Neighbors Working Together Can Make a Difference

As the Lakewood Family Collaborative continues its efforts to work together to insure a network of services and supports are available and accessible to children youth and families, the issue of parent isolation was identified as a risk factor for many families that are new to our community. At the April meeting of the Collaborative, Mike Tuttle presented on the City of Lakewood’s Block Clubs.

“The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.”
– Vice President Hubert Humphrey

A Block Club is a neighborhood organization in which a group of persons in a geographical area have decided to plan and work together to improve their homes, streets, and generally, to make their neighborhood a better place in which to live, work, and play. It is also a way in which men and women and children who participate can become better neighbors.

The Lakewood Block Club Mission

Lakewood Neighborhood Block Club is a resident-driven program that helps neighbors work together and work with police and other City departments to ensure safety and security for each person in our community, based on the guiding values of:
P – Protection and Prevention
watching out for and reporting crime or suspicious acts
R – Responsibility and Respect
for ourselves, our neighbors, and property
I – Integrity and Ideals
in our daily lives within the community
D – Dedication
to making Lakewood a safer, cleaner, and stronger community
E – Excellence
in our civic pride and in our relationships with city safety forces

Crime Prevention
Crime and fear of crime threaten a community’s well-being – people become afraid to use the streets and parks, properties deteriorate, residents and businesses gradually leave. Although today’s lifestyles tend to make it sometimes difficult to be as neighborly as we would like, being a good neighbor is one of the best methods of preventing crime.

Block Club operates under the community policing principle that preventing crime and improving our City is everyone’s responsibility. It is successful because people want to assume a more active role in their communities, and they work together in a partnership with the City to reduce or eliminate the threat of crime and enhance the quality of life for all.

Statistics tell the story. Substantial decreases in crime and fear can be achieved through local neighborhood crime prevention efforts. In fact, it has been shown that neighborhoods with an active Block Club program can reduce incidents of residential burglary by over 50%.

Active involvement and citizen participation in Block Club will:
·    Increase personal and property safety in the neighborhood
·    Increase awareness and reporting of crime and suspicious activities
·    Strengthen cohesiveness and community spirit
·    Reduce crime rates and the fear of crime
·    Help successfully address property and other neighborhood issues

More than Crime Prevention
Neighborhood Block Clubs have the opportunity to become so much more than a Crime Prevention Initiative. Block Clubs strengthen neighborhoods not just by preventing crime, but by bringing people together. You are building on the many skills and assets that already exist in each and every neighborhood in this community. It is about neighbors building relationships over time and over a common goal…living in a strong, safe and healthy neighborhood.

Join or Start a Block Club in Your Neighborhood
For more information on location of existing Block Clubs or how to get a Block Club started in your neighborhood, contact:
Michael Tuttle
Neighborhood Block Coordinator
216. 529.6657

Learn More About Career & Job Seeker Services

Lakewood Job Seekers Need Assistance

Lakewood in not unlike other communities in the Greater Cleveland area.  Members of our community, and especially families, have been hard hit by job loss and the difficulties that arise during extended unemployment.

Some Job Seekers who are new to the current job market are facing challenges as they try to navigate the high-tech process of job searching. Whether they are college graduates or senior workers, tracking down and successfully applying for jobs is more complex than in years past.  Sadly, many types of jobs have been lost forever and so trying to transition to a new career is adding to the stress of job searching.

Many of us work with and know of families and individuals who are struggling with job loss and we want to help. However, we don’t always know where to turn or have the extra time to track down resources. Plus, we know that most of the unemployed need access to free or low cost solutions.

The Lakewood Family Collaborative is partnering with the Cuyahoga County Library and the Lakewood Public Library for an evening workshop designed to help us become informed about career and job seeker services available to anyone looking for a new job, or trying to make a career change.  Career services offered through our public libraries is an invaluable and free service available to everyone.  Knowing about these resources is a must for service providers, to employers who want to help their laid-off workers, to individuals looking for employment, and to communities who are trying to provide more with less in these tough economic times.

More importantly perhaps, we would like to invite job seekers to join us.  Please extend this invitation to anyone you know who is looking for a new job, or looking to make a career change.  Attendees to the workshop will receive information that they can take with them and will have an opportunity to ask questions directly to a professional career counselor. This event is free and open to all job seekers, and those who want to help job seekers.

Join us on Tuesday May 18^th at the Lakewood Public Library Auditorium from 7pm-8:30pm for our Career & Job Seekers Workshop.  We will be joined by Jim Hansen, Career Counselor and Job Club Facilitator with the Cuyahoga County Libraries, and Amy Kloss, Instructor for the Lakewood Public Library Technology Department who will help us learn how use these resources and increase our understanding about the current job market.

For more information, or to register for this event, please contact the Lakewood Family Collaborative at lakewoodfamilycollab@gmail.com. Or, call 216-529-6868.

Registration is suggested, but not required.

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!