouraged to respond to the call for collaborators. If you have had a creative project in mind that will activate or inspire your neighbors or if you are a person who creates for a living and you want to do something creative and artistic in Ivy City then we want you to apply!

More information on Crossing the Street: Activating Ivy City can be found here and interested parties should apply via an online application found here. A neighborhood tour and Q&A session will be held on July 21st for applicants to familiarize themselves with Ivy City and the application process. We encourage you to attend this session. Applications are due by midnight on Thursday, July 28th. Finalists will be notified by Monday, August 1, 2016.

For more information on Ivy City, see these resources.

This project is supported by a Kresge Foundation grant awarded to the DC Office of Planning. To find out more about DCOP’s Crossing the Street initiative, visit: http://planning.dc.gov/page/creative-placemaking.

Belden Trial Connect Ribbon Cutting Event!

Learn more about Belden Trail & Belden Connect!

Last month the City of Brownsville inaugurated the Belden Connect Project with a celebration ride for the community. The [bc] and Ambiotec Group design is an extension of the mile long Belden Trail that opened to the public in 2013 connecting West Brownsville to Downtown Brownsville and the Mitte Cultural District.

More events are scheduled! Check out the websites below for more information:

LUCHA 1.0

Learn more about LUCHA. 

During its first phase, LUCHA worked directly with 15 colonia representatives, each of whom represent a larger organizing effort in Hidalgo and Cameron county. The goal of LUCHA 1.0 was trifold. To develop representantes’ understanding and expertise in the areas of land use, public infrastructure, development, and water issues. To engage representantes to further focus their top priorities, and begin to make selections of preferences on possible solutions. And to craft policy and legislative initiatives in preparation for the 2015 Texas legislative session.
Some examples of the Colonia and Housing issues that LUCHA leaders addressed were: housing affordability, adequate infrastructure, jobs, public safety, and land use. The initiative has the capacity, through legislative action, to impact the 1.2 million people living in the three county area, Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy. The demographic targets of the project are low-income residents of rural and urban subdivisions that lack complete, well-functioning municipal services.

Partners

Community Development Corporation of Brownsville
The Community Development Corporation of Brownsville (CDCB)  is a non‐profit community housing development organization, who has been providing safe, sanitary, affordable housing to the citizens of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas for the past 38 years. CDCB participated in LUCHA workgroups, the engagement and management committees and was responsible of overseeing all housing and development initiatives.  

Texas Low Income Housing Services
Texas Low Income Housing Information Services (TxLIHIS) is a nonprofit corporation established in Austin in 1988 to support low-income Texan's efforts to achieve the American dream of a decent, affordable home in a quality neighborhood. TxLIHIS lead and coordinated the Representantes trainings, planned with [bc] the LUCHA workgroups and was responsible of overseeing policy development initiatives. TxLIHIS assisted the Representantes with their political strategy as well. 

La Unión del Pueblo Entero
César Chávez established La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), a non-profit organization, which is rooted in the belief that members of the low-income community have both the responsibility and the obligation to organize themselves, and through their association, to advocate for solutions to the issues that impact their lives. LUPE was responsible of identifying, recruiting and supporting Colonia representantes and of developing the political and engagement strategy for LUCHA. Working with TxLIHIS, LUPE lead and coordinated the representante trainings, and engagement and management committee meetings and assisted with the workgroups. 

A Resource In Serving Equality  
A Resource In Serving Equality Arise (ARISE) was founded in 1987 by Sister Gerrie Naughton, of the Sisters of Mercy order as a grassroots organization of women for women; building on strengths and respecting the dignity of each individual. In coordination with LUPE and other community organizations (START and TOP), ARISE was responsible of identifying, recruiting and supporting Colonia representantes, supporting colonia-wide events, the political strategy and leadership trainings, workgroups and workshops. 

LUCHA: Land Use Colonia Housing Action

Learn more about LUCHA. 

