WS Chronicle

Neighborhood groups have been meeting all over Winston-Salem this year, trying to organize residents to help improve their neighborhoods.

Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods and the S.G. Atkins Community Development Corporation are some of the groups working with residents to improve neighborhoods.

Now the city of Winston-Salem is providing some organization by way of a special recruitment fair Saturday, May 16, to encourage city residents to form neighborhood associations and Neighborhood Watch groups, and to help residents join existing organizations.

Those who attend the fair, which will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., should enter through Gate 9 on 27th Street to get to the

Neal Bolton Home and Garden Building at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds.

Neighborhood Watch groups fight crime by organizing neighbors to keep an eye on one another’s properties and report suspicious activity to the police. Neighborhood associations are organizations that organize residents in a neighborhood and advocate for them.

Representatives from the Police and Community and Business Development departments, as well as representatives of existing neighborhood associations and Neighborhood Watch groups, will be available at the fair to answer questions and assist with forming new associations and groups.

Representatives of recently formed neighborhood associations are encouraged to attend and register with the city.

Residents not affiliated with a neighborhood association or Neighborhood Watch can find out if they live in an area with either group, and if so, can be enrolled at the fair.

Also at the fair will be representatives for the Fire Department, CityLink and Recreation and Parks and the Human Relations departments. There will be music, light refreshments and door prizes.

The city says it promotes neighborhood associations and Neighborhood Watch because they enhance neighborhood safety and provide a direct link for conveying timely information to city residents. For example, police can contact a Neighborhood Watch group to warn its members if a burglar has been active in their area.

Neighborhood associations build relationships between neighbors, give neighborhoods a voice with the City Council and city staff, and give city officials another means of reaching citizens with useful information, such as Sanitation holiday collection changes and opportunities to apply for city programs.

For more information about the fair. call CityLink 311 or visit CityofWS.org/CBD.