“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.” - The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
I was born and raised in Galesburg IL, and always considered Peoria the city. The place to go and do things. When I came and graduated from Bradley, Peoria had become home, but I kept hearing there was nothing to do here. This was the city; this is where things happened so I was on a mission. I got more involved with Young Professionals of Greater Peoria, Bradley University, and other great organizations. It got to the point there were too many things to do, but you just had to find them. I had become the person people asked what to do and where to go. If it was the symphony to roller derby, or the art fair to a Chiefs game, I was probably there.
This leads to my opening quote. I was doing so much in the community but I wasn’t doing anything to make this the best place I could. To show off the city I called home and the city I could see it become. That is when Build Peoria approached me with an idea “to physically Build Peoria into a better place.” They were talking my language!
One thing I saw that we had a chance to do, and you will hear me say it a lot, is give the area structures that are hard to quantify. Things that make a community better, more attractive, safer, and more social without generating revenue. This is exactly what we needed. I was in!
The biggest reward I have received from being involved in Build Peoria is not our projects what I love, but the impact we have made on people. I have met so many people that that felt that nothing would change or one person could not make a change. After our first two projects, I’ve seen changes in people’s mindsets. We can make a difference. We can make a community better!
Which leads me to make a plug to submit your ideas for the 2019 project to kyle@buildpeoria.org because “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”
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