West End Revitalization

 

Making the West End of Rock Island a preferred place to live and thrive.

We envision a West End of Rock Island that is a preferred place to live and thrive. This requires building the West End community’s wealth, power, and livability. No single person, organization, or sector can do this on its own. We all must work together to achieve it. The Martin Luther King Center is bringing together the West End community and its supporters to make overdue, positive, lasting, transformational change.

After a community-informed West End assessment completed in 2021, we’re moving to action on five impact areas.

Here is the 3-Year Implementation Plan (March 2024).

For more information, contact one of our West End Revitalization Coordinators: Thurgood Brooks and Avery Pearl

 
 

Community Engagement

The relationships, networks and skills that communities use to make decisions and solve problems are essential to a community’s long-term success. The assessment found opportunities to strengthen participation, collaboration, equity, and communication – for and by both citizens and organizations. Also known as “civic capital.”

 
 

Personal Assets & Income

West End residents earn significantly lower incomes, experience higher unemployment and poverty rates, and have high rates of disconnected youth compared to the rest of Rock Island and the entire Quad Cities. It is vital to increase the assets and income of West End households.

 
 

Housing & Land

Housing in the West End presents serious challenges, currently. We envision stable housing that builds assets and wealth, and neighborhoods that are safe and supportive of upward mobility. We also envision increasing West End community control over land and housing.

 
 

Community Economic Vitality

There must be more (and more targeted) investment to support, grow, and attract businesses and entrepreneurs, and to provide much-needed services and amenities to all community members.

 
 

Infrastructure & Visual Appeal

Infrastructure – sidewalks, streets, broadband access, etc – impacts everything from transportation and business attraction to recreation and educational achievement. We envision a community that is both functional and beautiful.

 
 

Progress so far

To move from assessment to action to measurable change for the West End, we need to work together. That’s why the West End Revitalization is using a Collective Impact approach, building a network of West End community members and supporters – nonprofits, funders, government, businesses, financial institutions, schools, individuals, clubs, societies, and more – to envision the future we want for our families and community, to align activities, to implement innovative solutions, to evaluate our progress, to and learn and improve together.

  • In early 2022, Rock Island City Council approved and John Deere provided funding for a one-year phase to prioritize West End Community Assessment recommendations.

  • In the summer of 2022, a Task Force of community representatives appointed a Steering Committee for the West End Revitalization.

  • The Steering Committee began meeting in late 2022. In 2023, it created Working Groups in five impact areas and one cross-cutting areas: Community Engagement, Personal Assets & Income, Housing & Land, Community Economic Vitality, Infrastructure & Visual Appeal, and Communications. Names of Steering Committee and Working Group members are below.

  • In March 2024, based on efforts by the Working Groups and guidance by the Steering Committee, a 3-Year Implementation Plan was unveiled.

The Martin Luther King Jr Community Center is providing backbone support to the West End Revitalization. That includes mobilizing, coordinating and facilitating the Steering Committee, Working Groups, and collective impact process.

Resources

2-page overview (pdf, published in April 2024)

Assessment Report (pdf, published in September 2021)

Assessment Executive Summary (pdf, published in September 2021)

What Is Collective Impact? (2-minute video)

Working Group Kick-off presentation (pdf, published in March 2023)

The Cost of Segregation (link, report from Metropolitan Planning Council)

News

March 22, 2024 coverage of event to share plan: QC Times; WHBF; KWQC; WQAD

January 25, 2024 interview on The Cities with Jim Mertens: video and audio (1:10-24:25 for both)

January 8, 2024 interview on WQAD (3-minute video)

Announcement of Transformation Grant from QC Community Foundation (link, posted on January 8, 2024)

November 13, 2023 presentation to Rock Island City Council (video, :30-40:45)

coverage of July 8, 2023 joint meeting of all working groups: WQAD (1-minute video), and ourquadcities.com (1-minute video)

July 6, 2023 interview on WHBF (3-minute video)

April 3, 2023 article in QC Regional Business Journal (link, published April 4, 2023); pdf

Steering Committee

 

Marisa Cantu

Isaac Carr

Rita Jett

Tee LeShoure

 
 

Avery Pearl

Lynda Sargent

Venessa Taylor

 
 

Working Groups & Members

Assets & Income

Alisha Haynes

Georgina Hicks

Damon Colvin

David Vanlandeghan

Tad Birdett

Tamkea Toney

Rasheda Jamison

Civic Capital

Carlos Jimenez

Mikael Gibson

Daisy Moran

Gregg Hampton

Economic vitality

Paulette Risden-Rice

Tracy Singleton

Deb Shivers

Tarah Sipes

Ashley Harris

David Levin

Housing & Land

Ametra Carrol Casteneda

Quincy Davis

Shellie Guy

James Jones

Miles Brainard

Gaye Burnett

Dy Robinson

Infrastructure & visual design

Moses Robinson

Justin Johnson

Terry Brooks

Communications

Aimee Bland

Teresa Babers

Ririka Gaylord

Jeremiah Jamison

Lamarcus Williams

George Henderson

Damon Robinson

Mollie Owens

The community assessment and start-up phase has been funded by the City of Rock Island and Deere & Company, with technical support from Enterprise Community Partners.