The City of Roanoke has received the Gateways for Growth Challenge grant, which will provide technical assistance in creating an immigrant integration plan to help make our community more welcoming and equitable for all people. City staff will share this plan with the public during Welcoming Week in September.
To kick off the Welcoming Roanoke planning process, the City of Roanoke will host a Launch Event on May 21 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Williamson Road Branch Library. Staff from NAE will present the data created as part of the Gateways for Growth grant. Additionally, city staff will explain how the Immigrant Integration Plan will correspond with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
There will be a variety of ways for community members to be involved as the city moves forward with the planning process:
- A steering committee will be organized to create priorities and policies, with action items for the plan.
- A survey is open until the end of July on PlanRoanoke.org for members of the immigrant population. Feedback from this survey will help guide the steering committee as they create policies for the immigrant integration plan, to be titled “The Welcoming Roanoke Plan.” The information gathered from this survey will not be shared with immigration services.
- The city’s Planning, Building and Development Department will have a booth at the Local Colors Festival on May 18, where citizens can participate in activities and learn about the Welcoming Roanoke Plan.
A draft plan should be completed in time for Welcoming Week in mid-September. Once it is completed, staff will meet with stakeholders in the community to review the developed policies created by the steering committee.
The Gateways for Growth Challenge is a collaborative effort between New American Economy (NAE) and Welcoming America.
Welcoming America is a non-profit organization that aims to support and provide guidance to communities across the nation to become more inclusive for all residents including immigrants. Through a membership network of 200 local governments and nonprofits spanning 500 communities, Welcoming America connects and supports communities to develop plans, programs, and policies that overcome the fears that demographic change can bring and transform neighborhoods into vibrant places where people respect each other and everyone's talents are valued and cultivated.
NAE is a bipartisan research organization that helps communities understand the economic benefit of new Americans. The data provided helps local, state, and federal governmental organizations create policies to grow the economy for all Americans. NAE works with policymakers, businesses, and civic leaders to build capacity and infrastructure in non-traditional geographic areas to help facilitate immigrant integration and drive economic growth.
For more information, contact Wayne Leftwich, Senior City Planner with the City of Roanoke, at (540) 853-1104 or email him at [email protected].
###