rapid response grant final report form_livablestreets alliance_feb2013

7/28/2019 Rapid Response Grant Final Report Form_LivableStreets Alliance_Feb2013

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Advocacy Advance Rapid Response Grant

Final Report

The Advocacy Advance Final Grant Final Report is due by Friday, February 1, 2013 via e-mail to [email protected]. Your subject line must state: [Organization] RapidResponse Grant Final Report. Thank you for your cooperation!

1. Organization Overview

Date: February 15, 2013OrganizationName:

LivableStreets Alliance

Website:www.LivableStreets.info

Address:70 Pacific Street

City, State, Zip: Cambridge, MA 02139

Grant CampaignTitle:

Remove McGrath Neighborhoods Not Highways

Grant Amount: $1,000 Amount of MoneyWon / Preserved:

$ TBD

Application Date: May 23, 2012 Completion Date: On-going

Primary Contact:Jackie Douglas

Title: ExecutiveDirector

E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 617.621.1746

2. Project ResultsIn 1-2 pages total, please respond to the following questions:


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(A) What were the results of your campaign and how has it made a difference for cyclingand/or walking in your community?The long-term results are not complete yet. To date, as a result of the campaign weincreased political pressure to elevate the need for a safe bicycle, pedestrian, and transitcorridor, when otherwise, the outdated elevated highway would have just been repairedas is with no improvements for people and no public awareness. One major win was thatthe State decided to hire additional consultants to do analysis for bicycle and pedestrianimprovements!

In the short-term, we won:1. Mobilized 200 people to attend a public meeting on May 31, which resulted in political

pressure to acknowledge the changes we were advocating for;2. Trained and deployed 25 Street Ambassadors to talk to citizens and businesses about

the campaign, how to get involved, and collect 1,500 signed postcards with personalstories addressed to Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and Somerville MayorCurtatone;

3. Met regularly with key stakeholders; including city and state agencies, legislators, andabutting businesses and residences to galvanize support, build consensus, and increasepolitical pressure;

4. Created a website, Facebook group, and Twitter hash tag, and communicated regularlywith our members and citizens; and

5. Won local and national press.

We changed the dialogue about how the State should be spending $11 million in funds.Over the course of the next 3-9 months, we will have a lot more updates to share as more

decisions will be made. In just the next three weeks, we will:1. Host an internal LivableStreets strategy meeting to discuss next steps.2. Review potential design alternatives for interim improvements with the LivableStreets

Advocacy Committee.3. Meet with the City of Somerville to discuss the interim improvements and strategize next

steps.4. Prepare for another public meeting to happen this spring (date TBD).

(B) What was the amount of funding won/preserved as a result of your campaign?

Exact amount is pending Currently, the State will be making a decision this spring on how

much funding will be used for improvements and plan for removing the overpass.

(C) What lessons were learned and can be shared with others?


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Timing, stamina, internal government partnerships, external grassroots support, andengineering analysis are critical.1. Timing. The time is now to be advocating for change because it is on the City and

States radar and there is funding to be spent.2. Stamina. It is critical to stay on top of a project day in and day out, month after month, to

ultimately see change. Only a portion of the work we do is high visibility and public (i.e.getting ready for a public meeting), but it is critical to have dedicated staff and volunteerswho can stay on top of the project even when its not in the news every day.

3. Internal government partnerships. Having strong relationships with people ingovernment, as well as consulting firms, has been critical to understanding theopportunities and challenges to seeing change, and winning support needed, as well ashaving credibility to advocate.

4. External grassroots support. We cant do it alone. For this campaign, it was critical toshow that that there was public support.

5. Engineering analysis. This campaign was another example of the importance of beingable to talk about a big vision, discuss policies, and also have technical expertise amongour volunteers to analyze engineering plans in order to find opportunities for change.

(D) How does your campaign serve as a model for other organizations? Please list ways

that your organization is willing to share your results with Advocacy Advance (e.g.provide documents/templates for the Alliance Resource Library, produce a report,share your final product, propose a Mutual Aid Call)

Our campaign serves as a model for:1. Campaign strategies and tactics for grassroots outreach and support. For example,

our postcard campaign, action e-lerts, information session we hosted before the public

meeting, and StreetTalk events.2. Utilizing volunteers. Lessons learned on recruiting, training, and engaging volunteers

to win campaigns. Our Street Ambassadors, and Advocacy Committee members whorepresent us State Advisory Working Groups, are critical to success.

3. Building partnerships and consensus. With whom and how.4. Winning press. Process for building relationships and winning press at the right time.

(E) Please specify and detail how much of the grant funds were used for lobbying andwhat kind of lobbying activities were conducted.

Though legislators were a stakeholder and part of discussions, none of the grant fundswas used for direct lobbying activities.

3. Actual BudgetINCOME EXPENSES


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Advocacy Advance Grantrequest:

$ 1,000 Personnel: $ 1,500

Professional services: in-kind (i.e.graphicdesign,engineeringwork)

Funding from other sources: $ 1,000 Supplies and materials: $ 500

Other: in-kind (i.e.volunteers,event venuespace)

Total Project Income: $2,000* Total Project Expenses: $ 2,000*

* This budget only reflects a portion of a much greater Neighborhoods Not Highways Campaign budget

3. AttachmentsPlease attach to the final report:(A) Copy of IRS determination letter(B) Any PR-related materials applicable to the grant, including photos and linksLinks:

- Campaign website: http://www.livablestreets.info/project/remove-mcgrath- Facebook page with relevant links: http://www.facebook.com/removemcgrath

- LivableStreets StreetFilm: http://vimeo.com/37448189- Boston Globe article: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2012/08/22/

somerville-boston-mull-future-overpasses/AJM4G6FkiiNOCqb7YaEZZK/story.html- National Congress for New Urbanism article: http://www.cnu.org/cnu-news/2012/08/

2012-freeways-without-futures-revisited- Greater Somerville news video: http://greatersomerville.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/

steven-nutter-tom-bertulis-livable-streets-alliance-5-29-12-2/- Video from May 31 public meeting: http://blip.tv/somervillecommunityaccess/mccarthy-

overpass-meeting-5-31-12-6194881- Somerville Patch blog post: http://somerville.patch.com/blog_posts/lets-work-together-to-

remove-mcgrath- Photos: (1) Various: http://www.facebook.com/removemcgrath/photos_stream,

(2)StreetTalk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49752072@N04/sets/72157630328443976/(3) May 31: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49752072@N04/sets/72157629997041536/

rapid response grant final report form_livablestreets alliance_feb2013

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