On Saturday, October 19, 2002 RICH offered Block Island's residents a menu of activities to celebrate "Arts and Humanities Month: Offshore!" Special thanks to host Director Lonni Todd and the staff of the Island Free Library and to Karen Levey and the Friends of the Library for the terrific meeting accommodations and refreshments that carried us through a truly enjoyable day.
Our first "RICH Day Out" on Block Island included a morning grant workshop conducted by Grant Director Maitrayee Bhattacharyya and Special Project Assistant Sara Archambault. Program Officer Ingrid Ahlgren organized an afternoon EnRICHment Opportunities event presented by Marc Joel Levitt entitled "Putting Children at the Center of Learning." Marc also facilitated the Island’s Dialogue with RICH Director Drake Patten.
Participants at the early afternoon Dialogue included Iris M. Lewis, the Island's matriarch, who brought her symbolic walking stick and explained her role in Island life. As the oldest female resident, Ms. Lewis is the Island’s acknowledged senior figure and is accorded the respect due her age and accumulated wisdom. We were honored to have her among the Dialogue group.
From their various perspectives—as native, lifelong, long-term, newcomer, or part-time residents—Dialogue participants spoke of Block Island’s beauty and the unique life island habitation provides. However, each person mentioned an imbalance in some "quality of life" issues between short-term visitors and partial- or year-round residents. Everyone agreed that seasonal renters, weekend visitors, and day-trippers boost the local income and employment and ensure a lively social calendar for about half the year. Yet this population makes demands on public services that strain the town’s annual budget. They also apparently expect rental sites—inns and bed and breakfast owners as well as private accommodations—to provide amenities that most island folks might not want to have or be able to maintain year round. The taxpaying residents, who are concerned about open space preservation and harbor area development, also spoke about the increase in "McMansions" that require water, road, and other services, block previously open views, and may be occupied only briefly during the year. People asked, "Do we want Block Island to go in the direction of other New England islands such as Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard?"
We were impressed with the group's candor. The group expressed concern about the social and educational needs of the island's young people and the housing, social, and psychological needs of individuals of all ages. Although town and volunteer agencies address some of the issues, the group expressed a desire to assess the community’s needs as a whole.
On Saturday, November 9, RICH's Executive Director Drake Patten met at the library with some of the original Dialogue participants and others for Block Island’s first Fund for Community Engagement meeting. In the intervening weeks folks had reviewed previous community-based projects including a decade-old plan to ameliorate then current social, economic, and health needs. The group suggested working with an off-Island facilitator to revisit and revise this plan in the context of the Dialogue discussion. In doing so, they would look at past community goals and identify both continuity and change in the Island’s development. The group also wants to include seasonal residents and visitors in the activity, which suggests that the project will extend into the summer period. Since the first meeting, the Island FCE committee has considered possible events and their scheduling and facilitation as well as other funding sources to supplement the FCE dollars.
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for Community Engagement After each of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns participates in the Dialogues Program, The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH) offers it a one-time Fund for Community Engagement (FCE) award of up to $1,000. The Fund for Community Engagement grant gives each community an opportunity to address--through a public humanities project--issues raised during the Dialogue meeting. Please use the highlighted link here to access the guidelines for Fund for Community Engagement grants. |