June 3, 2008
Consider a volunteer project though City’s Neighborhoods office
By Councilmember Kevin Hartke
On a recent Saturday, I spent time with about 75 teenagers and other Chandler residents helping to landscape an older area of the City. The project was part of a movement called Live Love. Hopefully, the project will build lifelong community service values and ideals into those young participants.
Live Love is meant to bring people together in the aid of those less fortunate by inviting people to participate in a workday focused on restoring beauty and dignity to a local Chandler neighborhood. Having been involved in a few of these projects, I still find it somewhat remarkable to see all of the good will that is created when people come together.
Live Love is just one example of people working in unison to do good things for others. Churches, civic groups, schools and clubs have been making wonderful things happen throughout the area for decades. But there always is the opportunity to do more.
The City of Chandler’s Neighborhood Resources Division has been a fantastic conduit for projects like this for the past several years. Code enforcement specialists, along with our neighborhood program administrators identify needs in the community, assess what it will take to fix up the home or area, and work to find a team of volunteers. They even provide tools like gloves, paintbrushes and shovels. This October, they are planning a major clean-up event aimed at getting hundreds and hundreds of Chandler residents involved.
The City’s focus on its neighborhoods goes well beyond the coordination of these clean-up projects. We are also developing a number of neighborhood leaders and groups to help them maintain their own properties. The Neighborhood Partnership Program, for instance, identifies and supports existing neighborhoods, while helping to form new neighborhood groups. The groups then register with the City and become eligible for a number of benefits including a quarterly newsletter “Front Porch News”, creation of a free neighborhood Web site, and information on City events and programs.
Another major benefit to these registered neighborhoods is the Neighborhood Matching Grant Program where groups have access to funds for local improvement and beautification projects. Up to $5,000 may be requested and a group may request several smaller projects or apply for one major project. The City also offers grant workshops so those interested can better understand the process and parameters of the program.
If you would like to be involved in a project, or know of someone who could benefit from the help of others, I encourage you to contact the Neighborhood Resources Division at 782-2218. I have met many wonderful people at these volunteer events, and have made lasting friendships. Perhaps most important of all are the lasting memories I have taken from these projects and knowing I have made a difference in the community my family and I call home. |