An Inside Look at Our Community

1. The Ashland Youth Leadership Council presents: An Inside Look at Our Community

2. Things We Like in Our Neighborhood andthat Keep People Healthy

3. In our neighborhood, there are several things we really like and that help keep us healthy…

4. People in the Neighborhood:Family • Family is important for youth in a community, and for creating a healthy community in general. • Family can help make youth feel cared about, loved, safe and watched out for.

5. A family looking very happy together

6. A mother who is active in the community

7. A woman standing by her nephew

8. Friends • Friends help each other find things to do. They can cheer each other up if they’re down. Friends can trust each other and talk about what’s really going on. • Friends can help each other make their community healthy.

9. Two youth playing around together

10. Two girls having a fun time outside

11. Residents who Take Care of the Neighborhood • Community residents who take the time to care for the neighborhood make the area much healthier. • If everyone just took care of their areas, children, and other stuff, our entire community would be clean and healthy. • The YLC is doing what we can to help.

12. A maintenance man that cares for the apartment complex

13. A member of the Youth Leadership Council who is working to improve her community

14. Another member of the Youth Leadership Council enjoying her day outside

15. Flowers and Plants • It’s important to have a community decorated by flowers and plants because it makes the whole area look nice. • When people have pride in their community, they will treat it better. It’s easier to have pride when the whole place looks good.

16. Flowers planted by one of the residentsto make the neighborhood look pretty

17. Little flowers right by the front gate

18. A lot of flowers planted outside someone’s house

19. Pets • When people have dogs, it forces them to go for walks in the community, and that helps make our neighborhood feel like a community. • Some people are scared of dogs. But when they’re cute, it can help people be nicer to each other and talk with each other more.

20. Two young kids playing with a friendly dog in the neighborhood

21. A young boy walking his pet down the street

22. Neighbors walking their dogs together

23. Outdoor Activities • Outdoor events help to bring people together for a good cause. • When there are activities, like basketball tournaments and farmers markets, people from the community come out of their homes to do healthy things together.

24. People having fun playing basketball

25. A local basketball tournament

26. Weekly outdoor market at Bayfair

27. Homes Being Built and Rebuilt • New homes make neighborhoods look nicer and cleaner. If they are affordable, people can buy and settle down in them. • When people fix up their homes, they can live in nicer conditions. They also help improve the area and make it more appealing for everyone.

28. New condos are for sale – they could be nice homes for residents, but may not be affordable to many

29. People fixing a house to make it look better

30. Jobs • People need jobs to support themselves and their families. • When people have jobs, they are less likely to get in trouble or do things that are unhealthy. • When new construction happens in our neighborhood, more jobs become available for people.

31. New buildings being built in the community make more construction jobs

32. This man got a job helping to sell new condos

33. Schools • Schools are a very important part of a healthy community. Youth need a good education to get anywhere in life. • When youth get involved in their schools, it is more likely that they will become healthy community members.

34. Kids learning at their school

35. Kids having fun at school

36. Police • Police try to make the community a safer and healthier place to live. • Police can save you from crimes happening in the neighborhood.

37. Police can stop crime from happening

38.  Things I Do Not Like in My Neighborhood andthat Make People Unhealthy

39. In our neighborhood, there are other things we do not like that make us unhealthy…

40. Litter • In our neighborhood, you often see trash, junk, papers, and other things on the ground. • Litter makes our community look dirty and like a bad place to live. It makes it look like we don’t care about our community or the environment.

41. An overfilled trash can and dumpster, so people littered around them

42. Broken objects, fast food cups, dirt, and paper thrown on the ground

43. People threw unwanted newspapers on the ground

44. Graffiti • In our neighborhood, you can find graffiti on the walls, streets, and other places. • Graffiti can have a negative influence on the hearts and minds of residents, including young kids. • Gangs can use graffiti to mark their space, and this can cause turf wars.

45. This is NOT an art class or art paper

46. The street should not be made into a canvas for childish people!

47. This street sign is NOT a piece of art

48. Other Kinds of Blight • Other blight we see in our neighborhood are empty buildings and broken windows. • Seeing these kinds of things all the time makes us feel like nobody cares about our community. • Youth may also come to feel that blight is okay. Blight can influence crime and violence too.

49. For the past seven years, this building has looked like this. It was just torn down.

50. I don’t think 165th avenue is a Safeway parking lot!