Community action plan revealed during massive potluck in Meadville

Billed as “The World’s Largest Potluck (in Meadville),” the gathering organized by My Meadville lived up to both its tongue-in-cheek name and the community-oriented spirit of the My Meadville project. “It’s not the world’s largest potluck, but as Mayor (LeRoy) Stearns said, it is the largest potluck Meadville has ever seen,” said Autumn Vogel, My Meadville project director, in a reference to Stearns’ introductory comments as visitors began gravitating toward the long line of tables heaped with food that bisected the park. “It’s more than a giant party. It’s a celebration of the Heart and Soul process.”The My Meadville project, originally called Meadville Heart and Soul, was a collaboration of the Orton Family Foundation, Pennsylvania Humanities Council, Meadville Redevelopment Authority and numerous local residents. The project followed the Orton Family Foundation’s Community Heart and Soul model of resident-driven investigation into what matters most to everyone in a particular place.The two-year undertaking, supported by a $50,000 grant and in-kind contributions of a comparable amount from community organizations as well as the volunteer efforts of many Meadville residents, is drawing to an end, Vogel said.“The leadership of Heart and Soul will transition to a stewardship team that will ensure our values are being upheld in our community and that these actions are being implemented and hold our community accountable,” she said.The actions that Vogel referred to were included in the My Meadville Community Action Planbooklet that she distributed during the potluck and that will be available online at mymeadville.org as well. After first developing, workshopping and revising eight key shared community values, the group went through a similar process to generate specific action proposals linked to each of the values. Each step along the way involved seeking input from community members to shape both the value statements and the action proposals.