Session 8

Topic:  Forming a Peer Assistance Network for Blueprint Communities

Convenor: Jim Bailey

Note Taker: David Buches

Participants: Jim Bailey - Gilmer, Sharon Walden - McDowell, Bob Gribben - Fairmont, Charles Maroudas - Williamson

Key themes, outstanding questions, observations:

Focus issue -  using the initial 10 communities to form a peer network, trying to find folks with skills related to HCD and using them as a basis to create a peer network.

Reference the SBA SCORE model that utilizes the skills of retired business people.

Reference the Arts Council in Charleston that connected peer artists and paid a stipend

Use of the technology to creat peer-to-peer opportunities. Internet based technical support group for HCD. Use of email to pose and get answers to questions.

Architectural skills - retired architects. recommendations for community design.

Legal advice - use of Legal Aid for organizational documents, will they do real estate stuff like deed/title searches?

Obstacles: Travel, other expenses, possible need for stipend.

Reference Community Design organization WVU as a model.

SHPO - State Historic Preservation Office - will they provide historic assessment services and help with historic designation application process.

WVU Department of Agriculture - landscape architecture project. First Impressions Program?

Recommendations:

1. Inventory existing HCD skills among initial 10 communities and survey interest in sharing expertise.

2. Explore the possibility of expanding the Blueprint website or other appropriate technology to accomodate the assistance request process.

3. Approach the Bennedum Foundation or AmeriCorp to organize the intial effort, identify what other free HCD type services (see suggestions above) are out there and how to access them and creating a process for matching skills to community needs for services, and/or a question/answer type forum.

4. Contact the WVa Chapter of American Institute of Architects to see what services they will provide to communities and what is the process for accessing those services.

Side issue: What to do with community graveyards that are not subject to perpetual care that have become overgrown and no longer maintained. They are eyesores but if maintained could become a community resource.

Recommendations:

Use of prison labor, WPA to do initial clean-up and maintenance.

Local historic societies - interested in maintaining them as a resource for community historic resource.

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