GCP Specific

The Greater Carlisle Project

The Mission, Vision, history, events,and information on the members of the Steering Committee and their roles and responsibilities.

GCP Strategy Meeting

Local

2017 Big Summer Youth Program List 4-5-172017 Summer Youth Program List
A compilation of local summer opportunities for Carlisle area youth.

Dickinson College Community Based Research Project Report

In Fall 2013, Three Dickinson students as part of a course titled Building Sustainable Communities conducted a Community Based Research Project in collaboration with the Greater Carlisle Project. The result of their final work is a report that recommends a structure, governance, and means of finance for the Greater Carlisle Project.

Carlisle Comprehensive Plan Summary

The plan is meant to establish overall policies for the development and preservation of Carlisle over the next 15 years. The plan addresses goals, land use and housing, historic preservation, downtown, community facilities and services, transportation, natural features, and ways to put the plan into action.

Regional

Oberlin Project

The Oberlin Project is a joint effort of the City of Oberlin, Oberlin College, and private and institutional partners to improve the resilience, prosperity, and sustainability of our community.

The Oberlin Project’s aim is to revitalize the local economy, eliminate carbon emissions, restore local agriculture, food supply and forestry, and create a new, sustainable base for economic and community development.

Oberlin Project Cover Story

Cambridge Community Contract for a Sustainable Future

The Community Compact links together universities, businesses, individuals, and government to address challenges facing the community, with special attention directed at environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

Sustainable Pittsburgh

Sustainable Pittsburgh was established in 1998 as part of the Pittsburgh Technology Council with financial backing from The Heinz Endowments. Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses.

National

Kellogg Commission – Seven Part Test of Engagement

Guiding characteristics to test the engagement of a community or institution.

Sustainable Dubuque Strategic Plan

Strategic plan, mission, vision, goals and board members for a community collaborating focusing on sustainability in Dubuque, Iowa.

International

8-80 Cities

8-80 Cities is a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Canada. They are dedicated to contributing to the transformation of cities into places where people can walk, bike, access public transit and visit vibrant parks and public places. Their approach is to engage people and communities across multiple sectors to inspire the creation of cities that are easily accessible, safe and enjoyable for all. They achieve our mission through grant projects, advocacy work and our innovative services.

Greater Carlisle Project Timeline

The Greater Carlisle Project (GCP) emerged from a series of meetings convened by Dickinson College’s Center for Sustainability Education in November 2012 and January and March of 2013. The project took shape in the summer and fall of 2013 and activities began to be implemented early in 2014. Participants in the meetings include residents, businesses, organizations and local government agencies from across the Greater Carlisle area. Following is a brief outline of the development of the project.

November 2012: Dickinson College convened a group of sixteen community members to explore interest in a new collaboration of private and public sector organizations that would work across issue areas and across townships and boroughs to make the communities in the Carlisle area more livable and sustainable. It was agreed that a larger community should be held in January.

January 2013: A follow-up meeting attended by more than 40 people further demonstrated strong interest on the part of a variety of constituencies to create a collaborative organization that would bring people together from the greater Carlisle area to work on shared interests. Plans were developed for a March workshop.

March 2013: A community workshop was held to share ideas and generate excitement about what we as a community want to preserve and create to make the Greater Carlisle Area a better, more sustainable place to live. The workshop featured a presentation by Professor David Orr, founder of the Oberlin Project. An outcome was agreement to form an interim steering committee that would use the ideas and priorities expressed by community members at the meeting to draft vision and mission statements for the Greater Carlisle Project, and to plan for moving the project forward.

Summer 2013: The steering committee met several times over the summer and prepared draft vision & mission statements.

October 2013: An open community meeting attended by 70+ residents of the Borough of Carlisle, Mount Holly Springs, Newville, North Middleton, South Middleton, Dickinson and Middlesex endorsed the vision, mission and one-year plan of the Greater Carlisle Project. Project and education teams were formed to plan and implement activities in the coming year.

December 2013 through February 2014: The project and education teams met several times and launched a number of activities. See project accomplishments to date here. The teams are then merged into the Idea Team.

Summer 2014: A gap analysis is conducted to assess geographic, demographic and topical expertise on the Greater Carlisle Steering Committee. New steering committee invitations are conducted. Organizational status and membership is evaluated.

February 2015: The Greater Carlisle Project focuses attention on poverty in the region by hosting the Poverty Forum which attracted more than 150 local residents and community leaders to evaluate issues of our communities.

May 2015: Consensus is reached on the development operational guidelines for the Steering Committee of the Greater Carlisle Project.

Summer & Fall 2015: A poverty action team, Neighbor to Neighbor is funded and created to advance relationships that inspire neighbors to identify, strengthen and use community resources to significantly reduce poverty. Initial activities featured community focus groups and targeted surveys

January 2016: Greater Carlisle Project is awarded $50,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council to hire a new Project Director and begin work on our Community Heart and Soul Project.

