The Mt. Carmel, PA Community Welcome Packet is an 18 page document prepared by four students for the Bucknell University undergraduate course Geography 218, taught by Vanessa Massaro. The document includes an index of local services, a section of four possible programs for the community to initiate, and a source section with references to successful programs

Becker, Emily

Molinary, Maddy

Spring, Alex

Thompson, JB

English

Bucknell University

Bucknell University Bucknell Digital Commons Coal Region Field Station Student Projects Coal Region Field Station Spring 2016 Mt. Carmel, PA Community Welcome Packet Emily Becker Maddy Molinary JB Thompson Alex Spring Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/coal-region-student  Mt. Carmel, PA Community Welcome Packet Prepared by,  Emily Becker, Maddy Molinary, JB Thompson, Alex Spring Geography 218, Spring 2016   Community Welcome Packet   Table of Contents:  Current Local Services in Mt. Carmel             Churches                 4 Restaurants                5 Services & Utilities                6 Get Involved For the Kids!  Community Cohesion Program Proposal  Programs                 8 Block Captain Program              9  Helpful Hints            10  Sample of Block Captain Sheet         11   Community Recreation Program for Children                12    Sample Registration Form           13   Community Garden             14   Community Walk            15    Community 5K Sample Registration Form       16  Sources________________________________________________   18    What Mt. Carmel Has to Offer  Churches ● Our Lady of Mount Carmel  Catholic Church   47 South Market Street (570) 339-1031  ● Divine Redeemer Church  Catholic Church  438 West Avenue   (570) 339- 3450  ● SS Peter & Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church   131 North Beech Street  (570) 339-0650  ● St. Michael's Orthodox Church  Eastern Orthodox Church 131 North Willow Street (570) 339-1200  ● Hope Community Church   551 West 4th Street  (570) 339-2906  ● Grace United Church of Christ  136 East 3rd Street  (570) 339-1130  ● Our Lady of Fatima Arabic Catholic Church CCE  110 East Mt Carmel Avenue  (570) 933-0355  ● Bethany Bible Fellowship Church  654 Wilburton Road  (570) 339-4693  ● First United Methodist Church  46 North Hickory Street  (570) 339-4830  ● Zion Primitive Methodist Church  33 North Market Street  (570) 648-2342  ● St Stephen’s Episcopal Church 4th Mt Carmel St (570)339-1307  ● Living Power Ministries  45 East 4th Street (570) 339-4286   Restaurants  ● Mattucci’s Willow Cafe  451 West 4th Street  (570) 339-2310  ● Schicky’s Restaurant  34 North Oak Street  (570) 339-3238  ● New China Wok  115 South Oak Street  (570) 339-2950  ● M C Coney  48 North Oak Street  (570) 339-4139  ● Mt Carmel Bull Pen  337 North Hickory Street (570) 339-2157  ● Hard Coal Cafe  347 East Water Street  (570) 339-3724  ● Winkie’s Pizza  120 East 3rd Street  (570) 339 4435  ● Hollywood Pizza  39 North Oak Street  (570) 339-9802  ● Vine Street Sandwich Shop 150 West 2nd Street (570) 339-0339  ● Original Italian Pizza 3 South Oak Street (570) 339-1730  ● Shaulinski’s Bar 201 South Market Street   ● Village Towne Restaurant  10 PA-61 (570) 339-2261      Services & Utilities  ● Waste Management Quarry Road, Coal Township  (570) 648-4278  ● Mostik Brothers Disposal  (570) 339-1133  ● Moster’s Sanitation   (570) 339-2066  ● Disposal Management Services Inc.  154 Quarry Road, Coal Township (570) 644-1374  ● Northumberland Auto Tags & More llc.  4 Anthra Plaza, Coal Township  (570) 648-2000  ● Cole’s Hardware  Rt. 61 Atlas  ● Owen’s Corning   1024 Locust Gap Hwy  Get Involved! ● American Legion Veteran’s Organization (570) 339-4740  ● Mt. Carmel Eagles Club (570) 339-1539  ● Lions Club of Mt. Carmel hajones2@ptd.net  ● Sons of Poland (570) 339-5413  ● Lithuanian Social Club (570) 339-4770  ● Mt. Carmel Historical Society 139 South Chestnut Street  ● Mt. Carmel VFW (570) 339-4410  ● Knights of Columbus (570) 339-3940     For the Kids! ● Mt. Carmel Public Library   30 South Oak Street  (570) 339-0703  ● Mt. Carmel Town Park  1 South Market Street  ● St. Joseph’s Art Studio  101 South Chestnut Street  (570) 875-8099  ● Kindermusic Mommy and Me Classes  319 West Avenue  (570) 339-5075  ● Knoebel’s Amusement Park   391 Knoebels Boulevard, Elysburg, PA  17824                  Possible Programs  Below are new programs that would enhance community cohesion and could be included in the above welcome packet             Figure 1:  This image depicts a Block Captain holding a meeting with her street’s local community members to discuss the block’s rules and to make sure everyone is keeping up with the standards she has set.  Block Captain Program Block captains are volunteers in charge in maintaining a block’s safety, beauty, and health. Through a block captain program, one prominent member of the block volunteers for this role. There will need to be some sort of checks and balances system where the block captain will be able to ensure that a family, or property, is inline with the block’s rules. This program will encourage respect and care for the town’s blocks as there will be a sense of solidarity that exists.  