Bonus City of Champaign Updates

We like to cover government and collaboration news on the Cheat Sheet, but a couple news items stood out as exceptional from the usual budgets and study sessions of today's other update post. City of Champaign employees working with Habitat for Humanity and neighborhood block parties organized with the help of the City of Champaign and the Champaign Park District!

First from the Daily Illini last week:

About 20 City of Champaign employees worked with Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County to help build a home last week as part of National Public Service Recognition Week...

Every year as part of the National Public Service Recognition Week, the city staff looks for an opportunity to give back to the community and work on team building skills...

“This great project with Habitat for Humanity allowed city employees who may not normally work together an opportunity to get to know each other better while working for a good cause,” said communications manager Jeff Hamilton.

The goal of Habitat for Humanity is to “bring people together to build homes, communities and hope,” according to their website.

The organization helps build sell quality and affordable homes to families at a 0% interest rate. It also provides educational programs for financial management and maintenance to homeowners.

Full article here. WCIA had coverage including a video segment on the block party at the Country Brook apartments last week:

After bullets flew through this neighborhood, the people living there are showing it's not getting them down.

The Champaign Park District and the city have been throwing block parties throughout the city for the last four years.

Thursday night was the first of the summer, and they brought it to a community that saw some violence.

Earlier this month, some who live in the Country Brook Apartments were awoken in the middle of the night, to the sound of gunfire.

Those same people came out to enjoy themselves and some with the complex say, this is one way they're showing moments like that don't define them...

As they watched the kids playing and having fun, it put a smile on their faces. No one was killed in that shooting. A man showed up at the hospital who had been shot. Police say he was expected to be okay.

This is one of three community block parties planned for the summer. They will be held on the fourth Thursday of the month and in a different neighborhood each time. 

Full coverage here. The Champaign Park District had an announcement for their Summer Neighborhood Block Parties program with the latest dates and locations at the link. The News-Gazette had information on the shooting earlier this month here.