Opening the Door: Building Community in Portsmouth

A report from the Portsmouth Listens Phase II Study Circle “Building Community.”

Overview

It's simple: For many of us, ‘community’ is why we live here.

Portsmouth is rich in this sense of community. From neighborhood groups to nonprofit organizations, to formal gathering places such as the Music Hall and Prescott Park to informal meeting places such as the city’s neighborhood parks, the Pic’n’Pay and Ceres Street Bakery, through city commissions, gallery strolls and the Farmers’ Market, the city has a wealth of resources that nurture connections.

However, Portsmouth’s community riches may seem distant or inaccessible to some. Through a lack of information, a lack of access or a lack of personal connectedness, individuals and populations in Portsmouth may be overlooked, excluded or sidelined. As the city continues to grow and its demographics change, the formalization of a vision of a shared and open community becomes more critical.

Communities that enjoy enduring success have fixed core values and purposes that enable that community to successfully adapt intact to an ever changing world.

The founding fathers of Portsmouth’s city logo, the “City of the Open Door,” offered its community such an enduring ‘vision statement’ - a guiding principle that clearly and simply states what we stand for and why we exist.

The core values inherent to such a guiding principle are the recognition and respect for the individual, and responsibility of the community to advance the well being of its citizens by welcoming those who come and go.

Since the founding of Portsmouth and declaration of the city’s logo, these core values have offered timeless guiding principles for its citizens’ cultural life, business and political strategies, and day-to-day operational function. We echo their words and continue their process.

We offer a vehicle(s) by which the community will be better able to communicate (with recognition and respect for the individual) and more effectively to welcome and host (advancement of the city’s well being) its residents and guests. Portsmouth is the City of the Open Door, and we suggest that information is the key.

As members of the community, it is our responsibility to ensure that sense of belonging is diverse and accessible. As a community, we recognize that we have fundamental assets in our neighborhoods, our city departments, our private and nonprofit sectors and our residents; it is our challenge to ensure that these assets are known, valued and sustained.

Our vision is that Portsmouth is, and remains, the City of the Open Door for all, regardless of background, ability, income or connections.

To continue to foster and develop the sense of community that is the heart of our city, we envision a four-stage process to inventory, recognize and publicize, facilitate and sustain community assets and the information process itself. This project would build on and network the excellent resources that currently exist in the city, including for- and -nonprofit websites, information kiosks, newsletters and event listings, for the creation of a comprehensive, and consistently updated, source of information.

We recognize that community building and sustaining are ongoing initiatives with both upfront costs and annual expenses. However, we believe that an investment in community has a direct correlation to the strength of that community.

Stage I.

Recognizing our Resources: The Portsmouth Inventory Project

The Inventory Project would involve a formal, multi-tiered survey and inventory of community assets. We envision this as a community-based process, complete with an inventory of existing data, mailed surveys to residents and business owners, smaller-set telephone queries and focus groups, with information adaptable for many uses, including a searchable and updatable online resource directory, a city-published map of Portsmouth’s physical assets and list of contacts.

The Inventory Project includes three main sets:

A. Inventory of physical resources:

This inventory would include a formal description, availability and contact information for city-owned parks and facilities, privately-owned facilities open for public access, and other community-based physical resources. This should be budgeted for and updated every two years.

Examples of possible outputs:

1. Hometown Map of Portsmouth: A city or privately published resource map showing pocket parks, playgrounds and ball fields, walking trails and places of historic significance within the city, along with resource information.

Distributed with realtor and renter packages, company relocation information. Available on the web and through traditional media outlets.

2. Facility Resources Dataset: A resource list of facilities (and contact information), including cityowned, nonprofit or privately owned facilities, available for community meetings or events.

B. Inventory of human resources:

This inventory would include a formal description, availability and contact information for clubs, social organizations, single-interest projects, and associations in Portsmouth.

Examples of possible outputs:

1. Human Resources Dataset: A resource list of organizations and groups (with meeting schedules and contact information) available for individuals to join, or query for information, assistance or support.

2. Community Calendar: An updatable event calendar of meetings and events.

C. Inventory of information resources:

This inventory would include informal and formal media outlets,information and referral services, including city departments, schools, faith communities, community groups and neighborhood associations, the Chamber of Commerce and other formal and informal sources of community-based information.

This process would not seek to recreate what already exists, such as the health and human service information available at InfoLink, the volunteer resources available at the United Way, the city information at www.cityofportsmouth.org or the relocation information at the Chamber of Commerce, but provide a hub from which queries can be appropriately directed and facilitated.

Again, the information is there and this project would not ‘recreate the wheel’

Stage 2:

Spreading the Word: Portsmouth Open Door

Where do Portsmouth residents get information about their community - and how do they stay informed?

While additional information will be gleaned from the Inventory Project, the Study Circle described ‘Portsmouth Open Door,’ a system based on existing community strengths - involved and informed individuals and established networks - that builds off the knowledge gained through the inventory.

Paid staff, who would serve as information ombudsmen, would coordinate existing and new volunteers to act as information hubs for the community. Physical and virtual systems, and formal and informal networks, involving everything from parish newsletters to a community-wide cable access channel, would create a seamless network, providing information for those who need simple facts, further resources for those who need more in-depth information and person-to-person facilitation in critical areas of community involvement.

Again, it’s simple: By creating Portsmouth Open Door, the city formalizes an information system that utilizes existing resources and networks and mobilizes community members to gather and receive information.

Activities and events are publicized, volunteers recruited, resources used and everyday citizens are mobilized to act as ombudsmen for the community.

Please refer to the accompanying graphic explanation.

Stage 3:

Sustaining the Vision

The Portsmouth Open Door Project builds on incredible work. Portsmouth’s leadership, through service organizations, businesses, associations, individual leaders, as well as the city’s own departments, have created a thriving community infrastructure. Certainly, much of the work detailed in the other Portsmouth Listens reports strengthen the community sector by improving transportation, encouraging and sustaining affordable housing; protecting and emphasizing open space; building cultural resources and continuing to help establish and support neighborhood improvement efforts. Portsmouth Open Door ties these efforts together as a comprehensive information system using existing resources.

Dedicated funding would be required for the initial Inventory Project, the Open Door staff positions to facilitate information and volunteers, as well as for technology and outreach.

The city has done an extraordinary job maintaining support to community organizations and community projects in challenging times; Portsmouth Open Door is designed to not reduce any existing level of city support for local initiatives or organizations, but seeks to leverage additional resources to support existing projects.

Stage 4:

Other Thoughts

In the Phase II Study Circle, as well as in many of the Phase I circles, individual ideas were suggested to continue to build the sense of community that exists in the city. Many of the ideas are easily implemented, and some are actually in process. While this is not a comprehensive list, the Phase II Study Circle valued these suggestions: