Earlier this month, Hester Street collaborated with Catapult Design, a socially-driven design non-profit based in Colorado, as a part of their annual Change Labs initiative in the Navajo Nation. HST developed and facilitated a workshop designed to identify barriers facing Navajo entrepreneurs, envision opportunities to promote change in the business community and share success stories of entrepreneurship on the reservation. During the workshop, Hester Street and Catapult Design led a series of team-based activities for Navajo entrepreneurs and the larger business community to share visions, exchange resources and develop strategies to achieve collective impact. Discussion results, including a survey of individual needs and assets, will be shared back with participants to sustain partnerships moving forward.

Hester Street and the Prospect Park Alliance invited residents and park users to provide their ideas for a rehabilitated Rose Garden at a visioning workshop on June 10th. Tucked away in the northeast corner of the park, the Rose Garden, has been underutilized for many years. Using an interactive 3-D model stationed at Prospect Park’s Boathouse, participants were able to envision how their ideas for new uses would fit into the area and learn about how the park has been used in the past. The afternoon ended with a tour of the Rose Garden. Among the new suggested uses were: outdoor classrooms, horse stables, and soccer fields. Over the next few months, we will continue working to engage a diverse group of constituents to re-envision the Rose Garden.

Hester Street has been working with local residents, elected officials and city agencies over the past year to develop the Bushwick Community Plan (BCP). Since February, there have been four summits (Housing and Zoning, Youth Summit, Open Space and Transportation, Economic Development and Community Health and Resources) and frequent meetings of the many BCP subcommittees. There are currently no summits scheduled for the BCP, but subcommittee meetings are ongoing and open to Bushwick residents. Email Gabriel Halili at gabriel@hesterstreet.org if you would like to learn more and attend.

Hester Street welcomes two new members to our team --  Cesar Mesias, our newest Project Associate, and Amanda Luci, our new Office Administrator. Read more about them here!