County Offering Free Public Workshops on Building Sustainable Neighborhood

For immediate release: May 5, 2008
Contact: LaToya Ricketts, Planner II, lrickett@co.palm-beach.fl.us
Phone: (561) 233-5239 Fax: (561) 656-7935

Palm Beach County’s Office of Community Revitalization (OCR) will be hosting a “Building Sustainable Neighborhood” workshop for Palm Beach County residents on Thursday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m. Regina J. Blair, a Certified Neighborhood Coordinator from Arlington, Tex., will facilitate the workshop, which will provide neighborhood revitalization strategies for reinvigorating neighborhoods focused on civic engagement, holistic community change, and empowerment. The goal is to organize and create vibrant communities for implementation of community action plans.

The Building Sustainable Neighborhood workshop is aimed to help promote economic development, environmental health and social equity for all communities throughout Palm Beach County and is offered through the Resident Education to Action Program (REAP). REAP supports the formation of neighborhood associations and empowers residents to seek a better quality of life.

Through this course, residents will learn effective neighborhood organizational methods, including community leadership development, resident empowerment, crime prevention methods, code enforcement policies, financial management and other community development strategies. The theme this year is “There’s No Place Like Home!”

The mission of REAP is to provide an opportunity for the residents of Palm Beach County to acquire a greater knowledge of and appreciation for the civic government system through active participation in the system. Participants will be encouraged to solve a neighborhood improvement problem.

The workshop and all materials are free. To register for the workshop or for additional information regarding the program, please contact Natalie R. Fazio at (561) 233-5311 or ocrtemp@pbcgov.com.