Thursday March 28, 2024
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Louisville families with children of all ages are invited to a free resource fair showcasing summer activities for children, youth, and families on Saturday, March 10.  Themed “SOAR” which stands for Summer Opportunities and Resource Fair, the event will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the DuValle Education Center gym, 3610 Bohne Ave.

SOAR will feature local summer activities for children and teens including a wide variety of summer camps, parks and recreation programs, as well as employment, internship, and volunteer opportunities from a full list of exhibitors. This event is being held in March to allow individuals time to plan ahead and register for opportunities while openings are available.

More than 20 vendors and other agencies providing information and resources plan to participate including:

  • Academy of Music Production (AMPED)
  • Bellarmine University
  • Catholic Enrichment Center
  • Community Dental Family Dental Care
  • DOODs Inc.
  • Early Childhood Education
  • ECHO (Exploited Children’s Help Organization)
  • Falls of the Ohio
  • Family Scholar House
  • First Gethsemane Baptist church
  • 4-H College of Agriculture, Food Science, and Sustainable Systems
  • 4 Your Child
  • KET
  • Louisville Free Public Library
  • Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation
  • Make It Count Consulting
  • Norton’s Children’s Hospital Prevention and Wellness
  • PACT in Action/Center for Women and Families
  • Reimage
  • Summerbridge Louisville
  • Summer Explorations/ First Virginia Avenue Baptist Church
  • SummerWorks/Kentuckiana Works/Youth Build
  • University of Louisville Family Dental Care

This event also features a drawing for a summer program scholarship at Junior Achievement.

“Summer is a time to have fun, explore new places and ideas, learn new skills, make new friends and even make a little money”, stated Elisa Freeman-Carr, administrator of Ujima Neighborhood Place.  “We’re excited to host the SOAR event to connect children and youth, especially those from lower income households, with the many wonderful summer programs, classes, camps, and other opportunities offered in our community.”

SOAR is also hosted by Jefferson County Public Schools, the Louisville Free Public Library, Louisville Metro Parks and Recreation, the Villages of Park Duvalle and multiple Neighborhood Place sites including Ujima, Cane Run, Bridges of Hope and South Central.

For questions about the SOAR event, or if you represent an agency which would like to participate, please contact Elisa Freeman-Carr at 313-6145 or Elisa.Freeman-Carr@louisvilleky.gov or Buffie Daubard at 313-4447 or Buffie.Daubard@jefferson.kyschools.us.  You can also download this flyer to share with others who may be interested.

Mayor Greg Fischer announced that Louisville residents who need assistance cleaning up from the past week’s flooding can call Metro Government’s MetroCall 311 to get connected with volunteers who are helping with recovery efforts.

Louisville Metro Emergency Services and the Office of Resiliency and Community Services are working with Kentucky Emergency Management, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and Metro United Way to identify flood victims and organize volunteer cleanup teams.

Residents who would like to volunteer to aid stricken residents and help with general community cleanup can contact Metro United Way 2-1-1. Callers can leave their information and will be contacted within 72 hours for a volunteer assignment. The city’s MetroCall 311 is available Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Mayor Fischer added that the city is developing a plan to disperse a $100,000 donation to help flood victims that University of Louisville head football coach Bobby Petrino and the Petrino Family Foundation made this week. Football team members are slated to be among the cleanup volunteers in the coming days.

“We’re grateful for Coach Petrino’s generous gift and the work of volunteers from across the city who are pitching in to help Louisville bounce back from the flooding,” Mayor Fischer said.

The Mayor also announced today that the city’s flood response and recovery costs had surpassed the $2.8 million threshold required to qualify for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. The assistance helps local government agencies recoup costs, which are expected to continue to rise.

As the waters recede, allowing access to previously flooded areas, recovery and cleanup efforts are expected to increase across the city in the coming days.

Louisville Metro Public Works has opened seven flood debris drop-off sites throughout the county. The locations and hours of operations are found on the Louisvilleky.gov website:https://louisvilleky.gov/government/flood-drop-locations

In addition, Waterfront Development Corporation staff and many volunteers will begin cleaning up Waterfront Park as the waters return to normal levels. Louisville Metro Parks is assessing affected locations and will be hosting community cleanups at a future date.

