ReClaim Central 2.0: Update Posted on February 11, 2019 by wpengine Share this post In the winter of 2016-17, Grounded recruited a dozen Central Hill District residents, called Ambassadors, to lead the movement for reclaiming vacant lots. In the spring of 2017, the Ambassadors began work on vacant lots around the Hill District and in total created 5 new community spaces for residents to utilize. Fast forward to fall 2018, after a year of engaging residents on the sites and gathering input about if the spaces were welcomed and accepted we were asked to come back. We scoured the neighborhood in search of new residents involved in the community and invited the original Ambassadors back in hopes that they’d be interested in returning for a second run and boy did the call get answered. After many compelling applications we were able to zero in on 10 candidates for our 2018-2019 ReClaim: Central Ambassador Program. In this phase, our returning Ambassadors receive continued support with a more extensive development focused on leadership, community engagement, multi-generational integration and sustainment of their projects. The new Ambassadors will join the program able to bring whatever unique ideas they may have as well as help the team plan and implement new green space projects in the neighborhood. With the original ambassadors present were able to collectively gather some best practices and hardships of the inaugural team and navigate some of the spaces better equipped to alleviate issues making for better community spaces overall. As the process continues, we look forward to progress, accomplishments, and experiences as a team with our friends and family of the ReClaim: Central Ambassador Squad (troupe).