2012 - 2017

2013: The Glendale/Mountain View Community Learning Center Opens and Becomes a Key UNP Partner

“It was late in 2011 when I joined a large group of Glendale community members gathered in the City Council chambers. The council was holding a special hearing to consider a spending proposal — $250,000 to aid the school district in constructing a community center next to the Glendale Middle and Mountain View Elementary Schools. One by one, these parents and grandparents rose to speak. They told about the classes, programs, and services already available at the schools, and how these efforts had impacted them and their families. And, they shared their hopes for the opportunities to come with the construction of the new building.

“The City Council had planned to put off the vote for a couple of weeks, but after hearing from the community they moved to vote immediately. Support for the proposal was unanimous. Approximately six months later, the district broke ground on the Glendale-Mountain View Community Learning Center (CLC).

“The story of the Glendale/Mountain View CLC began in the mid-1990s. At the time I was working at Mountain View Elementary as the coordinator of the after school program, and saw a growing recognition among school leaders that they could not improve educational opportunities for all students if they did not partner with families, and if they ignored the many barriers that their communities faced. We began expanding youth programming offerings during out-of-school hours, and engaging new partners who could offer supports for students and their families.

“Glendale and Mountain View were extremely overcrowded, with classes spilling out into portable trailers. Finding room for family programming was a constant struggle. When a small, rickety, wood-paneled trailer was dropped off around 2005, it was given to me for community engagement efforts. That trailer became the first CLC — a cozy, welcoming space where parents could meet, take classes, cook, share stories, and become more engaged in their children’s schools.

“In 2010, with fundraising already begun for a CLC at Rose Park Elementary, the Salt Lake City Education Foundation turned its attention to Glendale and Mountain View. The district spent two years raising money and drawing up plans for a stand-alone CLC building. Parents themselves raised over $3,000 through sales of hand-made arts and crafts, and were essential in getting the city to throw its financial support behind the project. With support from UNP, I began building new university and community partners that could help build up a thriving CLC.

“In August 2013 the Glendale/ Mountain View CLC opened, and I became its first coordinator. We offered a range of opportunities for families, students, and educators. Programs addressed academic enrichment, youth leadership, health care, family engagement, community development, and more. And the Glendale/Mountain View CLC became one part of a larger movement in the district to bridge schools and communities. In 2016, as part of the district’s five year Student Achievement Plan we saw the creation of the Office of Family-School Collaboration at the district, and the launch of the first Our CASA spaces (rooms dedicated to building a welcoming and college-going culture in the schools). In 2017 the third CLC in the district was opened at the newly constructed Liberty Elementary.

“Our experiences of the Glendale/Mountain View CLC demonstrate that if these efforts are going to succeed, families must be at the center — their interests, their needs, their leadership, and their voices.”

~ Keri Taddie, CLC Coordinator, SLC School District

2012-2013 Accomplishments

• The River District Banner Project is conducted.
• UNP Advisory Board co-chairs transition to Charlotte Fife-Jepperson and Ann Darling.
• Dr. Trish Saccomano receives the 2012-2013 UNP Community Scholar in Residence award.
• Lourdes Flores receives the 2012-2013 UNP Community Resident in Action award.
• The new Hartland Partnership Center renovations are completed and it opens to the public.
• UNP and the U’s College of Social Work partner to offer the first Case Management Certificate class held at Sorenson Unity Center.
• Dr. Sonya Aleman receives the 2013-2014 UNP Community Scholar in Residence award.
• BirthCare HealthCare, the U of U College of Nursing’s Nurse Midwifery and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner faculty practice, begins offering services to women in at the UNP Hartland Partnership Center.
• The Paraeducator Pathway pilot starts at Mountain View, Rose Park, and Lincoln Elementary Schools.
• Elizabeth Montoya receives the 2013-2014 UNP Community Resident in Action award.
• Clemente launches.

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2014: The Bridge Training Clinic is Established at UNP Hartland

“For me, Hartland is the key piece of connection between the west side community and the University of Utah. It is exactly what Social Work should look like, which is meeting those we work with where they are, and allowing them to determine their needs, wants, and path. Hartland, in many ways, saved my faith in Social Work last year, and because of my time there I know exactly what type of social worker I will be. I left with the realization that it is not about knowing all the right modalities, or techniques; instead it is about creating meaningful relationships and connections with human beings of all backgrounds, and identities. Hartland is truly the heart of the various partnerships, and helps the community find their voice, and creates a pathway for access to various opportunities. I will forever love Hartland. I will forever love that community.”

