Greetings Neighbors!

While the dust is still in the air from the State Street and Veterans Park Boulevard road construction, the dust has settled from our recent re-organization. We have recently re- configured the boundaries of The Veterans Park Neighborhood Association so it can better serve the needs of you and your immediate neighbors. Now more than ever, the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association needs you!

In the past, the sheer size of the Veterans Park Neighborhood has made it hard to focus on the issues near at home. However, our new boundaries incorporate only the area west of Veterans Park Boulevard to the Collister Shopping Center, and the River to the south and Taft Street to the north. With the smaller area, we can now focus more on our immediate neighborhood.

VPNA’s mission is to support a unified voice for the community that we live in. Which means, we are here to lobby the city, ACHD, and other local organizations on behalf of our residents, and to have a say in the decisions that affect our neighborhood. We are not a homeowners association, and we are NOT here to collect dues or levy fines for petty code violations. But if you have a concern about things going on in the neighborhood, or potential developments or issues that affect your neighborhood, then this is what we are here for.

But this is where we need you. We need your input on the decisions being made right now that affect our neighborhood. Have an idea for an improvement in our parks and common areas? There may be city grant money available we can apply for. Have an issue affecting us? Bring it to our board! Want to help host an event to help our community? Bring your idea!

We are having a general annual meeting on Tuesday, April 24th at the Collister Community Church at 6:30 PM. If you would like to attend, everyone is invited- there will be free food and beverages. We are also looking for volunteers to be on the board. Our board meets no more than once per month (or as needed) for 45-90 minutes, to discuss issues in our neighborhood and if necessary, vote on a course of action. If you are interested in being involved, then by all means, come to our annual meeting and sign up!

NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES:
With everything going on, we hope to keep neighbors informed as to what is going on and if possible, empower people to be pro-active on things that are happening. Right now, some of the biggest issues we face are:
– The ongoing road project at 36th St, State Street, and Veterans Park Boulevard, which continues to have a negative impact on everyone who lives in and commutes through our area. We hope to be more pro-active and mitigate some of the impacts when future road projects, such as the planned re-design of Collister and State Street, are scheduled to start.
– Protecting community assets, which include our parks, our schools, and the Greenbelt. As we speak, Greenbelt access is shut off at Veterans Park, and many people are keenly aware that it has been nearly 10 years since a person from our neighborhood could ride continuously from Willow Lane to Julia Davis Park without encountering fences and barricades along the path. We hope to work with the city department of Parks and Recreation to protect and preserve Greenbelt access for now and into the future.

JOIN US for our ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
On APRIL 24th 6:30 PM
At the Collister Community Church,
4709 W. State Street