Once a thriving volunteer-based organization known for bringing people together, neighborhood alliances have seen a decline in participation citywide in recent years. However, City of Owensboro officials are working to change that by holding more events and encouraging the community to get involved.
Adrienne Carrico, Executive Assistant to the Mayor, organized the first neighborhood alliance picnic in 2019, bringing all of the alliances across the city together. She said the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted most of her plans for the neighborhood alliances she oversees in 2020.
However, that setback didn’t keep Carrico from making plans for 2021. During a meeting with chairpersons from five alliances across the City, Carrico noted that in the past they’ve participated in events such as City Night at Friday After 5 this year, the Farmer’s Market, National Night Out, and the Multicultural Festival — those are things we participated in in the past,” she said.
Carrico said it was too early to know whether they could hold the Neighborhood Alliance Picnic this year. Regardless, she’s already purchased some merchandise to pass out — such as tablecloths, a pop-up tent, tote bags, post-it notes, bottles of hand sanitizer, and fans — with the Owensboro Neighborhood Alliance logo on them.
“So we’re ready to have some events once we’re able. We’ve got some nice goodies to give to people,” she said.
Carrico also detailed a plan to create welcome packets for new residents of each neighborhood.
“I will go through the real estate transfers each week and make a list of each one that’s within City limits and what alliance they’re in,” she said. “I’d like to make them a little welcome packet using these nice little bags. We’ll have little goodies in there along with a letter from the alliance welcoming them, along with some information about the City services.”
Though some alliances were currently inactive, Carrico said she still wanted to drop welcome packets off to people moving into those neighborhoods.
“A lot of people move into these neighborhoods and they don’t even know about the alliances or which one they belong to,” she said. “So, this gives them some information about how to join and what we do.”