Recent Accomplishments

1.      Cohesive Vision

The Greater Carlisle Project has built a broad and cohesive vision for what it means to be a sustainable, livable community. The group’s consensus building process to generate this vision has fostered greater local pride and engagement in preserving and improving upon our communities’ most valuable assets. The GCP’s vision and actions have incorporated social, economic and environmental goals to improve quality of life and build a more vibrant community. The geographic scope of the project includes the many townships and municipalities surrounding Carlisle.

• The Greater Carlisle Project’s webpage and listserv keep community members informed about ongoing GCP activities and community opportunities. The contact list includes over 300 community leaders and members.
• GCP’s Interactive Map displays the interest areas of participating GCP members. Membership is open and ongoing efforts have been made to recruit new members. As of December 2015, GCP has 40 institutional members and 71 individual community members that have endorsed the vision and mission of GCP.

2.      Community Outreach & Engagement

The Greater Carlisle Project has used a variety of methods to engage local residents in voicing community needs and playing active roles in shaping the future of our community.

• Annual GCP Membership Meetings: GCP has hosted annual meetings that are open to the entire community. The Sentinel has announced these meetings and encouraged broad participation. At the “Carlisle on the Move!” meeting in October 2015, the focus was on learning about and celebrating the positive things that are happening in Greater Carlisle. More than 60 community members joined us to share their thoughts about what excites and worries them about our community, and to voice ideas about what we should be working on together.
• Carlisle Borough’s Planning Process: In November 2015, GCP hosted a special meeting for all interested members and community residents to learn about and engage in the Borough of Carlisle’s 2015 Comprehensive Planning process. More than 50 people attended the meeting and shared feedback about Carlisle’s most important issues.
• Community Forum on Ending Poverty: In February of 2015, GCP hosted a community forum on ending poverty that was attended by more than 150 community residents and leaders. Stemming from this effort, a new Neighbor to Neighbor project focused on poverty was formed.
• Carlisle Urban Redevelopment: The Greater Carlisle Project promoted participation of community members in workshops and meetings that contributed to drafting of the Carlisle Urban Redevelopment Plan and continues to be involved in follow-up activities to develop details of the plan.

3.      Community Capacity Building

• Oberlin Project: Early on in GCP’s vision building process, more than 65 community members and leaders came together to learn about Dr. David Orr’s work to develop the Oberlin Project in Ohio. It served as a model for us in creating a unified community vision and bringing diverse community members together in a shared planning/action process.
• Mount Holly Springs Community Walking Audit: The Greater Carlisle Project assisted residents of Mt Holly Springs in planning a community walking audit in April 2013 in which over 20 local residents came together to address community issues together.
• LOCALTUNITY: The Greater Carlisle Project has worked to promote LOCALTUNITY, an initiative of Dickinson College and Farmers on the Square, to other employers in the area. Participating employers provide incentives for their employees to shop locally at Farmers on the Square and to prepare and share sustainable meals together.
• Commuter Services of Pennsylvania: The Greater Carlisle Project promoted participation in the Commuter Services of Pennsylvanian to area employers, and registered as a community partner with the organization. Commuter Services works to “reduce traffic congestion by helping commuters find alternatives, other than driving alone, and by reaching out to employers so they can help their workforce find those options. Using alternatives also helps improve air quality, and fewer cars in rush hour can mean safer highways, too.”
• Listening Workshop: In 2014, the Greater Carlisle Project and Dickinson College sponsored a workshop for community members and GCP leaders on Active Listening. Twenty-five community members attended the workshop to learn how to listen consciously and effectively.
• The Future of Housing: In 2014, Sue Cosentini, of New Earth Living, a builder/developer of co-housing and energy efficient housing in Ithaca, New York gave a community talk. This was cosponsored by Dickinson College and the Greater Carlisle Project.
• Dickinson Builds Sustainable Communities: Dickinson students conducted research projects to benefit community partners, as part of a Building Sustainable Communities course that was offered in Fall 2013.

4.      Community Projects

• Big Summer Youth Programs List & Scholarships: Recognizing that summer is a critical time for all young people to learn, grow and explore new challenges, the Greater Carlisle Project inspired the creation of an annual “Big Summer Youth Programs List” of more than 30 summer camps and youth activities in our region. In 2016, the Partnership for Better Health raised more than $30,000 in scholarship funds and anticipates sending nearly 200 young people to camp with these funds. Thanks to Giant, M & T Bank, McDonalds, Hoffman Funeral Home and individual donors for supporting Make It a Healthy Summer! scholarships. Scholarships are offered to qualifying low-income youth through Hope Station in Carlisle, New Life Community Church serving Mount Holly Springs, the Shippensburg Community Resource Coalition, Collaborating for Youth in Adams County and the CASSP program, serving schools in Perry County.

