City of Elkhart’s new initiative aims to improve neighborhoods

ELKHART, Ind. - A new initiative will focus on what the city with a heart, believes is the heart of the city.

Mayor Rod Roberson took the podium alongside a representative of each city department to announce Elkhart’s new Neighborhood Initiative, that he hopes will provide what he describes as an unparalleled service of safety and support.

"If we are the city with a heart.We need to serve neighborhoods with that same heart and that’s important to not just an administration but the community as a whole,” said Roberson.

As the City grows, Roberson believes none of this would be possible without its neighborhoods and the residents that call them home.

"We can build aquatic centers, we can build gymnasiums, we can do multiple things as it comes to project, but they don’t work in Elkhart unless we have our neighborhoods working together,” added the Mayor.

Community members who attended the announcement listened and asked questions, practicing the two way communication that Mayor Roberson believes is a key component of the new initiative.

The hope is that the new services being implemented will work with My Elkhart 311 and make it easier for residents to be heard and served.

This will include having code enforcement officers patrolling the neighborhoods at all times,

“Instead of just being heavy handed in ticketing people where that doesn’t solve anything. We’d rather be proactive and reach out to the people who are having these issues,” said Tim Vistine.

Another goal is to connect all residents to a neighborhood association, so far they have already jumped from 4 to 11 groups, which longtime residents like Chad Crabtree who is the secretary of the Strong Avenue Neighborhood Association say are already improving the neighborhood.

“Just those little things… fire hydrants are getting repainted…cross walks are getting painted, so you see these small things. so, people may think that’s just small aesthetics, but those things mean something in the neighborhood,” said Crabtree.

He and the mayor encourage residents who are not a member of a neighborhood association to reach out to be connected with or create one to help make the neighborhoods safer and stronger.