Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1217454
10 UCW MARCH 4-10, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM e city of Fayetteville's Economic and Community Development Department has an idea to encour- age residents to get involved in local government. Community Voices is a training program designed to em- power residents to become leaders in their communities. e program is cosponsored by North Carolina A&T State University's Cooperative Extension Program and N.C. State University's cooperative extension program. e local program takes place ursday, March 26, from 6-8 p.m. at the Arts Council headquarters on Hay Street. Participants will learn how a group can make a difference work- ing together and how to connect to resources that can help reach a shared vision. ey will also learn about systematic problem-solving methods to help address community issues and needs. e city says the project is an effort to help community citizens come together to build the future for their families and the community. e main goal is to develop skilled groups of leaders who can work together, problem solve and work as partners with resource people to carry out ini- tiatives that will meet the needs and concerns of their community. Fayetteville City Councilwoman Tisha Waddell has become an advo- cate for citizens working together, often imploring residents who attend council meetings to get involved. Her vision as shown in her official biography "is one of inclusion for all citizens, working together toward safe, productive neighborhoods with support resources for both seniors and youth alike." City council and county commis- sion members will concede nothing gets their collective attention more than groups of residents who turn out at official meetings to advocate for their neighborhoods. A recent controversy over a pro- posed prison inmate re-entry halfway house resulted in several dozen citizens showing up at a public meet- ing objecting to the plan. Observers believed city officials would table the proposal because of the pub- lic concern. Surprisingly, the city council decided to deny the project. e Community Voices concept is not a new one, but it is new to the Fayetteville area. It is designed to de- velop leaders at the grassroots level by encouraging uninvolved citizens and organizations to develop skills to solve problems in their communities. Participants can expect to develop an underlying philosophy and belief that the group can make a difference if members work together and have a shared vision of what they want to achieve as a group. Participants will learn about sys- tematic problem-solving methods to help members address community issues and needs and develop an organizational structure to continue working on the group vision. ey will develop skills to structure group organizations to continue work- ing together as a community on the municipal and county levels after the training is completed. ey will engage in a series of learning ex- periences and then analyze those experiences to see how they apply to life situations. Community Voices and its companion program, Voices Reaching Vision, were created by Cooperative Extension at N.C. A&T with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Informed citizens become leaders by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS The Community Voices program is designed to develop leaders at the grassroots level by encouraging uninvolved citizens and organizations to develop skills to solve problems in their communities. Hope Mills United Methodist Church presents The Living Waters Benefit Concert for The Jason Ray Foundation For more information, contact Ronnie Holland 910.624.4166 Very Special Thanks to : MARCH 7, 2020 • 7pm 4955 Legion Road • Hope Mills Hope Mills Community Newspaper The Common Ground Band with Special Guest Jason Ray's Parents featuring