JCCI's Ben Warner Explains "Quality of Life

What is Quality of Life

My name is Ben Warner. I’m the Deputy Director and lead consultant for
Jacksonville Community Council Inc., a not-for-profit community
organization that brings people together in dialogue, research, and
consensus-building to build a stronger community and improve the quality
of life. Both at home in Northeast Florida and through our consulting
arm, Community Works, I’ve worked with communities on several continents
as residents have come together to create a shared vision for the
future, identify measurements of progress, and work together to shape
their own destinies.

Quality of Life, to me, is a term that describes all of those factors
that make the difference between surviving and living. These factors can
describe both internal contentment and external realities. When we work
with communities, we tend to focus primarily on those factors in the
external environment that help to create a feeling of well-being,
fulfillment, or satisfaction. These often include factors such as the
natural environment, social environment, and economic environment that
people live in, as well as the quality of educational opportunities,
recreation and leisure, arts and culture, safety, transportation,
community governance, and public health. Together, all of these elements
describe the world in which we live, and all of them impact us as we
engage in our personal pursuit of happiness.

Author – Ben Warner, Deputy Director at Jacksonville Community Council Inc.

JCCI Assists with EPA Forums in Health Zone 1

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host a series of three Neighborhood/Industry Environmental Forums in June, beginning Saturday, June 11 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon at the Kennedy Community Center at 1133 Ionia Street, Jacksonville.  The other forums will be held on Thursday, June 23 at Milne Auditorium on the campus of Edward Waters College and Tuesday, June 28 at the Legends Center.

The forums are designed for all residents of neighborhoods in the urban heart of Jacksonville – an area also designated as Health Zone 1.

The forums will feature citizens, local industry leaders and environmental regulatory personnel, who will participate in an exchange of ideas regarding the environmental rights and responsibilities of the industries operating in these neighborhoods. It is an opportunity for business leaders to showcase the contributions they have made towards sustainable industrial growth and environmental preservation.

Citizens in Jacksonville’s urban core will get the chance to speak with companies in their neighborhood about environmental issues such as odor, noise, dust, hazardous materials, etc. that may concern them.  Local industry leaders will be on hand to answer questions and to provide information on how they view their roles in the community with respect to the environment. 

Representatives of agencies including EPA, Florida DEP, and the City of Jacksonville Environmental Compliance Department will also be on hand to answer any questions about the procedures associated with regulating threats to the environment and to the health of industry/community members.

The conversations will be facilitated by Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. (JCCI) on behalf of the EPA and the City’s Environmental Compliance Department.

EPA and the City of Jacksonville present the Neighborhood/Industry Environmental Forums to educate the community, inspire innovative solutions to environmental concerns, and to encourage a unified effort towards a better quality of life.

Eastside residents are encouraged to join us Saturday, June 11 at the Kennedy Community Center at 1133 Ionia Street for the kickoff of the Neighborhood/Industry Environmental Forums. 

Other opportunities to participate in a forum include:

New Town Success Zone

Thursday, June 23 – 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Milne Auditorium, Edward Waters College, 1658 Kings Rd.

Northwest Jacksonville Area

Tuesday, June 28 – 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Legends Center, 5070 Soutel Dr.

For more information contact Amanda: 904.396.3052 or visit the JCCI website at www.jcci.org. 

JCCI Launches New Web Portal-MY JCCI

JCCI recently launched our new online community, MY JCCI. By registering with MY JCCI members and friends will be able to update information and preferences and better connect to our programs.

The site features several interactive ways to connect to JCCI and Forward activities. Visitors to the site can view JCCI events on an electronic calendar, including a short event description and the ticket information.  The calendar even has features that will link the event location to an interactive map or add to your Windows Live, Yahoo, or Google calendar.

One of our favorite features is the Event RSVP, where registered users can click on a link select the quantity of guests to attend and proceed to a registration screen.  Members can RSVP for themselves and also for guests.   

My JCCI is also a way for community-minded individuals to become JCCI members. By joining, you are better connected to the exploration of issues of community importance, identifying problems, discovering solutions, and advocating for positive change in local communities.  Membership levels begin at $50 for an annual membership. A one- time membership scholarship is available for the first year of membership. Recipients are expected to participate in a minimum of 4 hours of JCCI programs and training during the scholarship year. In return, scholarship recipients receive Friend member benefits.

Members also have the option of joining the JCCI Forward program.  Forward seeks to engage men and women ages 25-45 in civic involvement and to prepare them for future roles as community leaders.  The program provides an excellent opportunity for young people in the community to interact with city leaders, to develop community leadership, and to build a network of friends and associates who all share the common goal of improving the community. 

The My JCCI community allows members and other friends to secure make donations. JCCI is funded primarily through donations and sponsorship. My JCCI offers convenient online payment and pledge options, including a feature to make recurring monthly or annual gifts.  Friends registered with MY JCCI are also able to view their giving history online, and request donation documents.

We are so excited to introduce our online community.  It has already proven an excellent opportunity for members and non-members to become more engaged with JCCI. It provides the most convenient way for members and friends to update e-mail subscriptions and personal information, support JCCI, update JCCI membership, view your giving history, and get the latest news and announcements about what's happening at JCCI. Click here to register today. 

JCCI Forward Hosts JAX Jeopardy: An evening of Competitive Trivia

May 11, 2011 

On Tuesday, May 10, Jacksonville community members sat down at Florida Coastal School of Law and prepared for team-to-team battle. Jax Jeopardy: An Evening of Competitive Trivia was an evening of free food, staunch rivalry, and glorious prizes sponsored by Watson Pharmacy and organized by JCCI Forward, Jacksonville Community Council Inc.’s  (JCCI’s) leadership development program.

The six rounds of trivia were broken into two parts. Each part consisted of three rounds where participants had two to three minutes to answer a question.  Just like the original Jeopardy, the time teams had to respond was timed by playing short music tracks.

Teams raced against the sound of music for their answers, scribbling down responses on their score cards to questions such as:

• Name the 1995 series filmed in Jacksonville that starred Jack Scalia as Constantine “Connie” Harper. (Answer: The Pointman)
• Jacksonville cheered when Everbank bought naming rights to the home of the Jaguars last year. Before it had a corporate name, the stadium took its name from what annual football tradition that dates to 1946? (Answer: Gator Bowl)
•  Name the century-old waterfront manufacturer that adds perk to the Downtown air every day. (Answer: Maxwell House)

Each answer could be assigned a point value based on the likeliness of the answer being correct. Categories included business, places, notable names, geography, television, and music in part one. Part two categories included movies, sports, military, science, technology, history, and golf. Bonus questions were also asked to keep participants on their toes.  

A Jax Jeopardy victory was celebrated by Jennifer Mansfield, Joel McEachin and Lee Brown –Team Name: The Coolest People in the Room. The team received prizes all donated by local businesses for their hard work and extensive knowledge of Jacksonville.