10 Places to Give this Holiday Season and Make a Difference in Wilmington!

One of the greatest things you can do to get into the holiday spirit is volunteer and make a difference in the community around you. Here are just a few incredible organizations within Downtown Wilmington, that could use your help this holiday season. Whether it is a donation of your time, or financial resources, you can be sure that your generosity will go to a good cause. 

1.  Our Youth Inc. 35th Annual Turkey Giveaway: For 35 years Nor Enterprises and Our Youth Inc. has provided food to thousands of seniors and families in our community who might otherwise have gone hungry on Thanksgiving Day. In the past 10 years alone they have fed in excess of 75,000 people. 

2. Reed's Refuge: Reeds’ Refuge Center is a community-focused non-profit organization committed to the holistic development and well-being of the children and financially afflicted families of the inner city of Delaware. 

3. Sunday Breakfast Mission: The Sunday Breakfast Mission serves the homeless, addicted and impoverished.

4. Neighborhood House: Neighborhood House provides informational programs that impact low to moderate income individuals, families and communities.

5. Ronald McDonald House: Keeping families with sick children together and near the care and resources they need.

6. Delaware Humane Association: Delaware’s premiere nonprofit no-kill animal care and adoption center, serving a four-state area. They are committed to providing for the needs of homeless and owned dogs and cats in our community.

7. The Ministry of Caring: The Ministry of Caring is a vibrant community of staff, volunteers, donors and diverse supporters united by a passion to serve the poor. 

8. St Patrick's Center: St. Patrick's Center provides emergency food, meals, respite for the homeless, clothing, transportation, and recreational activities for people in need on Wilmington's east side.

9. The Food Bank of Delaware: The Food Bank of Delaware, a member of Feeding America, formerly America’s Second Harvest, is a statewide nonprofit agency whose vision is a community free of hunger.

10. Friendship House: Based in New Castle County, Delaware, Friendship House is a non-profit, faith-based corporation serving individuals and families that are or are at risk of becoming homeless. Welcoming to all, Friendship House strives to serve as a sanctuary and stepping stone to those in need through the traditional spiritual ministries of hospitality, education, empowerment, and community.

To support Downtown Visions fiscally or through volunteering, click here. 

Post by Julia Mason of Enthusiasm Lab

Martin Hageman, Executive Director of Downtown Visions Sees Progress and Hope in The City of Wilmington

Curious what "The Vision" is in Downtown Visions? Downtown Visions is proud to devote an overwhelming share of its resources to highly visible and effective on-street programs such as the following:

• Business Marketing and Education
• Historic Building Preservation
• The Wilmington Farmer's Market
• Signage and Facade Improvement Programs 
• Security Gate Removal
• Cleaning Ambassadors
• Safety Ambassadors
• Small Business Saturday
• & Much More! 

Downtown Visions is a private, non-profit organization that manages the Business Improvement District in Wilmington. Our Main Street® program not only saves historic buildings, but also focuses on small business recruitment, business marketing and promotion, all of which work towards the greater effort of creating new jobs.

To support Downtown Visions fiscally or through volunteering, click here. 

 Video Directed and Produced by www.mosaiceaststudios.com

Post by Julia Mason of Enthusiasm Lab

Mayor Purzycki Announces Open Streets Wilmington

Post provided by The City of Wilmington

The series transforms city streets to walk ways to promote
recreation and building community spirits

Get your sneakers ready for Saturday! Mayor Mike Purzycki and Cultural Affairs Director Tina Betz today announced a new pilot program entitled Open Streets Wilmington. The first of these events, which encourage citizens to walk, socialize and enjoy the beautiful Brandywine Park, will happen this Saturday morning.

The free and open to the public event will temporarily restrict vehicle access each Saturday morning through the end of November along North Park Drive and South Park Drive between Market Street Bridge and Van Buren Street Bridge. Open Streets Wilmington will, in effect, transform 1.5 miles of streets into an extension of the park.

Betz said the simplicity of the Open Streets Wilmington pilot series is central to the experience – it is not a race, there is no start or finish line, and there is no wrong place to enter. She said people of all ages and abilities are welcome to walk, bike, skate, run, play, or just people-watch in a safe and beautiful setting, free from concern about vehicular traffic.

The Open Streets Wilmington pilot series will take place on Saturday mornings from 7 a.m. to noon beginning this Saturday, October 28 through Saturday, November 25, for a total of five consecutive Saturdays.

"We hope that Open Streets Wilmington will connect multiple neighborhoods and provide a wonderful opportunity for communities to get outside and be active in one of our city's most scenic places as the leaves are producing bright fall colors," said Mayor Purzycki. “This is a way for the public to creatively self-invest in our public places. Open Streets enables citizens to fully appreciate how special and majestic this part of the city is – and with that appreciation comes the hope that people will fall in love with Wilmington all over again.”
 
