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How should property in this neighborhood be re-purposed? After extensive and extended <br /> negotiations with Good Samaritan Inn, and with the Old Kings Orchard Community Center, it is <br /> proposed that the city support separate initiatives with each of these non-profit agencies to <br /> create multi-lot urban agriculture sites and a recreational site adjacent to one of these non-profit <br /> organizations.These projects, if approved,will become extensions of the work of Good Samaritan <br /> Inn and Old Kings Orchard Community Center respectively. Project proposals from both Good <br /> Samaritan Inn, and from Old Kings Orchard Community Center, are attached. Both entities will <br /> create or significantly expand urban agriculture, and one will add a recreational field to augment <br /> and expand its current programs. If approved, public funds will be used to defray one-time capital <br /> expenses to improve property in the OKO neighborhood, after which each non-profit entity will <br /> be responsible for their ongoing program operations. But I would argue that the city would really <br /> be investing in changing peoples' lives, as well as changing land uses, because both organizations <br /> will expand their existing services and outreach pertaining to training individuals who have <br /> experienced difficulty entering the workforce,stepping out of unhealthy home environments and <br /> other impediments to successful living. <br /> Highlights of the Good Samaritan Inn (GSI) Proposal: <br /> - The city will remove structures, trees and other debris from a one-and-a-half block <br /> area to be used for urban agriculture by GSI; then the city will provide soil <br /> augmentation and re-grading to prepare the site for agriculture. <br /> - The city will retain ownership of the property for two years to ascertain that the <br /> project is successful, and will, two years from the date of an agreement with GSI, <br /> negotiate the transfer of the property to GSI. <br /> - GSI will employ at-risk youth and other workforce development clients who may have <br /> encountered barriers in entering the workforce, and train them in various vocational <br /> and life skills. <br /> - GSI will pursue USDA and other grants to advance this project beyond the one-time <br /> assistance provided by the city and plan for ways they can scale-up their business <br /> model to include the production and sale of agricultural produce. <br /> Highlights of the Old Kings Orchard Community Center (OKOCC) Proposal: <br /> - The OKOCC will train and provide diversion programs for at-risk youth and selected <br /> workforce development clients who may have encountered barriers in living a normal <br /> and crime-free life. <br /> - The OKOCC will take necessary steps to prepare some of their vacant lots in the OKO <br /> neighborhood for conversion to urban agriculture, and to coordinate with GSI so that <br /> they do not grow the same products. <br /> - The city will help fund a recreational field immediately across West Green Street, <br /> south of the existing OKOCC building, which will be used to expand the program <br /> offerings of the OKOCC. <br /> Urban Ag in Decatur will be an experiment-in-progress. There is not a lot of literature available <br /> on how to convert former residential neighborhoods into urban agriculture projects. However, <br /> we have done some analysis of this, and this information is also attached. <br />