~ Brittany Bitters, 2017 MSW Intern

The Walk-In Center, located in the UNP Hartland Partnership Center, remains a creative, welcoming neighborhood space supporting connections between individuals, families, schools and communities. Since opening in 2004, the Walk-In Center has continued to grow in both capacity and relevance in supporting vibrant west side community capacity building and well-being efforts.

In 2014, UNP and the U of U College of Social Work formalized a long standing field education partnership, now
named the Bridge Training Clinic- UNP Hartland. The Clinic ensures continued culturally responsive support for individuals, families, and community groups in our neighborhoods and meaningful field training opportunities for social work students. Social workers actively provide accessible, culturally-responsive mental health support to residents in need. The clinic is supported by social work practicum students, College of Social Work faculty, and a full-time Clinical Director.

We are profoundly grateful for the trusting relationships that allow us to join residents in their unique, dynamic, and significant capacity building efforts. We work together as reciprocal learners and experts, with a strong belief that residents generates the knowledge and strength needed.

“UNP will forever hold a special place in my heart. As a west side resident and University of Utah Social Work student, UNP Hartland is a space where I always feel welcomed, connected, heard, valued, supported, and empowered. At Hartland, I gained a lifelong mentor who has helped me find my voice and purpose. In the future, I envision UNP being a second home for me, my sister, family, friends, colleagues, community members and much more. I love UNP!”

~ Christina Andino

“Because Hartland is focused on resident involvement, it has a direct impact on the community it represents. I think of Hartland as a place that works to empower community members to make decisions that honor and encourage the continuation of their interests, needs, and traditions. As a student, Hartland taught me how to work with people from varying backgrounds with a respect for their individual needs. I learned to refrain from making generalizations by instead valuing the unique experience that each person presented.”

~ Lily Ferreira, 2017 BSW Intern

“During my 13 years of involvement with UNP Hartland I have gained so much from my interactions and collaborations with faculty, students, and, of course, community members. I have always had a tendency toward working independently but have learned that through idea sharing, having an open mind to new ways of thinking, and through collaboration, the end result is far better and richer than anything I would have done on my own. My relationships developed there are deep and strong and I have so much admiration for the great talent I have been exposed to. My teaching and fieldwork supervision have benefitted in more ways that I can count and I have the great delight of now having a life-long partnership with the Karen and Karenni weavers. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the UNP Hartland experience!”

~ Yda Smith, Division of Occupational Therapy, U of U

2014-2015 Accomplishments

• Salt Lake City and the Capital City Education initiative are selected by the Lumina Foundation, the nation’s largest private foundation focused exclusively on higher education, to participate in Lumina’s Community Partnership Program.
• UNP and partners complete an extensive asset mapping project of the Glendale and Poplar Grove neighborhoods.
• Sarah Munro becomes the 3rd UNP Director.
• Jordan River Family Day is held on the Jordan River Parkway in memory of Matt Bradley.
• The Masters of Social Work Licence in Clinical Social Work study group begins at UNP Hartland Partnership Center.
• UNP Advisory Board co-chairs transition to Charlotte Fife-Jepperson and Susie Porter.
• Hartland Community 4 Youth & Families receives its nonprofit status.
• Dr. Jason Castillo receives the 2015-2016 UNP Community Scholar in Residence award.
• Jacqueline Gómez-Arias receives the 2015-2016 UNP Community Resident in Action award.

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2016: UNP Launches Its Startup Incubator in Partnership with Sustainable Startups

Over the course of UNP’s 2016/17 academic year, UNP partnered with Sustainable Startups to open a Startup Incubator space in the UNP Hartland Partnership Center. The Startup Incubator is now flourishing as a free co-working space for entrepreneurs and community partners who are interested in developing goods, services, or programs focused on benefiting west side communities. In addition to opportunities and education regarding networking, capacity building, and organizational structure, the Startup Incubator also provides competitive startup investment grants to qualifying particpants. The shared space of the Incubator provides access to professional and academic support, mentorship, workshops, and additional resources.

Highlighted here are several of the startups that participate in the partnership and utilize the coworking space provided in UNP’s Startup Incubator.

Current Startup Incubator Participants

• Glendale Community Council
• Communidad Materna Utah
• Centro Eres
• Center for Creating Community
• Royal Outreach Foundation (Teine Malohi Softball)

Weekend Startup Incubator Partners

• Somali ESL Class
• Arabic Class for Sudanese & South Sudanese
• Karen Weaving Group
• Congolese Christian Leaders

Glendale Community Council

The purpose of the Glendale Community Council is to promote the well-being and interests of the Glendale Community and to make recommendations, support, and take action upon community measures and policies in the best interest of the Glendale Community.

