Community Partner : Waverly Main Street Peer Mentor : Lucas Rozendaal Site Supervisor : Matthew Smith What is Waverly Main Street ? Our mission is to expand growth of the Waverly Commercial District through revitalization and economic development , commercial building and streetscape improvements , and promotions and entrepreneurial development . We partner with district businesses , local residents , non-profits , and other nearby interests to solidify and further enhance the diversity and historic character of Waverly .
This summer , I interned at Waverly Main Street , a community development nonprofit that supports the merchants of the Waverly Commercial District and promotes Waverly ' s economic revitalization .
I started my internship at Waverly Main Street by updating the non-profit ' s commercial property index . Waverly Main Street can ' t properly serve the merchants in Waverly without the knowledge of which merchants are there , so I updated the old index to reflect openings and closings since Spring . I also added hours , contact information for most of the businesses , and whether they were in good standing , so that Waverly Main Street would have a better sense of what the needs of the community were and how to reach out . Shortly before I arrived for the summer , Waverly Main Street began a bi-monthly newsletter to keep the merchants in the community informed about grants they may be eligible for , construction and development updates , relevant city-wide policy and regulation changes they might have missed , and other Waverly news . I drafted the newsletter ' s August edition . Waverly Main Street doesn ' t have a lot of personnel and tends to do a lot of high-level work , so it can be hard for us to build relationships with community members directly . The newsletter was a small but simple way to reach out to the Waverly merchants and other non-profits and stakeholders in the community and keep them informed about what we were up to . The project on which I spent the most time , however , was the redevelopment of a lot owned by Waverly Main Street into a community garden and event space called Waverly Commons . I researched Water Access programs to facilitate expansion and preservation of the garden . I evaluated signage companies and looked into design options for shading and shade sails to provide event attendees and performers in the music series with shade coverage . I also personally worked on re-mulching the majority of the Commons space with fresh mulch to support site beautification . Watching the space ' s progress over the course of the summer was immensely satisfying , and the experience taught me so much about project management and communication on projects with many external stakeholders and outside parties .
Expanded and updated a business index of 178 commercial zoned properties in the Waverly neighborhood Drafted the Waverly Main Street newsletter to keep Waverly merchants informed about relevant grants , construction and development updates , and city policy and regulation changes Researched and evaluated Water Access programs , shading options , and signage companies to facilitate the transformation of a privatelyowned lot into a community garden and event space
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