Neighborhood association hosts first community block party
The North Winston Neighborhood Association (NWNA) held its first Community Block Party on Friday, June 15, at Ivy Avenue. The association is a Northeast neighborhood community that encompasses neighborhoods and streets within the borders of North Patterson Avenue; Indiana Avenue; Liberty Street and Northwest Boulevard. The North Winston Neighborhood Association was established in 1999 at St. James A.M.E. Church, under President Rodney Sumler.
The block party was a free community event, in coordination with Neighbors for Better Neighbors, which provided community connection information to residents. Neighbors also communed together with food, fun and conversation.
Through community conversations with vendors, residents received information on community gardens, their legal rights as renters, as voters and as parents with students in school. They were also informed of financial health, and the children received inspiration through art and the spoken word.
Vendors in attendance were Vibe Funktion (exhibition art), Legal Aid, Financial Pathways, Winston-Salem Police Department, Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods, Ambassadors Cathedral and St. James A.M.E. Church. There was information distribution from Experiment in Self-Reliance, Community Care, Winston-Salem Parks and Recreation and City Housing.
The officers of the North Winston Neighborhood Association (NWNA) are: James Maurice Barber Sr., president; Chenita Johnson, secretary; and Eva Gray-Allen, treasurer. The association meets 6 p.m. every fourth Monday of the month, alternating between Ambassadors Cathedral on Harriet Tubman Drive and St. James A.M.E. Church, on North Patterson Avenue.
