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Get Involved: Upcoming Deadlines
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Time-sensitive opportunities you can act on now – listed by the next deadline. Use the links to register or apply, and share this section with your neighborhood, HOA, or community group so others don’t miss out.
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December 13, 2025 — MLK Parade (Event January 17, 2026, 9:30 a.m., Uptown). Schools, nonprofits, and community groups welcome. Register: MLK Parade.
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Rolling to March 1, 2026 — Community Microgrant (New). Resident-led projects, $500–$5,000 (six-month window). Apply: Community Microgrant.
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Faith in Housing Charlotte: 12 Faith Partners Planning New Homes
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Faith in Housing Charlotte is a partnership between the city and Enterprise Community Partners that helps local houses of worship assess and activate underused land for affordable homes. The inaugural cohort is now set.
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Twelve faith partners will receive training, technical help, and seed funding to explore converting 88+ acres of underused land into affordable homes for families, seniors, and residents exiting homelessness.
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Barton South: 140 New Affordable Homes Break Ground
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A 140-home affordable community is underway on South Boulevard near Tyvola, walkable to two grocery stores and two LYNX Blue Line stations. This location will make it easier for residents to access food, jobs, and transportation. Funded in part by the city’s $100 million housing bond, the project is led by Blue Ridge Atlantic and is slated to open in fall 2026.
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Arrowood Strategic Investment Area: Safer Streets and Better Connections Begin
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Residents and partner teams launched improvements in the Arrowood Strategic Investment Area (SIA) with a community kickoff at Kennedy Middle School (Sept 25) and a ribbon cutting at England St and Arrowood Station Dr (Oct 14). These projects are part of the city's $55 million capital bond program for safer sidewalks, better bike connections and easier transit access. Strategic Investment Areas are places where the city coordinates capital dollars and staff across departments to deliver connected, near-term upgrades that make everyday trips easier.
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City contacts: Millicent Powell (NEST District 3) and Kim Barnes (HNS SIA lead).
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ECCON Leaders Luncheon: Grants, Conections and a Playbook To Copy
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East Charlotte Coalition of Neighborhoods (ECCON) hosted its annual Leaders Luncheon this fall. It drew leaders from about 15 neighborhoods to network, make new connections and learn about grants, trainings and other resources available to neighborhoods. “We’ve got to make ourselves heard in East Charlotte, and this is how we’re doing it,” said ECCON treasurer Diane Langevin about the organization.
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The program format was intentionally light. “It’s a social time… but we try to have a specific topic. This year we wanted to hear about grants, because we knew there was a change,” Diane said.
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HNS’s Charlenea Duncan and Jackie Clare briefed leaders on what’s new in Community Engagement, including info about grant programs, trainings and workshops for neighborhoods, as well as resources available through the Neighborhood Engagement Service Team. “There were new neighborhood leaders in attendance that have since reached out to myself and Jackie for assistance to attend their neighborhood association meetings and apply for a grant,” Charlenea noted. “They did want to know how funds could be used and how to go about getting what they needed through the grant process.”
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One clear takeaway from this year’s luncheon included how to use and apply for a Neighborhood Matching Grant or the new Community Microgrant.
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Leaders are scheduling follow-ups with NEST and the Community Grants Program team to scope projects and applications. Learn more about Community Impact Grants.
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Plaza Eastway Group (PEG) Meet and Greet: Growing Membership and City Connections
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Plaza Eastway Group (PEG) hosted a meet and greet at Eastway Regional Recreation Center as a membership drive and to connect residents with city services. “We had about… 25 people,” said HNS/NEST’s Charlenea Duncan, adding the goal is to “continue to build their membership… and to continue to build a relationship with… NEST, Code and 311.”
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PEG Vice President Roma Johnson stressed sustained engagement: “This is something that we want to be ongoing… you have to be committed, and you have to be dedicated.” To support the effort, PEG used an incentive earned at the Neighborhood Board Retreat. “We were able use a $500 grant toward one of the goals we developed at the Retreat, so that allowed us to have this membership drive,” she said. “We knew that we wanted to grow the membership… if you get neighbors engaged, then they feel like… their voices are heard.”
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City partners included NEST (Charlenea Duncan), Code Enforcement (Anmarie Wyrick), CharMeck 311 (Erica Blakeney), and CMPD (Officer David Logan). This event helps to build a direct line to services while PEG grows the base needed to act on neighborhood priorities, using NMG as the funding tool.
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Interested in getting involved? Contact us for information about grants and how to participate in organizations like PEG.
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Park at Oaklawn Block Party: Neighbors Reconnect and Plan Ahead
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On October 11, neighborhood leaders, with support from city staff and partners, hosted a family-friendly block party at Park at Oaklawn to meet new faces, share resources and set next steps. Resident-led gatherings like this build trust and keep projects moving.
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The event was a collaboration between the HOA, the new Community Watch group formed by INLIVIAN, and city partners including Community Engagement, Code Enforcement, CMPD, Housing, Neighborhood Resources, MYEP, Corridors of Opportunity and others, according to Jamila Freelain-Holly with Community Engagement.