Teine Malohi

Teine Malohi Softball uses the fundamentals of softball to empower young girls from underrepresented communities to build self confidence through involvement in civic and community projects, promoting student success and strengthening cultural identity.

Centro ERES

The mission of Centro ERES is to help women and families in the Latino community to develop emotional competencies.

Our vision is that women move forward in productive ways and become leaders in the community.

“UNP is uniquely positioned to guide Salt Lake City and many communities within SLC toward embracing the concepts of Learning Cities. Learning Cities co-create ‘personal growth and social cohesion through the development of the human potential of all its citizens (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). While I can’t say for certain what my ongoing involvement with UNP will look like in the future, I am confident that my professional goals align well with the work of UNP and I hope to continue learning from and growing with the UNP Team.”

~ Sean Crossland, Immediate Past President of the Glendale Community Council

2016 Accomplishments

• UNP’s Youth Voices partnership is launched.
• The Somali Community Self-Management Agency partners with UNP to conduct Let Your Voice Be Heard voting rights events at Glendale Library.
• A series of Design Circles are conducted with west side School-Community Councils.

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2017: Phase I of the U of U Civic Action Plan is Finalized

When the University of Utah adopted phase 1 of its formal Civic Action Plan in May 2017, it took an important step in a decades-long effort to cultivate community engagement at the University.

As a key part of our partnership model, UNP advocates for community-engaged scholarship (CES) — research and teaching carried out in partnership with communities. This work can only be sustainable if there are systems at the university-level that support resources and honor such engagement.

One strategy for supporting CES has been to create awards and grants. In 2003, UNP began offering a “Community Scholar in Residence” award for engaged faculty, followed a few years later by the “Community Resident in Action” award for residents doing CES with faculty. In 2011, UNP and the U’s Vice President for Research launched The Community-Based Research (CBR) Grant Program, an annual grant competition for community engaged research projects, and 2017 saw the announcement of a new faculty award recognizing excellence in CES.

A second strategy for UNP has been to be a part of efforts to recommend changes to University policy through research and committee work. In 2010, the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center led the effort to have the U classified by Carnegie as a Community Engaged Institution. This effort evolved into a Faculty Task Force on community engagement, which presented recommendations to the U in 2011. Many have been implemented. In 2013, the U conducted a survey of community engagement among faculty to better understand how to support and document this work. In 2015, Ruth Watkins (now President of the U) convened a working group to recommend ways of assessing and valuing CES across the university, which led to new language about valuing CES in promotion and tenure decisions. This group included representatives from three campus units dedicated to building partnerships between the U and its surrounding communities — the Bennion Center, UNP, and the Office of Engagement.

Now UNP and its partners are working to share and implement the Civic Action Plan’s four strategies through campus-wide engagement. We hope to continue making the U an environment in which CES can flourish and strengthen the U’s position as a national leader in community engagement.

Strategy 1

Increase the number of students who have a deeply engaged community learning experience before they graduate from the U.

Strategy 2

Enhance the U’s capacity to appropriately value and assess community-engaged scholarship in promotion and tenure decisions.

Strategy 3

Strengthen collaborations with key actors at the neighborhood, city, and county level to support community health, quality of life, and the promise of higher education.

Strategy 4

Improve systems for documenting, assessing, and telling the story of community engagement at the U through shared data and indicators.

Office of Engagement - Founded in 2012 Connects the community with the promises of higher education. They help young people imagine and believe they can go to college, mentor and prepare them through the process, and foster real achievement through advising, engagement, and the creation of safe spaces to learn and discover.

Lowell Bennion Community Service Center - Founded in 1987 Works to reinvent and revive academic careers by enhancing faculty teaching, scholarship, and service. The Center invites faculty to learn from experienced colleagues and jumpstart a community-engaged research agenda that will improve health and quality of life in our communities while making significant contributions to existing knowledge and literature.

 

2017 Accomplishments

• UNP Advisory Board co-chairs transition to Susie Porter and Kate Rubalcava.
• First Community Organizing class starts.
• Head Start classroom opens at UNP Hartland Partnership Center.
• The Our CASA College Lounge Network launches with its first school and community-based sites at West High, Salt Lake Center for Science Education, Northwest Community Learning Campus, Backman Elementary, and Hartland Youth Center.
• UNP partners with the Utah Arts Alliance to launch KUAA 90.9 Radio Bilingue Utah.
• David Derezotes and David Parker receive the 2017-2018 UNP Community Resident in Action award.
• Hartland Bridge Clinic begins offering free mental health clinics in partnership with the U of U Department of Psychiatry.
• Dr. Jesus Valero receives the 2017-2018 UNP Community Scholar in Residence award.