Volunteers From Metro Council Districts 6 And 8 Needed For Phase 3 Of Our Money, Our Voice

Neighborhood residents in Metro Council Districts 6 and 8 have submitted more than 250 ideas to improve health and wellbeing in their neighborhoods through the Our Money, Our Voice project.  Now volunteers are needed to help evaluate those ideas and prepare them for voting.

Launched in August, Our Money, Our Voice is an initiative of the Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness’s Center for Health Equity, and Metro Council President David James (District 6) and Councilman Brandon Coan (District 8).  People living in those council districts will decide how $150,000 ($75,000 in each district) will be spent.

“Ideas can be submitted until Nov. 2,” said Council President James. “In our next phase, we need volunteers to serve as community scientists and research the ideas we’ve collected for cost, feasibility, and equity. This work will then lead to those projects all residents can vote on to be funded.”

People interested in volunteering for this phase of the project are asked to attend the Our Money Our Voice Civic Innovation Institute on November 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness headquarters at 400 E. Gray St.

“This is an important step,” said Councilman Coan. “At the Civic Innovation Institute, volunteers will also have an opportunity to build the kind of skills that will help them be able to directly influence how Metro government prioritizes the projects it funds in this pilot and beyond.”

Our Money, Our Voice is the name of Louisville’s participatory budgeting initiative – a way for members of a community to work together to better meet their needs while having a direct say in government decisions.  In the process, people often find new ways of interacting with government and with each other to create solutions for all.

Funding for the initiative is coming from $100,000 in capital infrastructure funds ($50,000 from each district) and $50,000 from the Department of Public Health and Wellness.

District 6 neighborhoods participating in Our Money, Our Voice include Algonquin, California, Limerick, Old Louisville, Park Hill, Russell (the section north of Broadway Avenue, south of Plymouth Street, west of 22nd Street, and east of 26th Street), Taylor-Berry, University, and Victory Park.

Participating District 8 neighborhoods include Belknap, Bonnycastle, Cherokee Seneca – Alta Vista, Cherokee Triangle, Deer Park, Gardiner Lane – Upper Highlands, Hawthorne, Hayfield Dundee.

To volunteer, submit ideas or learn more about Our Money, Our Voice visit www.OurMoneyOurVoice.org.