What types of programs or resources do you feel the Mt.View community NEEDS to help develop their community?? (Anchorage: low income, apartments)

[maumavae]

Hello everyone,
When my family first moved to Anchorage in '92 we lived in Mt.View. As a child growing up I never felt afraid to wander these streets. It truly felt like a safe community. Mt.View was a place I called home, but now there are stigmas on the community of being "high crime, low income, high on public assitance, and uneducated" and the list goes on.
Recently, in college I had an assignment to assess a community and see what resources were available. I decided to focus on Mt.View, what I found was not too many programs or resources existed. For example the Boys and Girls Club seemed like a daycare. There was minimal supervision and children running all over the place. Below the facility is suppose to be a "Job Center" but it is only opened to Public Assistance Recipients, and has about 12 computers. I found out that the job center wasn't state owned, anyone from Mt.View seeking work would have to go to the Midtown or Muldoon location. This may be an issue for this community who relies on public transportation. I also found there is only one child care service who has limited space that serves this community, and there is only one clinic in the area.It seems like Mt.View has a lot of challenges against them due to lack of resources.
After the school project, I chose to dedicate my summer on trying to build up this community and advocate for good services. This was a place I once called home and I definitly want to give back to this community. Their may be many challenges up against me but I'm passionate about this and willing to take a stand to make a CHANGE!!!
So far I have met with the manager of development for AK Land Trust, an organization that was created to help develop Mt.View. He seemed to share the same interest and I might be working with them to address the issue in this community. Next week I will be interviewing local schools and business in the community to address the needs, attending a community council meeting, then i'm planning of hosting by the end of this month or June a "Community Needs Meeting", with the community to address what their needs are. This way I have a clear idea of what services are needed. My main goal is trying to implement a good "Job Center", a community high in public assistance and "working poor" should be given the opportunity to be trained and educated so they may gain high paying jobs with insurance. There are many other issues I want to look into child care, public transportation, health ect... but these are my concerns. I'm not sure if its a concern of the community therefore I'm taking the necessary actions to get the community involved and express their needs.
I'm still building up a strong coalition team so if anyone is interested in this cause please email me at aumavae@hotmail.com, you can also find updates on my Facebook page Change Starts With You.
Positive/ Negative feed back is more then welcomed I want to know any challenges or benefits that are stacked up for or against me!!!!
Thank you so much for your time!!!

[bongo]

One great program in Mt View is HUGGS & Coats for kids program. I have volunteered there for years. They collect & provide coats and backpacks with school supplies in the fall. Something with which to connect before school starts again.

My husband helped on a couple of Habitat houses in Mt View- I was impressed how handsome the houses are.

Mt. View has a great multi-cultural international market, Red Apple. Like a cheap New Sagaya. I love to pick up specialty foods there.

Good for you for helping Mt. View.

[maumavae]

Thank you, that is great to know and I'm happy to hear your volunteering and helping within this community, thanks for sharing

[roadfamily6now]

Is there a way to bring a public health clinic to the community like they have in Fairview? It would have to be a walk-able distance from most of the housing.
Do they have a boys and girls club up there? To cut down on the crime, I think they need to have stuff for the younger people to do as well and things to help them take pride in their neighborhood. Someway to get them involved and keep them involved.

[maumavae]

Yes they do have one clinic but it's not like Fairview. I do highly agree about programs for the youth. There is a Boys & Girls club but no structured programs throughout the day just an open gym.
Thank you for your input definitely appreciate it.

[gobrien]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

Is there a way to bring a public health clinic to the community like they have in Fairview? It would have to be a walk-able distance from most of the housing.
Do they have a boys and girls club up there? To cut down on the crime, I think they need to have stuff for the younger people to do as well and things to help them take pride in their neighborhood. Someway to get them involved and keep them involved.

There used to be one, and they had dental too. It was on the bus line. What happened to it?

[LittleJazzyP]

I recently looked at some housing opportunities in Mountainview, because I saw things happening on a website that made me kind of excited about this changing community.

I was deeply disheartened to see that none of the freshly refurbished apartments and houses will allow pets, other than those designated as senior housing.

There is a real need for nice rentals that will allow a family to build a better life without telling their kids they have to send Fido or Fluffy to the animal shelter.

[maumavae]

Gobrien I'm not sure exactly what happend to it, I know they have a small clinic right at the entrance of Mt.View & commercial drive but honestly it doesn't attract many in the community.
Little Jazzy thanks for your input, pets are like family members do I totally know how you feel. Thanks for your input & hope you were able to find a good place

[roadfamily6now]

One of the best parks for children IS in Mt. View!! We go there often because of the large variety of equipment to play on. I do believe that Mt. View has a fairly decent sense of community because there is always a lot of parties and other large group activities going on in the Park when we drive by in the summers. Is there a larger Samoan/Hawaiian community there? I love that Anchorage is taking an interest in the area and trying to develop is an make it nicer, cleaner and safer. We just need to keep it going.

[gobrien]

It would be nice if Mt. View had jobs that were more than just service jobs.