News + Events

News

June 6, 2024

Honoring 5 Years of Dedication: Celebrating our Founding Executive Director

This week, Canopy South reaches a significant milestone as we celebrate our founding Executive Director, César Garcia, and his 5th work anniversary! To commemorate César’s dedication and contributions, our team took the opportunity to ask him a few questions, allowing us to reflect and honor this special occasion.

ABOUT CÉSAR

• 🗺️ Hometown – Medellín, Colombia 
• 🦀 Astrological Sign – Cancer
• 🧑‍🍳 Hobby – He loves to cook and wishes he could do it more often. 
• 🌿 Fav color – Green 
• 🎤 Fun Fact – He’s voice actor for a national company, they also have a local presence as well.

CLIFTON STRENGTHS FINDER

1. 🏆 Achiever
2. 📚 Learner
3. ♟️ Arranger
4. 🧠 Intellection
5. 📋 Input

Looking back over the past five years, what moments stand out as the most rewarding or impactful for you personally?

“Okay, I mean that’s a hard question for me because I say I am an achiever. There is always that feeling in me that I haven’t really accomplished anything yet. I would say the most rewarding aspect of this job, for me personally, has been gaining the trust of the residents at Southside Terrace and the broader community. I mean genuine trust and belief in our ability to make things happen. I love seeing the excitement of residents and partners when we talk about our programs and upcoming projects – you can see their faces light up with hope and that always warms my heart that Canopy South can play a small role in bringing people hope and joy for the future.”

What steps has the organization taken to ensure that all voices in the community are heard and included in the planning and development process?

“In order for Canopy South to do a good job it is important for us to understand the needs and wants for our community. We cannot do that from a computer or online space, we have to do it by integrating ourselves within the community. Our team has been creating open and safe spaces for anyone to participate because we know that residents are the experts because they have the lived experience that we don’t. We take the role of an active listener before we can take any action – we’ve done several approaches over the years from Block Talks and public art to focus groups, large public meetings, and door knocking. You really just have to meet people where they are at and after years and years of consistency and follow through, partners and residents trust us to amplify their voices which is so important especially as we begin to move into development.”

As we celebrate our 5th anniversary, what is your vision for the next five years for the organization and the community we serve?

“Five years marks a big stepping stone for our organization. So much planning and outreach has really laid a strong foundation. Based on all the planning, programming, relationship building we now understand what direction we need to be going. We will be breaking ground on our first development of the revitalization of Southside Terrace with Phase I, which will be 92 mixed-income rental units near 28th Ave and W Streets. 

The next five years we will be focusing on completing the revitalization of Nebraska’s largest public housing site, of course in several phases. Over 700 new units will be developed and our long-term goal as an organization is to develop over 1,000. At the same time, these next five years is where we start to welcome back residents and attract new residents as the housing developments are completed. We have been working on establishing an equitable cradle-to-career education pipeline and we anticipate seeing significant progress in this area in partnership with Omaha Public Schools and other key education partners.”

Who or what inspires you in your work, and how do you stay motivated to drive positive change?

“It’s a lot of hard work and it’s a marathon not a sprint. There are a lot of setbacks with every single step that we have taken. Sometimes it feels like we’re tackling the impossible and there are days that I question if I am even moving the needle by answering emails, but at the end of the day you realize that every single action are pieces to the puzzle – building something bigger than I could ever imagine. That is what motivates me. 

Community development doesn’t happen overnight or even in five years, but what I know is that within my lifetime this community will have access to high quality housing for all ages and incomes, high performing schools and programming, amazing parks and green space, job opportunities and so much more. 

I visualize it often, you know, me going to an ice cream shop in the neighborhood many years from now and nobody knows who I am but me seeing families out and about, happy and thriving. When I think about that it feeds my soul, and when I am feeling defeated I think of that future for our community. I think about my team and how hard we all work and I think of all the support they offered me over the years. It gives me a lot of hope knowing I am not alone, because sometimes to tell you the truth this job can feel really lonely. That’s where my inspiration comes from.”

What advice would you give to others who are interested in community development?

“I think the part that people miss most of the time is that in order to be successful in urban development you have to be futuristic and innovative. By the time you plan and develop your project, no matter how big or small, society has changed and the community may have different needs. It’s critical to step out of your comfort zone of living in the now because then you are developing projects that are only addressing the needs from 10-20 years ago. 

You have to have an open mind and a true desire to look beyond the immediate needs now and anticipate future needs. You are never going to get it right 100% of the time, and one thing that might be a solution in one part of the city might cause another need in another area and that just underscores the importance of collaboration with everyone. It’s important to gather stakeholders from transportation, to developers, to City officials – to be able to create projects that address the needs of current and future generations to come. 

I wouldn’t call myself an urbanist, but I would say I am a problem solver. That is just how my brain works, it’s easy for me to identify a problem and then I am motivated and driven to solve that problem.”