First step is to talk; citizens for Change wants to help people in Davidson County

By: Tim Clodfelter | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: November 15, 2009

LEXINGTON

A new community-involvement group in Davidson County will have an assembly Tuesday to discuss matters of community interest.

The group, Citizens for Change, is a sister organization to CHANGE (Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment), an ecumenical nonprofit organization of churches, charities and neighborhood organizations in Winston-Salem.

The assembly will be at 6:30 p.m. at Files Chapel Baptist Church, 900 Dixie St. in Lexington. All clergy and lay leaders in Davidson County are encouraged to attend.

The assembly is invitation-only. People interested in attending should contact Connie Russell, the group's organizer, at 239-6069.

Russell has lived in Davidson County for 31 years. She said that Citizens for Change's mission statement calls for the group to provide a venue "for the residents here in Davidson County to participate in our democracy, and have a say in those issues that concern them."

She said that the group does not have any pre-planned ideas for the issues it will address.

"Our activities will depend on the community, and what seem to be the topmost concerns for our county," Russell said.

Citizens for Change is nonpartisan, multiethnic, multiracial and interfaith. It is hoping to build partnerships with congregations, neighborhood associations and other nonpolitical groups.

The group will be all-volunteer for the time being, though Russell said she hopes that down the line they will have a paid staff member.

In January, the group says, it plans to ask to become an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation, a nationwide grass-roots network that includes CHANGE.

The Rev. Ryan Eller, the lead organizer of CHANGE, said that he has been traveling to Lexington every few weeks to meet with Russell and other organizers and provide advice on building a sustainable group.

Eller said that he has been impressed with Citizens for Change's development so far, and that he felt the time was right for such a group in Davidson County

"I get a good feeling about them," Eller said. "I'm very much looking forward to Tuesday night, and seeing the energy in the room."

tclodfelter@wsjournal.com | 727-7371