The Many Benefits of Attending Neighborhood Safety Meetings
Just about every other month, on a Thursday evening, GRDC sponsors a Neighborhood Safety Meeting at the North Rosedale Park Community House, 18445 Scarsdale. These meetings are free and open to anyone with an interest in increasing safety in the community. The content of these meetings changes month by month, and all first time attendees are entered in a raffle to receive a safety related prize. Light refreshments are served, as is a good amount of community camaraderie. Creating and maintaining a healthy, vibrant community means that the community comes together to solve problems as well as to celebrate.Over the years, these meetings have covered a variety of topics such as Safe Holiday Tips, Vacant Property Issues, Car Theft Prevention, Human Trafficking, the Opioid Epidemic, and How to File a Complaint with the Detroit Police Department. Many guest speakers, experts in their field, have shared valuable information with attendees. Representatives from the Detroit Police Department, Animal Control, the Detroit Division of the FBI, Homeland Security, and a variety of city and state officials have offered useful information on how to make neighborhoods safer. The most recent topic was Senior Scamming, and Matt Conquest, Director of Law Enforcement Relations at Crime Stoppers of Michigan shared practical tips on how not to fall victim to senior scamming. Seniors are frequently targeted via social media, email, and on the telephone. Scammers use a variety of methods, such as posing as the IRS, Medicaid, or even a grandchild in order to get bank account numbers and/or social security numbers. In short, Conquest, remarked, “If something sounds too good to be true, it is.” Attendees left this meeting with a greater awareness of the many tactics used by scammers, and some practical ways to steer clear of becoming a victim.GRANDMONT ROSEDALE RESIDENT VOLUNTEERS The content of these meetings is determined by the feedback attendees provide on the Neighborhood Safety Meeting surveys. GRDC’s Crime Prevention Task Force (CPTF) gathers these surveys, looks at common concerns, then works to organize relevant speakers and topics for the next meeting. The CPTF is a group of Grandmont Rosedale resident volunteers who meet monthly to work on organizing the next Neighborhood Safety Meeting and to discuss ongoing concerns in the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhoods. These volunteers are your neighbors and friends who know that a safe neighborhood is a neighborhood where people want to live.Kitty Yarbrough, GRDC’s Community Engagement Manager, works with the CPTF as they choose topics, contact guest speakers, and put together a Neighborhood Safety Meeting that offers practical information on what residents can do to make not just themselves safer, but their whole neighborhood. As Kitty says, “the Grandmont Rosedale community takes the lead on the meetings, from requesting topics to arranging speakers who are experts in their field.” The Grandmont Rosedale community is a wonderful place to live because of the many residents who work together to keep their community wonderful.The next Neighborhood Safety Meeting is in February, 2019. Keep in touch with GRDC via Facebook or sign up to receive a weekly eblast to find out what the topic will be. Send an email to jocelyn@grandmontrosedale.com and ask to be added to the eblast list to stay on top of all that’s happening in Grandmont Rosedale. You can also check out the Community Calendar at grandmontrosedale.com to find out about upcoming Neighborhood Safety Meetings and much more.