Good Neighbors
“Driven by the voice of residents” is the beginning of West Bloomington Revitalization Project’s mission statement and at the heart of all we do. On Saturday, September 28, join us in celebrating National Good Neighbor Day and supporting our efforts to be good neighbors in West Bloomington.
750 Tool Library loans & 140 new members
Over the past two years, we have made 750 Tool Library loans and welcomed 140 new members.
250+ beds to local youth
The WBRP Bed Blitz gives local youth (ages 5-18) a twin-size bed frame, a brand-new mattress, sheets, pillows, a blanket or quilt, laundry detergent, books, a hygiene kit, and a teddy bear. After our 2024 Bed Blitz in October, we'll have given away 250+ beds over the past two years and 1,000 beds over the 8 years we've run this program!
Tool Library Workshops
Throughout 2023 and 2024, WBRP hosted numerous workshops such as a build-your-own-planter workshop on Earth Day, holiday projects, pub tables and chairs, and a nightstand. Over the past two years, we were able to make several improvements to our workshop space so we're excited to continue hosting these workshops for the community!
10,000+ free books given away
The Book Bike has given away 10,000+ free books during the Downtown Bloomington Farmer's Market and various community events!
Creativity Reclaimed
This May, WBRP's Art and Beautification program is launched a new initiative, Creativity Reclaimed. The Creativity Reclaimed initiative aims to foster creativity and resourcefulness within our community while reducing waste and promoting sustainability. This initiative will provide a platform for individuals to exchange art materials they no longer need, thereby facilitating access to affordable supplies for artists of all ages and skill levels.
Barbers with Books
Originally launched in 2019, the Barbers with Books program offers young readers the chance to read a book to a barber – and get a free haircut. After taking a hiatus due to COVID, this program was relaunched this spring. During the first month, the Barber College provided 22 free haircuts through this program. Learn more from our press release.
New sign
Thanks to the generosity and talents of WBRP volunteer and board member David Kidd, WBRP has a new exterior sign above our front door! We think it makes the perfect addition to help folks find our building!
575 refurbished bikes sold
Throughout 2023 and 2024 (so far!), the WBRP Bike Co-op has provided 575 bikes to the community - including to 49 individuals who earned a bike through volunteer hours and 172 bikes that were given away through grant funding. Our bike mechanics also stayed busy with providing inexpensive bike repairs and offering occasional Basic Bike Maintenance workshops.
Community paper quilt
Community members shared their creativity in designing patches for this unique paper quilt project. The WBRP community paper quilty project served as a beautiful, collaborative display of our westside community.
This program was supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, an agency of the State of Illinois, the McLean County Arts Center, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Celebrated the westside
During our community block parties - West Fest and Harvest Fest - we celebrated West Bloomington with neighbors and friends. West Fest serves as a celebration of the westside at our building, and the Harvest Fest has a tradition of bringing local artists and nonprofits to our community gardens to celebrate the fall harvest period.
Community Gardens
For the past two years, we've had about 26 gardeners at our community garden on the corner of Mulberry and Roosevelt. While some of these plots are managed by individuals, we've had several managed by groups such as youth groups, the Regional Alternative School, Project Oz and YouthBuild. Every year, the WBRP also maintains 5 plots of our own to grow produce for the Veggie Oasis.
Community partnerships
We've been grateful to partner with numerous wonderful organizations these past two years! In collaboration with Onward Injury Law and Bloomington Cycle and Fitness, we distributed dozens of free bicycle helmets to kids in the west Bloomington neighborhood. We also teamed up with organizations to conduct neighborhood clean-ups, provided internship opportunities to IWU students and partnered with the IWU Peace Garden to grow starter plants for their garden and to give to westside residents.
Veggie Oasis
Veggie Oasis has continued to distribute hundreds of pounds of fresh produce from the Downtown Bloomington Farmer's Market to westside residents for free.
Little Free Pantry food drives
We conducted multiple food drives to fill our Little Free Pantry, including drives sponsored by local businesses, organizations and schools.
Building upgrades
We've made several big upgrades to our building over the past two years! We revamped our landscaping to create an artistic community herb garden (pictured) and cleaned out and updated our office & meeting space. Our back fence was replaced thanks to the Livingston and McLean County Building and Construction Trades Council for sponsoring and volunteers from Laborers' Local 362 for the installation. We also replaced our roof in 2023, which unfortunately cost almost triple our original estimates.
Westside rides
Bicycle enthusiasts gathered on multiple occasions for Westside Rides together.
New faces
This year, we've welcomed several new faces to the WBPR family! Paul Emge joined us as our Operations Manager, Michael Zenke is our new seasonal Tool Library employee, IWU intern Khel Gordhan has helped with numerous programs, and Claude Prather joined our Bike Co-op team as a part-time mechanic.