LUCHA emerged from the 2012 Colonia Summit held by state Senator Eddie Lucio, where colonia leaders and state officials gathered to discuss issues which require more systemic change. A key outcome was the determination that a council of colonia residents would be created to work with local and State government. LUCHA was designed to support the council, build capacity of local colonia residents [representantes], and identify community supported policy issues for the 2015 legislative session.

The term "colonia," in Spanish means a community or neighborhood. The Office of the Secretary of State defines a "colonia" as a residential area along the Texas-Mexico border that may lack some of the most basic living necessities, such as potable water and sewer systems, electricity, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing. Lack of affordable housing, coupled with Texas’ limited regulation and low taxes at the county level, has contributed to thousands of families settling in primarily isolated communities on former farmland, ill prepared to handle the infrastructural needs of residential development.

While significant improvements have been made, including paved streets, potable water connections, and standards for water systems, limited efforts have been made incorporating colonia residents in infrastructure or long-range planning efforts. In 2011-12 colonia leaders, community organizing institutions, Community Development Corporations, planners, and housing policy experts partnered to develop seven (7) model colonia plans. The model colonia plans serve as the backdrop for LUCHA.

 

Water Quality Management in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

Omar Hakeem and Hugo Colón giving Mehmet Boz and David Dilks a tour of La Hacienda Casitas.

Omar Hakeem and Hugo Colón giving Mehmet Boz and David Dilks a tour of La Hacienda Casitas.

Learn more about the Colonias LID program in the LRGV.

[bc] partnered with Texas A&M Kingsville and the Local Stormwater Taskforce during the 17th Annual Water Quality Management & Planning Conference held in South Padre Island. [bc] showcased the role of stormwater management in various RGV-based projects: RAPIDO, Colonias LID and La Hacienda Casitas. 

Through the sponsorship of the Surdna Foundation, [bc] brought two stormwater management experts to speak about stormwater management strategies at different scales that could benefit the Lower Rio Grande Valley and its various colonias. 

Dr. David Dilks, Vice President of LimnoTech, an engineering firm with an international reputation for hydrological modeling, shared his knowledge on the management of floodwaters in low-gradient and rural settings. Dr. Dilks has worked on projects all over the country, but highlighted projects in the DC metro area, as well as an agricultural land management project in the Midwest. Both projects were in very flat topography, so they provided applicable lessons to the Rio Grande Valley.  

In addition, Mehmet Boz, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE., and civil practice leader with KCI Technologies in San Antonio, shared his knowledge of Low Impact Development and Water Management in south central Texas. Dr. Boz taught conference attendees that LID strategies can be used in Texas, where there are issues of drought that coexist with severe flooding. LID strategies have been very well explored on the East Coast, but the strategies need to be different here in Texas due to the climate. He showed ways to improve water quality, mitigate run-off and flooding, add shade and increase vegetation. 

 

 Mehmet Boz presenting on LID strategies, featuring a rendering done by [bc] for a right of way improvement in a colonia.

 Mehmet Boz presenting on LID strategies, featuring a rendering done by [bc] for a right of way improvement in a colonia.

David Dilks presenting a hydrological model done to study the effects of an LID strategy.

David Dilks presenting a hydrological model done to study the effects of an LID strategy.

Both Dr. Dilks and Dr. Boz will be part of [bc]'s ongoing drainage initiatives in the LRGV as technical advisors through the sponsorship of the Surdna Foundation. [bc] Planning Associate Hugo Colón participated as co-moderator during these two panels. [bc] led Dr. Dilks and Dr. Boz on tours of the area, visiting several colonias and the La Hacienda Casitas. 

Data Ecosystem Project - Report Released

See more posts about bcANALYTICS. 

Stakeholders from across North Texas identified opportunities and challenges at Data Ecosystem Lab #1 in January 2016. 

Stakeholders from across North Texas identified opportunities and challenges at Data Ecosystem Lab #1 in January 2016. 

bcANALYTICS recently wrapped up The Data Ecosystem Project, a two-year project to reimagine the way data is collected, shared, and used across Dallas and North Texas. 

Executive Summary

Read the full Data Ecosystem Project report and Appendices here!