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Life Coach Jenessa Brown with CORE/INLIVIAN, who works with several Park at Oaklawn residents, says the partnership is already making a difference. She highlighted city support around job fairs, food pantry options and college grant information, and noted that residents “look forward to weekly email blasts with resources for the week and do not want to miss an opportunity to improve their quality of life.”
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So Fresh, So Clean Up: Neighbors Lead Corridors Cleanups
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On a Saturday morning in November, volunteers gave back across the city’s Corridors of Opportunity through “So Fresh, So Clean Up Day.” This community-driven effort originated along West Boulevard and involved community groups cleaning up litter along Albemarle Road, Beatties Ford Road, Freedom Drive, North Graham Street, and West Blvd. Keep Charlotte Beautiful (KCB) brought community partners together for this cleanup, recruited volunteers, and provided logistical support, including materials and staff assistance. This event was also part of the Greatest American Cleanup, a year-long, nationwide Keep America Beautiful initiative to remove 25 billion pieces of litter by the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026.
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For volunteer Lucy Cruz, the motivation was simple: this is her community. “We are here on Freedom Drive trying to pick up trash and make Charlotte even more beautiful,” she said, pointing to the mix of restaurants, heavy traffic and blowing litter along the corridor. “We are here to try to clean up this strip and just try to eliminate as much trash as we can.” She summed up the day in one word: “community.”
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That focus on community was intentional. KCB’s Clean Streets Committee has been working toward a model where neighborhoods and local organizations host cleanups, with KCB providing support. The intention behind this effort is to inspire grassroots, home-grown volunteerism, rather than having KCB bring in volunteers from elsewhere in the city. “This is really the first time we’ve, one, had cleanups going on simultaneously along all the corridors, but two, had organizations that are within those communities putting the events on,” said Jonathan Hill with Keep Charlotte Beautiful. “That’s a big achievement for us [and] a big achievement for the communities, and we’re excited to see where it goes from here.”
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The cleanup also served as a real-world test bed for how better infrastructure and services can reduce litter long term. Brandi Williams from the city’s Solid Waste Services team was on site to support that work. “We are partnering with Sol Nation on their EcoRenaissance Project, and so we’re working with them to keep the corridor clean,” Williams explained. “They did a heat map and realized that there weren’t enough trash cans on the corridor, and that they get full too quickly. We know how often we service them, so we were partnering with them to do a pilot to see if we increase service, if it will help decrease the litter on the corridor.”
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For Jonathan, the draw is as much about connection as it is about cleaner streets. “It’s a great way to get some extra exercise, meet some community members and improve the environment of Charlotte,” he said.
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Cruz put it even more simply, speaking to anyone thinking about joining a future event: “Please get involved. This is your community. It’s the Queen City. We want to keep it beautiful… you live here, so you want to be able to take care of your community.”
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Halloween Cleanup: 62 Volunteer Hours, 75 Bags of Litter Gone
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Keep Charlotte Beautiful and Code Enforcement’s Quality of Life (QoL) team teamed up for a Halloween street, stream and greenway cleanup, logging 62 volunteer hours and removing 75 bags of trash. One hotspot at I-277/Kenilworth/Charlottetowne accounted for 14 bags, with before/during/after photos documenting the impact.
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Show Off Your Pollinator Garden: New City Registration
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Our Veterans in Code Enforcement: Meet Kaitlyn Santora and Harry Pope
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For Veterans Day, the city highlighted team members who serve in the United States Armed Forces. In two short “Our Veterans” video features, Code Enforcement Inspectors Kaitlyn Santora and Harry Pope share their service stories and what they value about working in Housing & Neighborhood Services. Kaitlyn reflects on her National Guard logistics role, Hurricane Helene relief work, and the HUMVEE employee network. Harry talks about his military background, his path to code enforcement, and what keeps him motivated in public service.
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Watch Kaitlyn’s story.
Watch Harry’s story.
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Old City Hall at 100: A Century of Public Service
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Opened October 29, 1925, at 600 E. Trade St. and designed by Charles C. Hook, Charlotte’s Neoclassical City Hall consolidated scattered services under one roof and symbolized a fast-growing city. For decades it anchored local government before the main seat moved to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center in the mid-1980s. Today, “Old City Hall” remains an active civic building and a reminder of a century of public service. Hear local historians Tom Hanchett and Stewart Gray reflect on its legacy and why it still matters.
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Code Tip of the Month: Keep Your Property Mailing Address Current
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Please be sure Mecklenburg County Real Estate Records reflect the most current mailing address for your property. Failure to maintain this information could result in delay of notifications of violations on your property. This includes owner occupied as well as rental property. To make a change, you may contact tax records at 980-314-4617. Watch the quick video tip.
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Read This Email in Your Language
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Are you enjoying The Crownicle newsletter?
Share it with a neighbor — they can sign up here.
We’d also love your feedback. Let us know what you think by filling out this quick form or replying to this email.
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