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Parramore Community Garden

 

Pathway for Quality of Life

Quality of life efforts are essential to create sustainability in any neighborhood and the City of Orlando’s Department of Public Works along with the City’s Economic Development Department have led efforts to enhance and enrich the Parramore community.

BLUEPRINT
 During the development of the Community Venue projects, Mayor Dyer and the Orlando City Council created the BLUEPRINT, a model for how communities nationwide can leverage public projects to create local jobs and local business growth.  As of May 22, 2009 the following has been achieved:

  • Hired more than 75 individuals for jobs related to the Community Venue projects

  • Hired more than 55% from the target population (Parramore residents, homeless and ex-offenders)

  • Hired more than 600 individuals for jobs unrelated to the Community Venues projects

  • Hired more than 18% of the target population for jobs unrelated to the Community Venues projects

  • The City of Orlando opened the BLUEPRINT Employment Office, located at 1200 W. South Street, in the Lynx Building in September 2008.  The BLUEPRINT Employment Office is a one-stop location designed to help residents overcome barriers to employment.  Residents can access job databases and consult with job placement specialists.

Find out more about the BLUEPRINT in our Community Venues section.

Parramore Heritage Park
Completed in 2007, the Parramore Heritage Park includes a neighborhood park and a centralized facility for the collection of stormwater for the anticipated development within a sub-basin of the Parramore neighborhood. This project not only provides incentive for redevelopment, but it will also serve as a neighborhood park for the residents of Parramore.

Z.L. Riley Park
A ground breaking for the renovated park was held on June 9, 2009.

The design was created with input from residents in the community and it will include a large shelter and stage area, 9-foot wide sidewalks, space on each side of the interior sidewalk for vendors for festivals or farmers’ market use, picnic area, game tables and a shaded playground. The park will be enclosed with a decorative security fence and will feature mosaics depicting African themes made by local children and a mosaic artist. The park is dedicated to the legacy left to the community by local businessman Mr. Zellie L. Riley.

Parramore Community Garden
Parramore Community Garden adds beauty to the community, brings neighbors closer together and reduces crime by providing a safe, recreational green space in this previously crime ridden block. In addition, the garden brings neighbors together to help combat high rates of obesity and diabetes, establish inter-generational relationships, increase safety, create a police-community partnership and to improve the quality of life for Parramore residents

Mayor’s Matching Grants:
The City of Orlando has provided nearly $125,000 in funds through three different Mayor’s Matching Grant programs to assist neighborhood, non-profit, community and education programs in Parramore since Pathways for Parramore was launched in June 2005. These projects involved more than 3,400 hours of volunteers labor valued at more than $61,200. The following are examples of programs the City of Orlando has funded:

  • The Mayor's Neighborhood Matching Grants program provides funding for neighborhood improvements that address neighborhood needs and improve the quality of life in City of Orlando neighborhoods through neighborhood, condominium, resident, and homeowner associations, implement physical improvement, public safety, or educational and cultural projects and programs that benefit all residents of the neighborhood.
    • Griffin Park Resident Association Life Skills Enhancement Development Program - $4,000
       
  • The Mayor’s Faith Based and Community Matching Grants program provides funding to not-for-profit organizations that offer youth programming in crime prevention and anti-violence.
    • Milestone Projects, Inc. Skilled Pen Poetry Program - $9,000
       
  • The Mayor’s Educational Partnership Grants program funds schools and not-for-profit organizations to provide educational enhancement or academic enrichment opportunities to our City’s youth during non-school hours.
    • Washington Shores Elementary School Our Math Literacy Club - $10,000

Streetscapes
The Sidewalks for Safety project includes 22 new and repaired sidewalks to be completed by mid-June 2009 in Parramore. The City invested $250,000 in CDBG funds for the project.

Division Avenue Streetscape is a $2.2 million investment through funds from the Orlando Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for the construction of new sidewalks, improvements to intersections and the addition of street trees and historic style street lights along Division Avenue between Washington Street and Church Street.

Church Street Streetscape is a $15.4 million investment made possible through the 2005 Federal Transportation Reauthorization Act. The project is in final design phase and plans to enter the bidding phase in summer 2010. Phase I of construction will address Church Street between Division Avenue to Westmoreland Drive and Phase II will improve Church Street between Westmoreland Drive to Tampa Avenue.
 

For More Information
City of Orlando Economic Development Department
(407) 246-2821
http://www.cityoforlando.net/economic

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