Common Pathways Bringing the

Common Pathways
Bringing the community together to build a
common pathway to a better Worcester for all

March 27, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clara Savage, Common Pathways Coordinator, 508-438-0515, csavage@cmchc.org

Common Pathways To Hold Follow-Up Community Forum On April 5

Worcester, MA – Common Pathways, an initiative to engage residents in determining priorities for improving the quality of life in Worcester, will hold a Follow-Up Community Forum on Wednesday, April 5, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Clark University in Worcester, in Tilton Hall in the Higgins University Center, at the corner of Main and Mayfield streets. Child care and a light mean will be provided.

Common Pathways will hold a News Conference on Thursday, March 30 at 3:00 p.m. at 44 Front St., Suite 280 in Worcester, to announce and discuss details of the April 5 Forum. Refreshments will be served.

The purpose for the April 5 Forum is as follows:

To review the results of Common Pathways' first Community Forum, held last November 30.
To rank the 12 themes that emerged from the November 30 Forum.
To preview the next action steps.

During the November 30 Forum, which more than 150 participants attended, as well as in one-on-one interviews conducted last fall and summer, people shared their most important likes and concerns about Worcester as well as what to do about them. They identified more than 350 specific likes, concerns and desired improvements, which Common Pathways has cataloged under 12 general themes. In alphabetical order, the themes are: City Governance; Culture and Recreation; Diversity and Multiculturalism; Economic Development; Education; Environment; Housing; Medical and Social Services; People and Social Environment; Public Safety; Transportation; and Youth.

Members of Common Pathways’ Leadership Council, the steering committee guiding the initiative, will participate in the April 5 Forum. The Leadership Council consists of the following business, political, health care, educational and community leaders:

Billy Ayala, Centro Las Americas
John Bassett, Clark University
Bruce Bennett, Telegram & Gazette
Armand Carriere, UniverCity Partnership
Deb Cary, Mass. Audubon Society
Mike Coonan, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union No. 4
Jim Cruickshank, Oak Hill Community Development Corp.
Fred Eppinger, The Hanover Insurance Group
Tim Garvin, United Way of Central Mass.
Lois Green, Hoche-Schofield Foundation
Paul Hernandez, Great Brook Valley Health Center
Dennis Irish, Saint Vincent Hospital
Dick Kennedy, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce
Ann Lisi, Greater Worcester Community Foundation
John O'Brien, UMass Memorial Health Care
Mike O'Brien, City of Worcester
Sarai Rivera, Iglesia Cristiana de la Communidad
Jan Yost, Health Foundation of Central Mass.
Carlton Watson, Henry Lee Willis Community Center

The mission of Common Pathways is to promote shared learning, reflection and broad engagement that improve community decision-making and quality of life for all residents of Greater Worcester. Common Pathways seeks to get myriad community, business and political leaders as well as the general public to come together – and work together – to achieve common goals.

Common Pathways is part of a growing, nationwide trend of "healthy communities" initiatives, including ones in Boston, Providence, Baltimore and Denver. "Healthy" refers to all aspects of a community's quality of life, including health care. To learn more about Common Pathways, visit www.CommonPathways.org. The website contains links to other "healthy communities" initiatives as well as a page containing audio, photos and news-media coverage regarding the November 30 Forum.

The Common Pathways website includes a compilation of the issues identified by participants in the November Forum, an interactive Survey Form, and a link to Data Place (www.DataPlace.org), which was created and is being maintained by a national coalition of "healthy cities" initiatives. You can use Data Place to data-mine for housing-related information right down to the Zip Code level. For example, it will show you the changes in Worcester median housing price, the changes in number of Worcester mortgages, and the change in Worcester home-buyer/home-refinancer reliance on sub-prime lenders from 1997 (the earliest year for which data are currently available) to 2004 (the latest year). You can access the data in chart, map and ranking formats, which you can download in PDF format.

For more information on the “healthy communities” movement, visit the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership at www.Urban.org/nnip/. NNIP is coalition of "healthy community" initiatives that is seeking to provide access to broad, deep data-mining resources to average Americans and well as to train them to use such resources to empower themselves to take action regarding issues affecting their neighborhoods.

Common Pathways' April 5 Follow-Up Community Forum is being sponsored in part by Casey DZN, Christina P. O’Neill Photography, Worcester Magazine, and The Pulse.

For more information on Common Pathways and the Community Forum, call Clara Savage, Common Pathways Coordinator, at 508-438-0515, or e-mail her at csavage@cmchc.org.

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