Southwest Central Durham Quality of Life Project

     The Southwest Central Durham Quality of Life Project (QOL) has hosted its share of charrettes during its eight years, to solicit community residents' collective design input on everything from buildings to streetscapes. But few have looked quite like the one held a couple Saturdays ago at West End Community Center.
     There, neighborhood residents bent over drafting tables, brows furrowed as they strove to put vision on paper. Most were well under 5 feet tall, and their tool of choice was a Crayola marker.
     With the help of Duke student volunteers, West End community children on September 26 drew pictures of what they'd like their new playground to look like. The playground is the latest QOL project, and the drawings were only the latest stage of community input in a building process that's been grounded in it from the start.
     Back in 2006, when QOL asked West End community members to list the changes they'd like to see in their neighborhood, housing for seniors and a playground for local children topped the list. Three years later, those goals are in sight: Maplewood Square is set to open in January, with 32 low-cost apartments available for neighborhood seniors; and within view of the apartment's three wrap-around porches will be a brand-new playground and green space built and landscaped by community and Duke volunteers.
     "We couldn't have done it without the support and equity provided by Duke and the Quality of Life project," said Self-Help's Lanier Blum, who helped coordinate city and federal support for the project. Self-Help is one of many partners that helped QOL meet West End's request; others include Durham Community Land Trustees, the City of Durham, and Raleigh developer DHIC.
     Duke gave about $500,000 toward the $4.2 million undertaking, and it supported QOL's efforts to ensure that local input drove each step of the project's design. The support didn't end there.
     "Just as we were starting to plan the equipment for the playground, another angel stepped in," Blum said. "And that was a DukeEngage student named Andrew Ognibene."
    
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      This was my second year at Student U.  Each summer I go to Student U and am taught by really fun and really smart college students.  During the school year, I get to keep working with the same college students.  They help me make sure that I can do really well in school.
     This summer in science class at Student U, we did a lot of things hands-on.  One of my favorite things we did in Ms. Laura's class this summer was looking at and touching a cow heart when we were learning how our hearts work.  We learned a lot of different things about the body -- when we were studying the senses, we made a model of how an image looks inside your eye. Because of how light comes in through your pupil, the image gets flipped upside down. Somehow the brain knows to flip what you're seeing right side up again! Now whenever I'm upside down, I always think about how inside my eye everything would look right side up.
     My absolute favorite part of this summer was when we went to Washington DC. I saw the White House and took a picture of it that I'm really proud of -- I'm going to add it to my photography portfolio! Another great part of the trip was that all the seventh graders went to DC together -- for the sixth graders, it's definitely something to look forward to. Going to DC had always been a dream of mine, and it came true because of Student U. I think the great experiences and the exciting classes at Student U really help students believe in their dreams.

Follow the links below to see how the Office of Durham and Regional Affairs and its partners in Duke community engagement have made headlines.

"Duke to partner with Durham on new bus route"
The Chronicle, 10-9-09
Hear from Phail Wynn, Vice President for Durham and Regional Affairs, about the new route that will link Duke with downtown Durham.

"University takes over funding for DukeEngage"
The Herald-Sun, 10-7-09
Read about Duke's innovative DukeEngage program, which has been a partner to the Office of Durham and Regional Affairs in allowing Duke students to become engaged in the Durham community.

The Bull City Gridiron Classic got a lot of press leading up to and after the game.  Read the Duke News story for a taste of the coverage and a list of activities, including the service opportunities organized by the Office of Durham and Regional Affairs.

Read about the free prostate-cancer screenings offered by the Duke Prostate Center at Lincoln Community Health Center.

Read about Docs for Tots, the innovative program that exposes Duke pediatric residents to the social, environmental and cultural factors that contribute to health issues in lower-income patients.

Read about the long-standing partnership between Durham and Duke University Health Systems.