- The Council on the Status of Men and Boys held a resource fair and public listening session for Griffin Heights and Frenchtown neighbors Tuesday.
- The CSMB hopes to bring these meetings elsewhere across Tallahassee over the summer.
- Watch now to hear one neighbor describe the issues she sees in her community.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Identifying solutions to problems that neighbors are concerned about.
I'm Alberto Camargo in the Northwest Tallahassee neighborhood.
Getting a look into how those community concerns are being heard and handled both inside and outside of this meeting.
Inside the Lawrence-Gregory Community Center in Griffin Heights, neighbors gathered to express the problems they see on the day-to-day.
"Some of the issues we are dealing with is prostitution, drug dealing, and some gun violence."
I spoke with Lachanthia Hall, she's part of the Griffin Heights Neighborhood Association.
Hall says any time she gets a chance to ask for and make change around her community, she doesn't hesitate.
"I wanted to be included so my voice can be heard. And then I want to hear from other people what they have to say about our neighborhood. It's important that we continue to have these conversations so that we can continue to move forward in safety for our neighborhood."
Organizing that change is the Council on the Status of Men and Boys.
The CSMB hosted several community organizations for neighbors to learn about the resources they offer — from housing legal services to afterschool youth programs to keep children out of trouble.
CSMB Executive Director Royle King says his team's research found that neighbors in Griffin Heights and Frenchtown were most in need for these resources — that's why the event was held here.
"Whether that family is high risk or not, they are because of the community they live in. Getting to connect them to some resources that they may not even have known about can help families kind of overcome that."
And for the community concerns that someone like Hall expressed, King says the presence of local law enforcement and city officials provided a direct line to the people who can make change happen.
"It's one thing for me in my position to say it. It's another thing when they can hear the pain and the need from the individuals who are dealing with those struggles on a daily basis."
The Council on the Status of Men and Boys says it has plans to bring events like this to other neighborhoods around the Capital City over the summer to continue hearing from neighbors and implementing solutions.
In Northwest Tallahassee, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
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