In the Independence Day parade this year, many noticed the 17Strong banners that labeled each neighborhood in Hamilton, from Armondale to Washington. Each of the 17 neighborhoods of Hamilton is a little different, but together, they form the citizen-led organization known as 17Strong.
17Strong may be hard to describe to those who haven’t heard of an organization specifically to help neighborhoods before. However, evidence suggests that neighborhoods where neighbors know each other tend to be stronger, safer, and more beautiful. For this reason, members of the 17Strong advisory board, like Frank Downie from Lindenwald, want to see the neighborhoods of Hamilton bond with each other.
“17Strong is resident-led and resident engaged,” Downie says.“Engaged residents are helping to find ways to address neighborhood issues with citizen-led solutions. A few people come to our meetings and use us as sounding boards.”
Downie elaborated further that any situations brought up by citizens are usually turned into positive action: either 17Strong can connect the citizen to a city resource, or they can help them start to solve the problem themselves. These meetings, held monthly in a variety of locations, are also helpful for the subcommittees of 17Strong, which work on publicity, holding events, and administering the micro-grant program.
Now in its third year, the 17Strong microgrants allow citizens and small groups to get between $500 and $2500 to make their neighborhood more connected, safer, beautiful, or fun. Grants have been used to improve signage, throw block parties, create welcome bags for new neighbors, and create pamphlets and newsletters.
Kathy Klink, a city councilwoman who is a liaison to the 17Strong board, says, “We are aiming for safe, clean, and engaged neighborhoods where residents are involved. We want to create more lines of communication, and we’d like to see people become ambassadors to their neighborhoods.”
New excitement is coming as 17Strong’s advisory board prepares to enter its fourth year. The goals for the year include assessing what is working well and continuing to tweak their programs and outreach to the community. They also have recently been awarded a grant that enables two Americorps VISTA volunteers to work full-time this year to help make stronger neighborhoods in Hamilton.
“I’ve seen that we are a solid link between residents and the city,” Downie explains. “We straighten out a lot of rumors about what is happening in the city. We’ve also helped inform people about what is going on in city council.”
While each neighborhood is different, the 17Strong program would love to see some form of gathering in each neighborhood to get to know each other and address issues that arise.
“I’d love to see every neighborhood have some kind of community council, no matter what that might look like. We don’t have a formula,” Downie says. “The boundaries are arbitrary; if people would prefer to work with the neighborhood across the street, that’s perfectly alright. It’s just easier to work with smaller groups than with the whole city at once.”
Getting involved can be as simple as paying attention to your neighborhood and how a micro-grant might help. You can also follow the 17Strong-Hamilton Facebook page to see when new openings become available on the advisory board, for which there is an application.
“We are looking for active participants who want to help us get where we want to go,” Klink explains. “I believe if we have 17 active neighborhoods, we have a stronger community.”