Coalition Of Neighborhood Councils

Coalition Of Neighborhood Councils

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The Coalition of Neighborhood Councils consist of Chairpersons or their representitives from the 26 neighborhoods that make up the Fourth Council District. The organization came together in 1994 and was born out of the frustration of one community being played against another and not being heard by various departments of the City. Members from each council met to develop ways to combine their resources to combat inaction be the City and to act as the voice of the approximately 150,000 residents of the Fourth District.The CnC is as diverse as the district that it represents.

The CnC's focus will be on four key areas: Economic Development, Physical Development, Social Development and Youth Leadership Development. Because we have broken things up into different areas, it must be noted that all are interrelated and interdependent and important to the success of the CnC.
In short, Economic Development should consist of building an economic base that will, keep community dollars in the community, offer employment opportunities, business enterprise development and utilizing community resources.
Physical Development should consist of in part, owner occupied housing, new construction on affordable housing, vacant land, housing and commerical buildings, occupied commercial buildings and zoning.
Social Development should consist of giving children and youth activities to occupy their time, educational and employment opportunities. Family emergency services and counseling, senior services, health services and creating a network of available service providers.
Youth Development should consist of training youth in Community Economic Development, politics, effective communication, get youth seated on community boards and advisory councils and parliamentary procedures.

Our Mission Statement is: TO WORK COLLECTIVELY AND PROACTIVELY TO BE A STRONG AND VIABLE COMMUNITY RESOURCE, IN OUR CONTINUING EFFORTS TO MAKE THE FOURTH COUNCIL DISTRICT A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY, FOR ALL IT''S RESIDENTS.TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP AND ASSISTANCE TO NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS AND RESIDENTS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCE MAPPING AND MOBILIZATION, BY WORKING IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES.

The Coalition Of Neighborhood Councils (CnC) recognizes that in order to bring about effective change, youth involvement and empowerment is essential. To this end the CnC will recruit and train youth in effective communication, conflict resolution, working with culturally diverse groups and will emphasize academic excellence. The goal is to have our youth take leadership roles in their communities, schools and with their peers.

In order to accomplish this task, community involvement is imperative, we will need residents who can volunteer time as mentors, identify prospective youth participants and to work with your individual community/neighborhood councils, getting involved sets the wheels of change in motion. As you know, there is strength in numbers, numbers are the one thing that gets action from government agencies. Look at it this way, if 10 people are complaining about an issue or 100 people are complaining about that same issue, who would you listen to? Get involved in your communities. Though the CnC was set up as community/neighborhood council chairpersons or their representatives, if you are a resident of the Fourth District and want to get involved in the betterment of the district and your community, by providing input or participating in developing strategies and the implementation of the strategies, please feel free to attend our monthly meeting. If you need information on when your community/neighborhood council meets, you can check our web-
page in the calender of events, you can call us at 463-3485
or you can fax or email us at the numbers provided on the webpage.

"Quality leadership is neither the product of one great individual nor the result of odd historical accidents. Rather it comes from deeply bred traditions and communities that shape and mold talented and gifted persons".
Cornell West

Written By Vernon Brinkley

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About our association

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The Coalition of Neighborhood Councils (CnC) meets on the fourth Monday of each month at the Jacobs Center. It is located at 5160 Federal Blvd, in the old Pacific Telephone Building. Meetings start at 6:30 pm, with refreshments served. The meetings are facilitated by Roque Barros and Valerie Wright from the Jacobs Family Foundation. In cooperation with the Jacobs Center for Non-profit Innovation, we are providing technical assistance to community and neighborhood groups operating and living in the Fourth Council District. We are in the process of strengthening the CnC, along with any community and/or neighborhood groups that need help in areas such as strategic planning, community mobilization, resource mapping,achieving self sufficiency, running a community agency or other community concerns.

Tough we don't have the involvement of all community/ neighborhood groups of the Fourth District yet, with each month the list continues to grow. The only way to achieve the vision that we all have for our communities is to work together to develop plans for the entire district, this way the quality of life in all areas will be improved, not the patchwork that exists at the present time. This is not to denigrate the fine work being done by the community councils or the area planning committees, it's just that they focus on a specific area, not the entire district. This can and has led to one area getting, while another does without. This is counterproductive to the district as a whole.

The CnC seems to be ready to apply for non-profit status, which will bring about many benefits. One of the main benefits is that it would allow us to apply for funding, which in turn would provide us the opportunity to complete the projects that WE as residents develop. One such program could be to develop youth leadership and youth involevment in their communities. We are looking at many diferent types of programs, in our effort to raise not only the quality of life, but the level of expectations and cultural awareness of all Fourth District residents. The possibilities are endless, only our imagination and non-participation can stop us. This is not to say that funding will be easy. Yet funding sources look favorably on a collaboration of residents acting in concert to improve the conditions of their communities for all it's residents.

The issues we face are daunting and numerous, by working together, they can be overcome. We have begun the process, with the help The Jacobs Family Foundation, a foundation that is on the cutting edge of community involvement, and the active participation of all community/neighborhood councils, it won't seem as insurmountable.

"I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they'll create their own program, and when the people create a program, you get action."

Malcolm X

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