Last weekend, the Fairview Youth in Action internship hosted its fifth-annual Walk Fairview Day in Hillsborough. The day closes out the summer program by highlighting research projects from its high school students, who study and address what improvements they want to see in the Fairview community.
Led by the FYIA interns, Saturday featured a guided neighborhood walk around the historically Black neighborhood, where Fairview residents, members of Hillsborough’s town board, and Orange County commissioners heard various project proposals from this year’s group.
The event started at the Dorothy N. Johnson Community Center, a spot where interns Naviyah Bowe and Natalie Artica are working to add a colorful mural.
“Last year we started advocating for murals in our community and we are proud to say we still are this year,” Bowe told the crowd. “Why murals? Because around Fairview, you see a lot of dull, dark, [and] plain colors, and honestly those colors can make people feel unseen, unrepresented, and even a little disconnected from the community. We wanted to change that.”
Other intern proposals focused on bringing soccer goals and amenities to Fairview Park, expanding neighborhood access to healthy foods, and finding ways to get residents more involved with the community center. Each research team also worked to engage directly with the residents through surveys, workshops, and interviews…