Cultivate More than Your Garden
Cultivate More than Your Garden – Cultivate Your Community with America in Bloom
By Evelyn Alemanni
Wouldn’t it be amazing if every property in your town was as pretty as your garden? These days, many communities are resource-constrained. They have inadequate revenues to do all that is needed to stay vibrant and look prosperous. Through its national awards and mentoring program, America in Bloom provides a holistic framework for grassroots urban development. We help towns, business districts, college campuses and even military installations harness untapped energy, talent, and resources, creating synergy among all demographics to champion greening, enhance environmental awareness, promote economic development, and improve quality of life… much of this is related to greening with landscaping and floral displays.
Coaching For Your Town
While many “awards” programs are available, America in Bloom is the only program of its kind that coaches towns to help them be more livable and sustainable. Participation in the AIB program brings residents from every demographic together to create meaningful, visible, constructive projects, combining efforts of residents, businesses, and local government. These groups work on common goals in areas on which America in Bloom evaluates them for possible awards: community involvement, heritage preservation, horticulture, and environmental awareness. Once towns have participated in the program, they continue with these efforts and build on them, having been impressed by its overall impact. National judges who evaluate participants provide a detailed report highlighting strengths and offering suggestions for improvement. City officials have often told us that these reports help provide a framework for future activities and provide more value and guidance than expensive consultants’ reports. With coaching from the judges, attitudes often change from “we can’t” to “we can, and we’ll keep getting better.”
Rewarding Excellence
Towns are motivated to continue improving by the potential of receiving a prestigious national AIB award. AIB gives annual awards to participants which perform the best in their population or entry category. Entrants also receive bloom ratings and special mentions for achievements. Changing Lives, Changing Thinking AIB provides a framework for strategizing and prioritizing civic projects and encourages the use of volunteers working with local government and businesses to complete them. It is the essence of grassroots urban renewal. The impetus of a deadline, having projects completed before the AIB team arrives, is an essential motivation. Mayors have called the program the most effective community-building tool they have ever seen. Many use the evaluations they receive to jumpstart improvements and provide impetus for new economic development.
National Impact through Volunteerism
Since its inception in 2001, America in Bloom has touched more than 22 million people in 200 communities in 40 states, helping to plant pride wherever the program is implemented. The impact is felt in participating towns and also in surrounding areas, as people marvel at the changes they observe. Those changes take hard work, hundreds of volunteer hours, and lots of dedication, but the results are well worth the effort. Participants report changed neighborhoods where people experience a heightened sense of pride. They report cleaner streets, less litter, safer public spaces. Environmental programs are enhanced, historic preservation programs emphasized. Participating towns also report greater use of horticultural products – ranging from annuals to perennials, shrubs, trees and turf. Some towns have even reported that their big box stores have run out of plant material as a result of the town’s participation in America in Bloom.
By Evelyn Alemanni
Wouldn’t it be amazing if every property in your town was as pretty as your garden? These days, many communities are resource-constrained. They have inadequate revenues to do all that is needed to stay vibrant and look prosperous. Through its national awards and mentoring program, America in Bloom provides a holistic framework for grassroots urban development. We help towns, business districts, college campuses and even military installations harness untapped energy, talent, and resources, creating synergy among all demographics to champion greening, enhance environmental awareness, promote economic development, and improve quality of life… much of this is related to greening with landscaping and floral displays.
Coaching For Your Town
While many “awards” programs are available, America in Bloom is the only program of its kind that coaches towns to help them be more livable and sustainable. Participation in the AIB program brings residents from every demographic together to create meaningful, visible, constructive projects, combining efforts of residents, businesses, and local government. These groups work on common goals in areas on which America in Bloom evaluates them for possible awards: community involvement, heritage preservation, horticulture, and environmental awareness. Once towns have participated in the program, they continue with these efforts and build on them, having been impressed by its overall impact. National judges who evaluate participants provide a detailed report highlighting strengths and offering suggestions for improvement. City officials have often told us that these reports help provide a framework for future activities and provide more value and guidance than expensive consultants’ reports. With coaching from the judges, attitudes often change from “we can’t” to “we can, and we’ll keep getting better.”
Rewarding Excellence
Towns are motivated to continue improving by the potential of receiving a prestigious national AIB award. AIB gives annual awards to participants which perform the best in their population or entry category. Entrants also receive bloom ratings and special mentions for achievements. Changing Lives, Changing Thinking AIB provides a framework for strategizing and prioritizing civic projects and encourages the use of volunteers working with local government and businesses to complete them. It is the essence of grassroots urban renewal. The impetus of a deadline, having projects completed before the AIB team arrives, is an essential motivation. Mayors have called the program the most effective community-building tool they have ever seen. Many use the evaluations they receive to jumpstart improvements and provide impetus for new economic development.
National Impact through Volunteerism
Since its inception in 2001, America in Bloom has touched more than 22 million people in 200 communities in 40 states, helping to plant pride wherever the program is implemented. The impact is felt in participating towns and also in surrounding areas, as people marvel at the changes they observe. Those changes take hard work, hundreds of volunteer hours, and lots of dedication, but the results are well worth the effort. Participants report changed neighborhoods where people experience a heightened sense of pride. They report cleaner streets, less litter, safer public spaces. Environmental programs are enhanced, historic preservation programs emphasized. Participating towns also report greater use of horticultural products – ranging from annuals to perennials, shrubs, trees and turf. Some towns have even reported that their big box stores have run out of plant material as a result of the town’s participation in America in Bloom.
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