Group challenges residents to envision a better Schenectady

Foundation will grant money, aid to fulfill ideas for neighborhoods

Pat Smith wants to see more summer and after-school programs to keep wayward youngsters off the streets in her Mont Pleasant neighborhood. Camille Sasinowski of Goose Hill wants a mobile police command center in the community to foster a more friendly relationship between police and citizens. Marva Isaacs is hoping Hamilton Hill gets a grocery store.

The three women, presidents of their respective neighborhood associations in Schenectady, are excited about the prospects of an ambitious initiative by a local foundation that is challenging people to come up with viable ideas to make their part of the city a better place to live.

“This idea of a challenge is: come forward with your best ideas on what would make your neighborhood or some part of the city a more livable place, a better, a healthier or safer place,” Schenectady Foundation Executive Director Bob Carreau said Monday. He noted the idea is not a new one and has been successful elsewhere. “The downtown has been well developed and is strong so let’s see what we can stimulate with a grant program out in the neighborhoods of Schenectady.”

The kickoff of the first phase of the Thriving Neighborhoods Challenge is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Electric City Barn at 400 Craig St.

Carreau said the philanthropic group, which partners with nonprofit organizations, has been more conscious about providing more grant money for reviving neighborhoods.

He said the city is chipping in $100,000 through the community development block grant program, the foundation will contribute a six-figure amount that he didn’t divulge, and several private investors are also donating money.

After Tuesday’s launch, organizers will embark on a tour across the city to discuss the challenge, Carreau said. The foundation will review the submitted proposals and will give a presentation to the challenge council of community stakeholders before making a recommendation to the foundation board of directors, which will pick the winners in January and determine how much money they will receive. He said the foundation may also conduct focus groups and surveys.

The winners will be paired with a nonprofit to help bring their ideas to life, said Carreau.

“We’re really trying to use both the passion of citizens and then the organizational strength of some of the nonprofits,” said Carreau.

Smith said her big ideas, which she has already shared with foundation staff, are geared toward providing more activities for teens.

“If you can change these kids’ attitudes that there’s more to life than hanging out in the streets and getting into trouble, you will within 10 years change the attitude of the neighborhood,” said Smith.

Sasinowski loves what she has so far learned about the challenge especially the fact that the ideas will come from people who live in Schenectady.

“The neighborhoods are the people that know what goes on and what the needs are,” said Sasinowski.

In 2014, the foundation along with its partners awarded $1 million to nonprofit groups aimed at getting upward of 1,000 needy people jobs and providing them with the support to stay employed while making the areas where they live safer and more stable.

On Monday, Carreau said the success of the challenge at hand will ultimately be measured in many ways, including getting projects done “so that there is something visible.”

Much harder, he said, will be determining “the impact of the challenge itself” and stimulating “more people to come forward and get involved.

“We feel it can be a big uplift for the neighborhoods, creating more of a sense of community,” said Carreau.