City Brings Home Three State Neighborhood Awards
MANASSAS, VA – The City of Manassas, one of its neighborhood organizations and a local youth have won three state neighborhood awards. They are:
State Neighborhood Youth Individual Effort of the Year
Michael Sensale, Cannon Ridge Community
State Neighborhood Youth Group Effort of the Year
Week of Hope Program, City of Manassas Neighborhood Services
State Neighborhood Project of the Year
Weems Neighborhood Watch/Week of Hope Cleanup
The awards were presented on Saturday, September 20 at the 9th annual Virginia Statewide Neighborhood Conference, held at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner.
The City of Manassas has been stepping up efforts to build strong neighborhoods and increase civic involvement since it hired Kisha Wilson-Sogunro as Neighborhood Services Coordinator in November 2006. Sogunro has put her extensive knowledge to work addressing critical needs in the community,
“This was truly a city government-citizen group partnership,” said Cindy Brookshire, whose project had the support of more than a dozen Weems Neighborhood Watch members to organize a four-day cleanup of Landgreen Street, where Manassas Cab Company driver Khawaja Ahmed was murdered in February 2008. More than 30 youth and adult church volunteers, including the general manager of the cab company, worked with Watch members to fill four City trucks with trash and yard waste, mow 12 lawns, haul away a trailer load of hazardous household waste (used motor oil, paint, car batteries, TV and computer monitors), reinstall a mailbox and spread a truckload of mulch. They ended their labors with an ice cream “party in the park” at Byrd Park. “Our Neighborhood Watch could not have pulled this project together without the encouragement of Officer Scott Stallard of the City of Manassas Police Department, Kisha’s in-field guidance of the Week of Hope volunteers, and the Public Works Department, which supplied us with courtesy trucks, wheelbarrows and other tools we needed to get the job done. I’m grateful to the City and to the church youth for their help in our crime prevention and community building efforts.”
The City is planning to host its own Neighborhood Conference on Saturday, November 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Carteret Mortgage Branch Boys & Girls Club on Dean Drive, complete with workshops, a marketplace of exhibits, a block party lunch with “divine desserts” from local churches and their own Best of Neighborhood award winners.To register for the City’s Second Annual Neighborhood Conference, go to www.manassascity.org.
September 24, 2008 at 8:18 am
How do you account for the increase in graffiti and crime that is caused by illegals? Keep believing hiring a liberal feel good story is making the City a better place to live. The facts and reality say otherwise.
September 24, 2008 at 10:43 am
I saw Skinner’s presentation on tv at some point in the recent past and the crime numbers are down aren’t they?
September 24, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Tell that to the poor guy who was killed a few weeks ago. Tell that to the many home owners whose homes were broken into last year.
September 24, 2008 at 4:12 pm
COM,
If this place is so bad, why do you stay? What do you do to better your community other than berate it on blogs behind a fake name?
September 24, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Hats off to the people in the community who volunteer to make their neighborhood a better place. God bless them all for giving their time and effort. Regardless of political debate, their effort should be appreciated.
September 24, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Peter,
I live here because I do like the City. I like it for the history and the small town feel. However, in the six years we have lived here, we have seen a steady decline in the quality of life. In my opinion I see illegals as being the number one reason for that. Of course it is not the only reason.
What do I do for the City? I pay my taxes. I visit the businesses within the City as much as possible. I campaign for people who I feel will make or have made positive changes for the City. I am active in my HOA. I vote.
September 25, 2008 at 9:13 am
Also lets keep in mind that if we did not have an illegal immigration issue, how much of an issue would we have with blight, and run down yards? If we had a society that had more self responsibility, would we have such a need for others to step in and do this type of work?
No, I am not saying illegal immigration is the cause of every issue in the City, but to ignore it or down play the issue is simply silly.
September 27, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Congratulations to Cindy Brookshire and the others on receiving this award. These are the types of community solutions that should be encouraged.