May 11, 2009
Project connects University with its neighbors
KEY scholar works with businesses in the city’s Southwest neighborhoods
As a part of her KEY project, Christelle Domercant '09 examined ways to connect Rochester's Southwest neighborhoods with the University. She helped D&L Tropical Groceries owners Linford and Delores Hamilton enter the URos program.
mgrecolo@ur.rochester.edu
When Christelle Domerçant ’09 was a freshman, she had no idea what she would discover when she went exploring around the 19th Ward and Genesee Street. What she found was D&L Tropical Groceries, and on its shelves, the spices and fare of her West Indian heritage.
The more Domerçant explored the University’s surrounding neighborhoods; she realized the potential and all it had to offer. Her experiences across the river blossomed into an educational opportunity pairing her anthropology and international relations interests with her love of the 19th Ward. Last year, she proposed a project for a Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year that would aim to connect the Southwest Neighborhoods to the University.
“It was an effort to foster dialogue between the University and the community,” Domerçant explains. “Through customized marketing schemes I really hoped to maximize the businesses’ visibility on campus.”
Domerçant started by learning student perception of the Southwest area through surveys, focus groups, and interviews. She then met with business owners about the possibility of joining the URos program. Her last goal was to help create a positive image of the Southwest neighborhood to students at the University. Domerçant began to work with D&L Groceries owners Linford and Delores Hamilton. D&L has catered events at the University in the past, including the first Dandelion Day in 1986. Through Domerçant’s efforts, the Hamiltons reconnected with the River Campus in spring 2008 when D&L entered the URos program.
“Christelle helped revise our business plan; it was great to have her input,” said Linford Hamilton. “She also helped with the URos, inquiring about the program and helping us register.”
The last leg of Domerçant’s project included a presentation for neighborhood business owners and the University community. Business owners heard from Cam Schauf, director of Campus Dining and Auxillary Services about the URos program and Laurel Contomanolis, director of Residential Life and Housing Services, shared new ways residents of Riverview are engaging in the neighborhood. A question-and-answer session provided an opportunity for business owners to learn how to join URos and find additional ways to reach students. At the end of the presentation, each audience member introduced themselves and spoke a little about their interest in the project. As the 35 faces in the crowd went from strangers to acquaintances, Domerçant’s goal was realized. She had sparked a connection.
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