North Texas faces a myriad of challenges as it moves through the second decade of the 21st Century. Affordable housing, rapid growth, aging infrastructure, poverty alleviation, children’s health, and urban blight are just some of the many complex, interconnected problems that require an unprecedented amount of long-term action, cross-sector coordination, and development of a common agenda to address. Cities across the world have recognized that data is central to both understanding and acting on these complex issues and that the importance of making data accessible to a greater population is key to reaching these goals. A number of different strategies for achieving these goals have been adopted across the country, with each offering unique strengths and benefits.

The Data Ecosystem Project, sponsored by Communities Foundation of Texas, has worked with a diverse group of stakeholders to identify a system that can revolutionize the ways we collect, share, access, and use data in Dallas. Through research on national best practices, the Dallas Data Ecosystem Survey, and local stakeholder engagement the Data Ecosystem Project has identified an approach that organizations in Dallas and North Texas can work towards to improve the health and vitality of the regional data ecosystem.

The wealth of motivated organizations and individuals already working in Dallas and North Texas lends itself to collaborative solutions that benefit from the existing skills and expertise of the data ecosystem. The single greatest need is a centralized data catalog, library, or portal - where data from a variety of organizations, topics, and scales can be accessed by anyone and everyone. To do this, a mix of ancillary activities must also occur, from the creation of a governing body and governance structure to the development of topic specific cohort groups that encourage collaboration and participation between and across different parts of the ecosystem. 

The Data Ecosystem Project has identified a data ecosystem model built around a number of primary and second functions. To implement these practices across the ecosystem, we recommend the following activities take place by Fall 2017: 

  1. Acquiring preliminary funding to carry out a set of initial work items with oversight from a preliminary advisory team.
  2. Recruiting advocates from a variety of sectors and backgrounds to act as champions of the data ecosystem.
  3. Forming an advisory team to help guide the development of the data ecosystem’s final structure. 
  4. Conducting a data inventory to better understand the extent of publicly available data in North Texas.
  5. Developing case studies that help demonstrate the value and potential of enhanced data accessibility.
  6. Creating a business plan and securing multi-year funding for implementation.

Moving forward with these steps will support the successful implementation of a more robust data ecosystem. Whether the advisory team recommends and builds the case for a collaborative effort or the development of a university-driven data hub, taking the steps to make data more accessible will better enable the region to tackle the problems it faces. By maintaining the status quo, organizations must work harder and less efficiently to understand themselves, their communities, and make well-informed decisions.

Bonton + Ideal Wins "Top of Texas" Award

We're honored to announce that Bonton + Ideal has been awarded the First Annual Top of Texas Award from the Interurban Film Festival, recognizing the Best Texas Film.

The Interurban Film Festival was hosted in downtown Denison, Texas, and featured a wide variety of film styles.

You can watch the film below.

A Guide to the [bc] Request for Qualifications

Learn more about projects with Design Partners: PDII, Activating Vacancy, and Little Free Libraries/Libros Libres.

This year we've revamped our Request for Qualifications.  Below is a full look at the Request for Qualifications form, so that you know what information you will need to have ready before you begin.

Important things to note:

  • You cannot save your work while filling out the form. Draft your answers and materials before you start.
  • Active projects seeking designers will be listed in Question 1.
  • If you are applying for a specific project, the application may have more or fewer questions that the application form shown here. 
  • There are two (2) uploads required for most applications (Questions 7 & 13): 
    • Question 7 is a short narrative that describes your interest, experience, and qualifications for working with community groups. 
    • Question 13 is a document that contains photo or graphic samples of your work. 
  • References (Question 8) are not required for the general application, but strongly encouraged!
  • You may not hear back immediately. Projects and volunteer opportunities occur throughout the year at various times and frequencies.
  • If you have questions, email us at inform@bcworkshop.org or give us a call at 214.252.2900.

Welcome Christina Houle

Learn more about Christina here!

