If it's judged by the first goal it set for itself, Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro is thus far a failure.
But when they look at everything else the group has accomplished over the past 21 months, some civic leaders see the organization as a huge success.The group has revived smaller neighborhood organizations in its area. It has taken neighbors' concerns to City Hall. And, in an effort to fight crime, it has strengthened ties between residents and police.
``These people are amazing. They're the epitome of what a community group should be,' said Capt. Vickie Powell, who runs the Greensboro Police Department's District One substation. ``They know what the long-term needs of the community are, and they work toward those goals consistently.'
The Concerned Citizens came together in December 1998 in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the closure of the Winn-Dixie supermarket on Phillips Avenue. Loss of the store, the group argued, would be a particular hardship for the elderly and those without cars.
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``What we wanted and still need is a grocery store that people can go to at least by bus,' said Faye Caple, a resident of Kings Forest since 1968 and a member of Concerned Citizens since its inception. ``We found that there were other concerns that needed to be addressed.'
After a few false hopes, the group still is looking for that neighborhood building block, the local supermarket. So far, it hasn't found a chain that is willing to buck the trend toward modern mega-stores and open a smaller one in this neighborhood that is a mix of middle-class and working-class families.
Starting with about 40 members, the group has grown to about 70 members, said Jim Kee, the group's co-chair. But through regular meetings and persistent action, Concerned Citizens has come to represent the area more broadly and to be taken more seriously by Greensboro officials, said Goldie Wells, Concerned Citizens' chairwoman.
``Everybody is impressed with the amount of people we have at our meetings,' Wells said.
In addition to the grocery store, the group found common ground in its opposition to the proposed expansion of the city dump. The White Street Landfill and both of Greensboro's sewage treatment plants are in that section of town. Complaining of the smell and the rats, residents want the city and Guilford County to find another location for their garbage.
It's unclear whether the City Council has the time or the money to open another dump, but Concerned Citizens appeared to attract the votes of at least three council members and the sympathy of the rest.
City politicians ignore a group like the Concerned Citizens at their peril, said Councilwoman Claudette Burroughs-White, who attends almost all of the group's monthly meetings.
``Because they do represent a network of people, they have the ability to impact votes,' Burroughs-White said. ``It's been a good partnership.
The Concerned Citizens is the only group in Guilford County and one of a handful of groups in North Carolina to undergo 21 hours worth of Community Emergency Response Training, a course that helps communities to take care of themselves during disasters and help emergency-response personnel be more effective.
The training, which the Concerned Citizens received in February, quickly paid off, said Steve Marks, assistant coordinator of Greensboro-Guilford County Emergency Management. Less than two hours after an intense thunderstorm raged through Greensboro on May 25, downing trees and power lines, the Concerned Citizens submitted a report to emergency management, assessing damage in the area and what residents' needs were.
``Any time you've got people looking out for each other, it makes an area a better place to live,' Marks said.
Through its polite persistance, Concerned Citizens is enjoying a growing reputation as an organization that can get things done. It's gotten the city to upgrade street lights in Kings Forest and at the Lacy Avenue Group Home. It stopped a truck depot from being opened on Penry Road.
And, members believe, Guilford County animal control officers are faster to respond to the area, thanks to lobbying by the organization.
At its meetings, those in attendance are invited to voice concerns. When a man at last week's meeting reported a crack house operating in his neighborhood, police there said they'd look into it.
In her polite-but-firm way, Wells made it clear she wouldn't forget the matter.
``We try to follow up to see if we get results,' she said to the group of about 30. ``If we don't, we move on to somebody else.'
So, when Dot Cockman and some of her neighbors on Ball Street started having problems with noise, litter and traffic from The Playhouse, a dance club for teens and young adults, she approached Zanzella Savoy of the Concerned Citizens.
Savoy's group raised the issue with police and in the media, and she got Cockman appointed to the District One Police Advisory Board.
Next week, the management of the Playhouse will meet with police and the Concerned Citizens to try to solve problems in the Ball Street neighborhood.
Meanwhile, the mostly white, elderly residents of Ball Street have joined with the predominantly black Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro.
``We learned that it's not just me and my neighbors on my street who are interested in this,' Cockman said. ``We got help.'
So did residents who were flooded out of their Joyce Street homes June 19. The Concerned Citizens volunteered time and donated money.
The group also relayed residents' concerns that Muddy Creek had flooded because it wasn't properly maintained by the city.
Joyce Street resident Jimmy Cummings reported to the group that a backhoe was digging debris out of the creek Thursday.
``We're finally getting the creek cleaned out the way we wanted,' he said.
The Concerned Citizens' penchant for quick, direct action was illustrated early in Thursday's meeting.
Wells raised the possibility of the Concerned Citizens becoming a corporate friend of the McGirt-Horton Branch of the Greensboro Public Library. The group would have to contribute $100 to do so, she said.
After some discussion of what an important part of the community the library branch was, a woman in the back of the room waived a $5 bill, saying, ``I'll start it off.' Within 15 minutes, $116 had been collected.
``That's what pulling together will do,' Caple said.
