All it takes sometimes is a bit of help and a bit of money to make a community better, and the nonprofit Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods offers both.
The group helped the Neal Place Neighborhood Association form a community watch group with eight volunteers after five home break-ins occurred recently in the area off University Parkway, said Sandy Stinson, the association's president.
Residents used a $500 grant from the nonprofit to hold a fall festival last year, Stinson said. The festival helped the association rally many Neal Place residents to find ways to improve their neighborhood. The association plans to use the rest of the grant money to stage a block party this spring, Stinson said.
"NBN gives us information that connects us with the city," Stinson said. "NBN is extremely instrumental in what we do."
Neal Place, a housing development near downtown Winston-Salem, has 31 houses with about 50 residents, Stinson said. Its neighborhood association has 10 members.
The association wants the city to donate a tract off Tyndall Street for a playground, Stinson said. It will seek grants from other nonprofits for that project.
The association also wants to develop a community garden off Woodruff Glen Avenue, she said.
Neal Place is an example of Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods helping local residents, Stinson said. NBN will hold meetings throughout the city this year to provide residents with information about small grants that they can use to improve their areas.
Naomi Randolph, the interim executive director of Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods, said her group has helped several communities across Winston-Salem in the past several years.
"We support innovative projects coming from grass-roots leadership in neighborhoods," Randolph said. "Our hope is to ignite some thinking around how communities can work together and collaborate on creating solutions that effect long-term neighborhood change."
The organization, which began in 1998, gives grants of $100 to $5,000 to neighborhood groups and small nonprofits. It also provides logistical support and leadership training to groups that want to better their neighborhoods.
Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods said in a statement that it has received financial support from the Winston-Salem Foundation; the city of Winston-Salem; Southern Echo, a leadership and development organization; and individual donations. NBN has supported neighborhood groups working on such issues as improving living conditions and access to health care.
It also brings neighborhoods together by helping stage block parties and community-run after-school programs.
The group encourages residents to develop initiatives to help their areas, said Dee Washington, its program officer.
"People have a lot of great ideas, but they don't know that they have resources to help them," Washington said.
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