Paseo Neighborhood
Lori Ward
Lori Ward’s intentions of becoming the Paseo Neighborhood Association President were to create a better community for all of us, and that she certainly has done. Lori has built relationships with other organizations around our city, has provided over 90 volunteers for the Paseo Arts Festival, and has increased communication within her neighborhood by not only passing out newsletters every month, but also by creating an online group for neighbors to share opinions, ideas, and concerns about their community. Lori, along with her fellow neighbors, created a volunteer Neighborhood Watch patrol that has significantly helped cut crime in her neighborhood. Lori has also helped create a Welcome Basket for new neighbors, providing them with information and welcoming them to their new home. Through Possibilities, Lori has learned that people will support what they help create, not what she creates. She says that since she has joined Possibilities her leadership skills have increased, her level of frustration is reduced, and she is making a connection to others in her community. “Possibilities is my safe haven. I can be myself with out judgment.”
Robert Berg
Robert Berg is always willing to do hard work, and his neighbors have taken notice. Robert is involved in many activities in the Paseo neighborhood, from helping with LitterBlitz and National Night Out to helping secure free school supplies for neighbors. He believes in connecting people, and came up with an “out of the box” idea to connect neighbors. On Saturday nights, the Neighborhood Association hosts free movie nights in a vacant lot for neighbors, complete with popcorn for all the moviegoers. Robert knows that a connected community helps to combat crime, and also volunteers for the Neighborhood Watch in the neighborhood. Robert wants to change the perception about what goes on in the neighborhood, and is working to spread the message of people volunteering and getting involved. He believes change happens one person at a time, and that teamwork is the answer. Robert has learned skills through Possibilities, and has put them to work in his community. Robert believes in breaking down barriers, and is amazed by how much he can learn from teamwork. Others in our City are taking notice also, Robert was nominated for Neighbor of the Year at the Good Neighbor Awards Banquet hosted by Neighborhood Alliance.