The City of Port Pentworth in Georgia has implemented this program and has seen success through the inevitable result of cohesion on the block. Don Fletcher and Sarah Kaip, the creators of this program claim that “the Block Captain is an effective gatekeeper for the exchange of information between the program leadership and his or her neighbors. The Block Captain also helps to plan block meetings so that they support overall program priorities.” We are convinced that this will lead to a more beautiful block as everybody will want to keep up with their neighbors and not fall behind. In order to ensure this, the Block Captain will be elected in a fashion similar to the one set up in Philadelphia. The forms below are reproduced for Mount Carmel based on these models. Block parties will also be a great way in which families can come together and spend time with each other. This will have numerous positive implications such as a unification of the block, an attractive force for outsiders that may be interested in this sort of town interaction, and a way for kids to stay out of trouble.      Below is a list of helpful techniques for a Block Captain and for the residents of the blocks.          Below is an example of a sheet that the Block Captain would need to complete in order to become a Block Captain for their street.       Figure 2. This image shows an area (the open baseball field) in Mt. Carmel that could potentially be used for a community recreation program involving  sports and activities.   Expanding Community Sports Program for Children At this moment Mt. Carmel has few opportunities for children to come together and be active. This lack of options for kids will exacerbate problems. Creating a town wide recreation league will bring the community together, provide outlets for children, and help create a sense of pride in the town. By creating this program, children will also create positive memories and long-term investment in the town. These memories may become strong enough to ensure that less young people leave the town as soon as they are able to. This program would support already popular high-school level programming. Countless towns in Pennsylvania and other states come together and rally around their high school sports teams or community organizations. The bonds of the enjoyment of seeing their kids excel, as well as the idea that they once competed in this same manner. Over time both of these feelings could be extended with recreation activities, which will link people to the town, and link the people of the town to one another. Finally, this is an inexpensive enterprise, and could provide summer jobs for teens or young adults. For any leagues that already exist, the forms can be included in our welcome packet for new residents to get their kids involved in the town. Below is an example of such a form that could be used for new leagues.        Below is a template of a potential Registration Form.        Figure 3. This image shows how community members can purchase lots in a local their local community gardens to grow and maintain a healthy food supply as well as making the town more green.   Community Garden Community gardens are a growing trend across the country. These serve as a way to unite communities and provide healthy food options. Community gardens are relatively inexpensive to start and maintain. There are many spaces in Mt. Carmel that could be transformed into a site for a community garden. This transition from abandoned lots to community gardens will also help to beautify the community and make it more appealing for people looking to move in. The garden could also provide positive activities for the youth of the community to participate in. After School, In-School, and weekend programs could be created to get kids together and teach them how to maintain the garden. There are countless grants available for communities that are looking to start their own community garden. These grants would provide the funds needed to help create the garden, and after the garden is up and running it would not require much money at all to maintain it especially if it is used as a program to involve the children of Mt. Carmel.                                                                                      Figure 4. The image above shows what a Community Walk would look like. It shows how community members would walk/run together for a good cause while raising awareness and raising money. Community Walks A community walk will allow community members to go outside and get to meet each other and interact at a deeper level of interaction. This will be beneficial to Mt. Carmel because  new and old neighbors can interact and form relationships. This walk can also serve the purpose of raising money for a cause, such as a “crisis fund” in case of emergencies. On our visit we learned that an emergency fund would be beneficial for the community members in case there was a crisis. Many community members live next to people whose homes are unstable and are often a danger and hazard to their community and safety at large. This fund will allow the community to knock down the unstable and hazardous houses so that the people are not at risk. Overall the community walks will help Mt. Carmel come together and work as a community towards a goal.         Below is an example of a Community Walk (5K) Registration Form.      Works Cited:  Kentucky University Community Walk Model  http://www2.ca.uky.edu/HES/FCS/FACTSHTS/HEEL-LR-919.pdf   Coppell Texas Community Garden Model http://www.coppellcommunitygarden.org/ Possible Grant Options for community garden http://www.gardenabcs.com/grants.html https://www.pasafarming.org/resources/grant-opportunities/recent-grant-announcements-resources Youth Recreation programs  http://playpass.com/blog/organizing-rec-sports-league/  Block Captain Program http://www.philadelphiastreets.com/pmbc/ http://www.philadelphiastreets.com/images/uploads/documents/15_Do_You_Want.pdf  

Mt. Carmel, PA Community Welcome Packet

https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&amp;context=coal-region-student

Mt. Carmel, PA Community Welcome Packet

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