The Salvation Army is accepting donations of cleaning supplies at its 911 South Brook Street campus. Items most needed at this time include the following:

  • Bottles of Water
  • Disposable Latex Gloves
  • Heavy Duty Work Gloves
  • Bleach (82 Ounces)
  • Household Cleaners (Windex, 409, etc.)
  • Disinfectant Dish Soap
  • Scrub Brushes/Pads
  • Sponges
  • Towels
  • Paper Towels
  • Dust Masks
  • Mops
  • Brooms
  • 5-Gallon Buckets
  • Storage Totes
  • Heavy Duty Garbage Bags

*Note*- For those able to donate large scale donations (Pallets), please call (502) 671-4900 to arrange pick-up and/ or delivery of those items. Clothing and household goods are not needed.

As with all disasters, financial donations are most effective because they offer flexibility in supporting relief operations and those immediately affected by disaster. To make a financial donation by phone, please contact the Salvation Army’s Donor Relations Manager, Rennay Cooke at (502) 671-4926. By mail, please make checks payable to The Salvation Army of Louisville and note in the memo line “Disaster Relief.” Mail checks to The Salvation Army, 911 S. Brook St., Louisville, KY 40203.

Photo: Louisville Metro Council

Councilman Brandon Coan (D-8), the Civic Data Alliance and Bellarmine University announce the rescheduled Hack the Highlands event, the CDA’s first neighborhood-specific hackathon, this Saturday February 24th at Bellarmine University. Originally scheduled to occur in January, inclement weather forced the hackathon to be move to this coming Saturday.

The Civic Data Alliance is Louisville’s Code for America Brigade focused on being a force for open data, coding education, and civic engagement.  A hackathon is an event at which coders and other stakeholders focus on using data to create software to solve problems.

“I’m excited and appreciative to partner with the Civic Data Alliance and Bellarmine University to produce Hack the Highlands,” said Coan.  “The event is part of my plan to build interest in civic engagement and make city business more accessible, interesting and participatory.  I hope a number of students, neighborhood coders and urbanists will come out and join us.”

Since 2014, the CDA has hosted nearly a dozen hackathons around Louisville and produced innovative solutions to local needs, including creating tools for those who are visually impaired and supporting The New Dixie Highway project.

“The Civic Data Alliance is excited to work with Councilman Coan and Bellarmine University to host this hackathon,” said CDA event organizer Robert Kahne.  “We hope that the work done on this day brings this corner of the city closer together and helps the Highlands as it faces unique challenges and embraces its unique advantages.  CDA is always open and willing to work with any elected officials regardless of political party or office who wishes to support open data and technology for the public good. We commend Councilman Coan for reaching out to us and helping put this event together.”

Hack the Highlands will focus on using the city’s open data to solve problems specific to the Highlands, including reorganizing the area’s litter baskets to make the streets cleaner, tracking streetlight outages to make neighborhoods safer and analyzing the results of Councilman Coan’s 2017 “I Can Get You a Tow” campaign, designed to curb illegal rush hour street parking on Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue.

The event will be held Saturday, February 24th from 9am-5pm at Bellarmine, in classroom CNMH 081 on the ground level of Centro’s McGowan Hall.  It is free and open to the public, and parking is available in Bellarmine lots.

“We’re proud to call the Highlands and District 8 Bellarmine’s home, so we’re delighted to host this data-driven session that will make our neighborhood an even better place to live, learn and work,” said Dr. Susan M. Donovan, Bellarmine’s president.

For more information and to RSVP, visit:

https://tinyurl.com/HackTheHighlands2-24

http://www.tinyurl.com/cmcoand8

http://www.civicdataalliance.org/

https://www.bellarmine.edu/

Councilman Rick Blackwell invites residents to the next District 12 Dialogue on Tuesday, May 16th to learn more about the Metro Council’s Budget Review for the coming fiscal year. MSD also will make a presentation about its 20-year Critical Repair and Reinvestment Plan.

“The Council is just beginning its review of the Mayor’s proposed 2017 -2018 Capital and Operating Budgets,” says Blackwell. “The budget review process is one of the most important responsibilities of the Metro Council and it also gives a thorough understanding of how all of the Metro agencies and departments work together.”

Representatives of MSD will also be on hand to give a presentation of their plan to repair and replace important infrastructure over the next two decades.

MSD’s 20-year Critical Repair and Reinvestment Plan covers critical risks in six areas:

  1. Ohio River flood protection system
  2. Stormwater drainage and inland flooding
  3. Viaducts
  4. Crumbling sewer infrastructure
  5. Wastewater treatment facilities
  6. Consent decree and support systems

The next District 12 Dialogue will be held at 6:00 pm at the Southwest Government Center Courtroom, 7219 Dixie Highway.

There will also be representatives from LMPD and Codes and Regulations to help constituents address specific concerns or problems.

For more information about the May District 12 Dialogue, contact Councilman Blackwell’s office at 574-1112.

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