Can a Letter from a Stranger Change Outward Perceptions of a Community?

October 8, 2014, Miller Plaza Pavilion

BACKGROUND:

As part of Startup Week Chattanooga, we at Glass House Collective partnered with the Neighborhood Postcard Project to break down previous misconceptions people living in Chattanooga may have had about Glass Street and the East Chattanooga community.

NEED:

Volunteers who were participating in Startup Week Chattanooga helped decorate postcards and give them random addresses. Then residents from Glass Street and the greater East Chattanooga were invited to fill out the backs of each postcard with the prompt “I love Glass Street because…” Stories and positive memos were written on every postcard and mailed out to random addresses in the greater Chattanooga area, like Signal Mountain, Lookout Mountain, North Shore, and downtown. While residents filed into Miller Plaza to participate, inviting music was provided by Ten Bartram.

VISION:

The goal of the Neighborhood Postcard Project is to connect neighborhoods together by combating stereotypes. The Glass Street community wants the greater Chattanooga to know why we love it here.

PARTNERS:

Neighborhood Postcard Project

Society of Work

Startup Week Chattanooga

Ten Bartram

Hunter Franks, founder of the idea