Systems Change
We actively advance equity for Black, brown, and low-income residents and neighborhoods through three primary areas:
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We amplify participatory research conducted in southwest Springfield neighborhoods into policy transformation and structural equity, resulting in positive, long-lasting change for a whole group of people, emphasizing the most vulnerable populations.
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We utilize street-level mobilization practices by building a coalition to engage, educate, and empower residents to campaign for procedural equity.
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We center authentic neighborhoods relationships and trust, leadership development, transferable advocacy tools, and training to engage, educate, equip, and empower residents to campaign for procedural equity.
Read our Kettering Foundation Report “From Rubble to Revitalized”
As Research Fellows with the Kettering Foundation, we created a report that focuses on Black placemaking, park equity, and public spaces in southwest neighborhoods in Springfield, OH. We interviewed neighborhood leaders and residents within the immediate area of revitalized areas to provide an overview of the development, improvement, and sustainability of pocket parks in southwest Springfield.
Systems Change
Our approach to systems change leverages participatory action research at the intersections of vacant and abandoned properties, park and green space equity, and asset-based community development to ensure that Black, Brown, and low-income residents have neighborhood access to, use of, and agency over unproductive land, the benefits of public spaces, and public policies that impact environmental equity. Our systems change efforts leverage collective impact strategies to create and sustain the Springfield Park and Green Space Ecosystem (SPGE) and the West Dayton Pocket Park Ecosystem.
People, Parks, and Power (P3)
Unified Collective (UC)
Coalition Building
To ensure resident and neighborhood equity, we mobilize community coalition and amplify awareness, power building, decision-making, and agency related to how land, property, policies, bureaucracy, (re)development, site preservation, and land stewardship impact disenfranchised neighborhoods.
The Conscious Connect CDC is proud to be part of the inaugural cohort of the People, Parks, and Power (P3) initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Led and managed by Prevention Institute, P3 is the first national funding initiative in the U.S. to support community-based organizations to build power and reverse deep-seated park and green space inequities in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities across the country.
The Unified Collective (UC) is a multifaceted coalition founded in 2020 by Black-founded and led organizations: Young Black Professionals & Businesses of Springfield, DreamVision, and The Conscious Connect. The UC is a coalition of independent nonprofits, businesses, and community change agents who want to address historic disinvestment in south Springfield and break BIPOC silos through cooperative organizing strategies.
Listen. Lead. Share. (LLS)
Advocacy
The Conscious Connect CDC is part of the Ohio Climate Justice Fund grantees' Fall/Winter 2021 cohort. The Ohio Climate Justice Fund (OCJF) invests in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) organizations in Ohio, working at the intersection of racial justice and climate action. The Ohio Climate Justice Funds enhance The Conscious Connect’s efforts to engage community residents and stakeholders in identifying the best and most effective ways to address climate and environmental justice in their communities through the Listen. Lead. Share. (LLS) campaign.
We educate and empower the community about 1) how park, green space, and garden equity, particularly in Black, brown, and low-income communities, is mutually beneficial for the entire city; 2) address the ways vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties have adverse impacts for everyone, 3) tangible solutions and strategies to improve zoning policies, mitigate power imbalances, and sustain placemaking efforts.
South Side in Bloom
Organized by community organizations actively involved in place-making efforts, South Side in Bloom offers free tours of revitalized community gardens and neighborhood parks on the South Side of Springfield. As a partner of the initiative, tour participants can explore our pocket parks to celebrate the contribution of parks and green spaces to our community and connect with neighbors in learning how a community can collaborate to create equitable access to green spaces and parks.