Signs Of Success In Foxfire Neighborhood

Residents of the Foxfire neighborhood in southeast Raleigh had long been frustrated by the deteriorating signs flanking the entrance of their community. They figured their neighborhood was better than the impression left by the signs. So they were relieved to find that the City of Raleigh had funds to help them replace the signs and spiff up the entrance to their neighborhood.

The Foxfire Neighborhood Association applied for $2,300 from the City's Neighborhood Improvement Matching Funds. The program provides funds for projects that improve neighborhoods and enhance a sense of community. (The maximum grant was changed in 2011-12 to $1,000).

The program requires neighborhood organizations to match the City funding through any combination of fundraising, volunteer labor and in-kind contributions. Foxfire residents provided their matching amount in the form of volunteer labor to put up the new signs, clear the surrounding area and plant greenery. Residents also put ornaments on top of the walls bearing the new signs, to keep people from sitting on the walls and kicking the signs.

As they worked together on the signs, Foxfire residents provided the Raleigh Community Services Department with interim reports on the progress of the project and documented their spending. Today, residents are proud of their new entrance, says Eugene Weeks, a Foxfire resident who helped lead the project and later became a member of the Raleigh City Council.

"It's beautiful," Weeks says. "After we put our new signs up, more communities called us to see where we got our signs made."

Weeks says he gave the callers tips on how they, too, could get Neighborhood Improvement Funds.

"I told them what you can do as far as getting and in-kind match to help with it. I told them they need to motivate their community to do the volunteer work to get it done," he says.

"The bottom line is, communicate with Community Services."