Deborah T. Smith said she misses the days when a neighborhood really felt like a village.
“Everybody could discipline somebody's child and then turn around and you knew your mom was going to discipline you because the neighbors had to discipline you,” she said with a chuckle.
Smith said it was a time when people looked out for each other.
As the president of Edgerton neighborhood association, Smith said she’s dedicated to restoring that sense of community within her quadrant.
“Just bringing back our neighborhoods together, knowing each other, working together, making sure we're there for each other, and just making sure we're part of Rochester again,” Smith said.
The city of Rochester is eager to restore these values to local neighborhoods, which it hopes to do with the Neighbors in Action initiative or Nia. This project is a partnership with other community groups and will serve as a “platform for residents to contribute to neighborhood development,” according to Mayor Malik Evans.
“This new initiative is designed to empower residents to come together and take purposeful action toward beautifying and strengthening their neighborhoods,” Evans said. “We want people to get off their porch, and we want people to connect and be together.”
Evans is asking residents to fill out a survey on the city’s website so the needs of their neighborhoods are heard and resources are allocated appropriately.
Lydia Rivera, president of Lyell Avenue Business Association, said that area of the city, in particular, could benefit greatly from the additional resources gained through this initiative.
“The open drug market, the sex trade, mental health, there are a bunch of different layers that are affecting us,” Rivera said. “But I know having the residents and the businesses come together and come up with solution-based ideas are really important to us.”
City council president Miguel Melendez said the pandemic disrupted what he calls the “social cohesion” within neighborhoods. He said NIA is a step towards regaining that communal spirit.
“This is an opportunity for the neighborhood groups to become active, or for those that are already active to become more engaged, and to have resources to do small projects that are important to the revitalization of community,” Melendez said.
