Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Volunteers Are Needed For Neighborhood Surveys In Mesa

The City of Mesa Neighborhood Services Department is looking for 20 volunteers to serve as neighborhood ambassadors to benefit the Building Strong Neighborhoods Initiative.

The volunteers, working in teams of two, will canvass neighborhoods to help City of Mesa Neighborhood Outreach Coordinators conduct door-to-door surveys of residents to gather input on issues facing their community. Training of volunteers, who must be at least 18 years of age, will be held Tuesday, August 12th, from 5:30 pm to 6:15 pm at the community room of Fire Station 202, 830 S. Stapley. The surveys will be conducted in a central Mesa neighborhood Saturday, August 16th, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am.

“We are confident that using this approach to use more volunteers to conduct surveys in one day, instead of spreading them over 3 to 4 weeks, will be much more efficient,” Mesa Neighborhood Services Volunteer Coordinator Katie Brown said.

The primary goal of the Building Strong Neighborhoods Initiative is to preserve & strengthen neighborhoods by providing residents & businesses with education, training & access to existing resources to address neighborhood issues. One initiative will be scheduled in each City Council District during the current fiscal year. Each initiative will include an orientation or “kickoff” meeting, where residents will hear results of the surveys that volunteers have conducted. Residents will use the survey results to prioritize issues that will be addressed by a variety of City services over a 4-week period.

If you are interested in volunteering to conduct the surveys, contact Mesa Neighborhood Services Volunteer Coordinator Katie Brown at (480) 644-3705, or fill out a volunteer interest form at cityofmesa.org/neighsvc, click on Be A Volunteer.