• Neighbor to Neighbor: Five local groups (United Way, Bosler, Rotary, Tri-County Community Action and Dickinson faculty) have teamed up to learn about and better address the issue of poverty in our region. This new group’s mission is to grow relationships that inspire neighbors to identify, strengthen and use community resources to significantly reduce poverty. Initial activities feature community focus groups and targeted surveys. This research will directly inform the creation of local action teams.

5.      Grant-Funded Initiatives

• Community Heart & Soul: GCP was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council to launch a Heart & Soul planning process in 2016.  Developed by the Orton Family Foundation, Community Heart & Soul “reconnects people with what they love most about their town and translates those personal and emotional connections into a blueprint that serves as the foundation for future community decisions.” GCP’s goal with the project is to increase participation in local decision making and identify avenues for more people to become involved in shaping the future of our communities.
• Heberlig-Palmer Park: The Greater Carlisle Project helped to advertise and promote participation in the West Side Neighbors Association’s Spring Spruce Up on March 29, 2014. GCP has been supportive of their successful fundraising activities for the park’s renovation and creation of an edible food forest.

6.      Leadership Network

• The project has formed a productive, cross-sector Steering Committee of local groups that don’t typically work together. The networking, sharing, connections and learning that takes place at regular meetings has been continually valuable. We are working together in new ways around our common interests.

Organizational Structure

The Greater Carlisle Project (GCP) is coordinated by a Steering Committee that develops, implements and monitors a strategic plan for achieving the GCP vision. An Idea Team acts as an incubator and catalyst to move ideas from discussion to action, and as a knowledge hub for sharing information and lessons from GCP projects. Community members and organizations are encouraged to bring ideas to the Idea Team for projects that require, or would benefit from, collaboration with GCP members. Action Teams will be created to assist organizations to implement approved projects and act as liaisons between the projects and the Greater Carlisle Project.

Steering Committee

Check out the Greater Carlisle Project Operational Guidelines

2016 Members of the GCP Steering Committee are:

• Cory Adams, South Middleton Township
• Shari Bellish, Carlisle Cares
• Jonathan Bowser, Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation
• Ryan Brown, Mt. Holly-New Life Community Churches
• Michelle Crowley, Greater Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce
• Jonelle Darr, Cumberland County Library System
• Katie Hess, South Mountain Partnership
• Jason Illari, Cumberland County Historical Society
• Reverend Daniel Keyes, Shiloh Baptist Church
• Neil Leary, Dickinson College
• Safroni Perry, Hope Station Opporunity Area
• *Ashley Perzyna, Dickinson College
• Laura Pothoff, Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation
• Becca Raley, Carlisle Area Health & Wellness Foundation
• Ken Shultes, Dickinson College
• Pam Still, Mount Holly Springs Borough
• Lindsay Varner, Greater Carlisle Heart & Soul Project
• Heidi Witmer, LEAF Project
• Lucy Suter Zander, United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland County
• Representative,  Cumberland County Housing & Redevelopment Authorities

* CURRENT CO-CHAIRS

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Sustainability@dickinson.edu or 717.245.1781

Vision of the Greater Carlisle Project

The Greater Carlisle Project’s vision is a future in which all residents live rich, meaningful lives supported by community assets in eight priority areas:

Community: We celebrate diverse communities that are welcoming, inclusive, just, safe and full of life.

Cultural Heritage, Arts & Recreation: We value our region’s rich heritage, vibrant small towns, rural landscapes and growing arts, cultural and recreational opportunities that meet the needs of our diverse residents and visitors.

Economic Development & Jobs: We create family sustaining jobs that enable a vibrant quality of life for all residents. We actively support our existing businesses and seek new opportunities for economic development.

Education: We treasure the quality and diversity of our educational institutions and support their collaboration with each other and with the wider community to promote and inspire continual learning and innovation.

Energy and Transportation: We embrace energy conservation, more efficient homes, buildings and vehicles, expanded transportation options and clean energy that advance environmental, social and economic sustainability goals.

Food and Farms: We champion our farmers’ success as stewards of our agricultural landscape who feed our communities with healthy, nutritious local food.

Green Spaces, Blue Waters, & Clear Skies: We live in a landscape that is rich in parks, green spaces, farms, hiking and biking trails, water trails and diverse wildlife. We are sustained by clean air, clean water, and resilient and healthy forests, wetlands and streams.

Housing, Health, & Human Services: We support good health, human dignity and quality, affordable housing as they relate to all aspects of physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Mission of the Greater Carlisle Project

The mission of The Greater Carlisle Project is to promote collaboration among people, organizations, businesses and local governments of our communities to realize our vision for environmental, social and economic sustainability.  We will advance sustainability by:

• Connecting people and organizations in collaborative efforts,
• Convening educational forums to foster a shared culture of sustainability
• Advocating for initiatives that advance our vision.