Christina Houle 

bcFELLOW

Christina Sukhgian Houle is a bcFELLOW at buildingcommunityWORKSHOP.  She works with the PeopleOrganizing Place initiative to foster art and community partnerships in Brownsville.  As a producer, educator and artist Christina has extensive experience in developing platforms for civic expression, imagination and engagement in NYC and throughout Texas.

Before working with [bc] Christina worked with the Center for Urban Pedagogy (NYC) developing short films with youth about local policy practices, Creative Time (NYC) creating large scale public art performances, and at596 Acres (NYC) educating the public on their land advocacy rights. ‘The emphasis of her work has been placing power in the hands of communities to solve local problems and develop programatic strengths.

She holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University and an EdM in Technology, Innovation andEducation from the Harvard School of Education.  Additionally Houle’s short film and protest performance series, Migration Patterns During Wartime, was awarded the Andy Warhol Foundation Idea Fund Grant and screened in the US and Mexico in 2011.

Welcome Michaela Accardi!

Learn more about Michaela here!

Michaela Accardi

Design Associate

Michaela Accardi is a Design Associate at buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. Michaela’s work is focused on city design and engagement projects as part of the People Organizing Place (POP) team in the Washington, DC office. She is supporting the development of a large city wide planning initiative focused on building increased cultural participation as well as developing innovative methodologies to support creative economies and creative placemaking initiatives within select neighborhoods.

As a DC native, Michaela has experience in the public and nonprofit sector in master planning, community engagement, site design, and natural resource management. Her graduate research and design work focused on the making of healthy and equitable cities through the use of community-interest design in several Virginia localities. 

Michaela holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and a Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Virginia in Environmental Sciencesand Environmental Thought & Practice.

April Designer Social Hour Recap

On April 21st and April 27th, [bc] held Designer Social Hours in our Brownsville and Dallas offices. In an effort to help connect designers to opportunities to get involved in our communities, [bc] is convening active and interested designers (and design-related professionals) every other month to share our experiences and to learn how to build our capacity to help others. A special thank you to Ellen Mitchell for sharing at the Dallas Social Hour about Citizen HKS and how that program was started.

Are you a designer, architect, engineer, planner or artist interested in getting more involved in your community? Fill out our Request for Qualifications to be considered for [bc] projects and initiatives, or to sign up as a volunteer!

At each social we ask attendees to answer questions about their experience with community-based work. To see the results of previous survey and to submit your own answers, click on the question: What opportunities / resources exist for community projects? & What barriers prevent you from getting involved in community projects?

 

Where do barriers occur in the community design process?

Our latest survey maps the community-based design process, and asked attendees to apply when the barriers that we identified occur. These surveys will help [bc] and other community designers apply resources to those points in the process! You can see the results of this survey below, and submit your own answers.

Bonton + Ideal Released

Learn more about Bonton + Ideal and Neighborhood Stories.

The newest film in our Neighborhood Stories series, Bonton + Ideal, was released free online today. The film focuses on these two South Dallas neighborhoods, and illustrates the many policies enacted that aimed to isolate the community socially, economically, environmentally, and physically.

Told through the eyes of long-term residents, Bonton + Ideal tells the history of two neighborhoods thathave been tied together since their initial development during the era of segregation. Built on land in the Trinity River’s floodplain, the neighborhoods have battled the effects of massive flooding, concentrated public housing projects, and racially-motivated bombing campaigns.

The film’s director, Craig Weflen, says, “these stories give Dallas residents a chance to examine the consequences of flawed policies. Beyond Dallas, the challenges faced by Bonton and Ideal are the same sorts of challenges that have been faced by other neighborhoods across the American South. This is an opportune time to reflect on the way we’ve built our cities, and ask ourselves whether these conscious decisions have resulted in just, equitable living environments.”

Bonton + Ideal premiered on KERA’s Frame of Mind series in December 2015, and has screened publicly across Dallas, and nationally, over the past five months.

Bonton + Ideal is “a must-watch for anyone who cares about the history of Dallas and how it developed as two cities: One for whites, another for blacks,” says Mike Drago of the Dallas Morning News, adding that, “the context of such overt hostility is prerequisite to getting your head around all the neglect and misery that followed.”