Sunday, September 21, 2008

Virginia State Neighborhood Conference

This past Thursday through Saturday I was in Fairfax, Virginia for the 9th Annual Virginia State Neighborhood Conference. A rather large contingent from Roanoke attended this years' conference, including members of the Melrose Rugby, Melrose Loudon and Old Southwest neighborhoods as well as folks associated with the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Also attending was Ms. Estelle McCadden, President of the Melrose Rugby Neighborhood Forum and Chairperson/Founder of the VSNC. It was obvious to all of us in attendence the level of respect that Ms. McCadden has of other neighborhood leaders around the state for her dedication to the conference and her dedication to making sure that neighborhoods have the leadership, programs and knowledge necessary to help build strong communities.

I participated in a number of workshops and learned a great deal from regional and national experts in community development and also from people from other parts of the state who are community activists and committed to their own neighborhood's development.

I hope to use what I learned to help improve relations between our government and neighborhoods. Strong neighborhoods help to make a strong community.

2 comments:

kemper said...

Court..thanks for your efforts on this blog. I came across it from a link on RTWN article and put it on my bloglines to keep up with what is going on. I think this is a very innovative way to communicate with your constituents and certainly better than spam. I know it takes time (I have a blog and know it is hard to keep up with!) but I think this type of communication is essential today.

Court Rosen said...

Thanks Kemper. I hope this is an effective tool. Obviously, one of my postings caused a "stir" recently, but I'll keep providing info here.