Resident-Led Panel: Grounding the Work in Lived Experience

A highlight of this year’s summit was the resident-led panel, which offered a candid and deeply moving look at the challenges—and possibilities—facing our community. Residents spoke about the urgent need to reclaim community pride, reimagine education, and restore basic systems of support.

They called attention to:

• A school system that too often pushes students out rather than meeting them where they are. “We need to bring back parent-teacher conferences,” one panelist urged, emphasizing a return to basic, relational education.

• The overreliance on technology like Chromebooks, which many parents struggle to navigate without training or support. Residents voiced a need to go back to the basics of connecting people and community—starting with education that values mentorship, smaller group engagement, and creative learning that reflects the real world.

• The lack of community tech training, despite broadband access, and a call to enhance the quality and use of technology in ways that help retain and inspire local youth.

• Frustrations around inconsistent city services, such as missed heavy trash pickups that result in fines to residents already struggling. Panelists praised Ted’s success in Jacobsville with trash removal and rodent control, calling for those efforts to be replicated citywide.

• The shame and burden that low-income residents feel when furniture and junk are dumped at their homes, often by those who can afford to replace things. The call was clear: neighbors need support systems, not judgment.

• A growing concern for gun violence, unaffordable “affordable” housing, and rising utility costs.

• A strong desire to restore the art of neighboring—being present, taking care of one another’s homes, and collectively advocating for youth success and educational reform.