Graduate student coordinator: Jesica Fernández

The collaboration was a "photovoice project" that included residents taking pictures of their neighborhoods, writing narratives about their pictures, having conversations, and developing themes that describe their neighborhood. Based on their pictures, they determined their themes to be: historical and ecological preservation, community pride, and social justice. This 7-week examination turned into a year-long project, as residents decided to continue meeting so that they could plan actions to take within their community, based on the themes of their pictures. Some actions were the creation of a calendar that included historical information about their community, and community exhibitions of their photographs and narratives at the library, farmer's market, and the county building. The goals were to increase the sense of community for residents and the facilitation of a stronger place identity, which our participants viewed as important to effectively engage in other forms of community-based action.