Open Streets Wilmington is inspired by the global open streets movement which uses city streets to promote healthy outdoor activity and community engagement. Wilmington now joins more than 100 cities in North America and over 400 cities globally that are staging open streets events.

Brandywine Zoo and other sections of Brandywine Park will remain accessible by car. The parking lot near the Brandywine Zoo and Jasper Crane Rose Garden can be accessed by 18th Street and Van Buren Street (Monkey Hill), and visitors on the south side of the park can access the municipal parking lot at Lovering Avenue and Van Buren Street, underneath the I-95 overpass.

For more information, including a map and FAQs, visit www.openstreetswilmington.com.

Wilmington Launches Parkmobile Parking Payment System at 1,000 Parking Meters in the Downtown District

Post provided by The City of Wilmington

Beginning today, citizens can pay for parking with their mobile devices and receive a warning when the time on their meter is about to expire

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki today launched the Parkmobile payment option for metered parking in Downtown Wilmington. Beginning today, citizens can pay for parking through the Parkmobile phone app at approximately 1,000 metered spaces in the downtown district.

Finance Director Patrick Carter, Council President Hanifa Shabazz and 4th District Council Member Michele Harlee joined the Mayor for the announcement in Spencer Plaza. Also in Wilmington for today’s announcement was Brett Peze representing the City’s partners on the project—Parkmobile and Conduent.

“Parkmobile offers a convenient payment option that will improve the parking experience in downtown Wilmington,” said Mayor Purzycki. “This is an important step in modernizing our City’s on-street parking systems, which will in turn help attract customers to our shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and other businesses in and around the downtown corridor.”

Wilmington has entered into a partnership with Conduent and Parkmobile, LLC to make the Parkmobile app available to everyone at no cost to the City. In addition to paying for metered parking with their mobile phone, citizens can receive a reminder before their meter expires so they can extend their time with a few taps in the app instead of walking back to the meter. Two-hour time limits still apply, and the app will not allow customers to extend time beyond those limits.

There is a 30 cent transaction fee charged by Parkmobile for the use of its technology. However, should you decide to add money to a meter which has not already reached the two-hour limit, you will NOT be charged another transaction fee. The new service also tracks the time you arrive at a parking space and how long you’ve paid to park, which will help settle disputes from citizens who say they were ticketed with time and money remaining in their meter. Parking enforcement officers will use their handheld devices to confirm whether a customer has paid with Parkmobile.

All of the City’s downtown meters will also allow citizens to continue to pay for parking with coins or a credit card if they choose not to download the Parkmobile app. Parkmobile signage that displays zone information and additional details has been added to all parking meters.

To set up an account, you can register free on the Parkmobile app or at www.parkmobile.com. Once registered, you can immediately begin paying with Parkmobile either by using the app for iPhone, Android, or Windows 7 phones or by calling a toll-free number. Customers simply select their parking zone (which is actually a city block), license plate, card information, and length of stay, and off they go.

“This upgrade allows Wilmington residents, workers, and visitors to enjoy the same level of convenience they may have experienced at the Delaware beaches and in other cities,” continued Mayor Purzycki. “Customers will no longer need to worry about keeping coins on hand or running into stores to request change for the meters. On-street parking is one of the more common interactions that people have with the City of Wilmington, and we want to improve that experience.”

With more than 7 million customers and over 45 million transactions annually, Parkmobile is the most widely used mobile parking solution in the country and is available at nearby locations including Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach, Rehoboth Beach, and Lewes Beach as well as in New York City, Washington, D.C., and – soon – Philadelphia.

“Parkmobile is delighted to be partnering with the City of Wilmington to offer an innovative, hassle-free parking solution,” Jon Ziglar, Parkmobile CEO expressed. “Our Parkmobile service uses cutting-edge technology to enhance the parking experience for users. We are thrilled to now offer this service in Wilmington. We eliminate the taxing process of swiping cards or feeding coins to a meter by offering a user-friendly, mobile solution.”

Download the Parkmobile App here. 

Improving Market Street One Facade at a Time! The Effort Continues!

Chicky’s Pizza Pub, 201 N. Market Street

Through grants, Downtown Visions’ Main Street Wilmington façade improvement program not only provides funding to remove security gates but also provides grants for new signage! This most recently occurred at Wilmington Optical, 719 N. Market Street, Greenhill Pharmacy, 824 N. Market Street and Chicky’s Pizza Pub, 201 N. Market Street.

Interested in all of the Downtown Visions business assistance programs? Click here to learn more. 

Greenhill Pharmacy, 824 N. Market Street

Wilmington Optical, 719 N. Market Street

Post by Julia Mason of Enthusiasm Lab