St. Paul FCSS Director Lynn Smid says their new block party program is getting off to a decent start this summer.
“We’ve had two block parties now hosted. One had about sixty people attend and the other had fifty one.”
The Neighbourhood Block Party Program lets residents apply for a 150 dollar grant for non-alcoholic party supplies and throw a neighbourhood bash of their own. The objective of the FCSS is to get people talking to those that live near them and build stronger connections within the community.
The FCSS is holding a couple block parties of their own to get the message out there and offer an example of how they can be pulled off without much money. The first will be held on July 25th in Lagasse Park from 1 to 3 PM and the second by the Dejarlais apartments on the 28th. Smid adds they might even do another one before the summer is over. She thinks the program has been meeting expectations in its first year.
“I think whenever you start something new it takes people a while to catch on, but the feedback we had from the first two was extremely positive. In fact they would like to host again once they figured out it maybe wasn’t as much work as they anticipated and how positive the feedback was from those in their community.”
If you’re interested in organizing a block party yourself, you can find the registration form here, and the reimbursement form here.