Grand Crossing Park Neighborhood Network
"...What YOU can do for YOUR Neighborhood"

Dear neighbors, community partners and stakeholders,
2014, as we said it would, is producing many opportunities for advancement in the cause to bring down violence and establish higher order and positive productivity in our neighborhoods. There have been socials, demonstrations,
summits, conferences, newspaper proposals, TV documentaries and social media creations, rising up, all in the name of urging us to produce progress towards community improvement. IT'S HAPPENING!

Another major positive was accomplished for the neighborhood and the spirit of "rebuilding Chicago" on yesterday's date. Close to a hundred students and adult volunteers labored in love and respect while "Cleaning & Greening" Grand Crossing Park. New Life Covenant Church can take the credit for being the driving force by delivering a great umber of youthful bodies to the project. Youth were instructed by adults in several wsmall working groups, and while there was an obvious need for more efficient operational methods, a solid, historic effort was executed with room for great things in the future.

The success of the event can be summed up as tremendous community capacity being achieved by a significant enhancement of a major green space in the 60619 area code (the others are Avalon Park, Tuley Park and Oakwoods cemetery), in which a multi-generational force came together and put in several hundred man-hours of volunteer work into it. This will produce substantial capacity against public violence and destructiveness to the environment. The neighborhood received a gigantic positive boost for itself. And it was just the tip of the iceberg of untapped capacity we have yet to develop in this area! In the future the minor green spaces like Brown, Burnside, Cole, Dixon, Hoard and Meyering parks all will need the attention of large contingent exercises like Clean & Green and other organized efforts.

We still have far to go in establishing viable and responsive leadership and communications throughout the many blocks and neighborhoods of 60619. We realize everyone cannot come every time to every event, however, it's the persistent drive of folks coming when they can over a great period of time which will make the difference. We hope that YOU will strongly consider each and every call to lend yourself to our mass grassroots support actions as they come up. A new tone is being set and ground is being gained. We must not loose it!

Other collaborative capacity building events for you to plan for;
  • Chatham Job & Community Resource fair", Thursday May 8th
  • Several positive loitering and CAPS beat meetings (TBA)
  • Likelihood of a few special cause prayer vigils (On call)
  • Juneteenth Picnic, June 21st
  • National Night Out August 5th
  • Fall Clean and Green (Early October)
  • Kwanzaa, late December
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