Community Meeting Member: Alesia Little By: Cayla Johnson and Khylia Inman

Introduction

Alesia Little, a resident of the Old L. Richardson Neighborhood, frequently attends the community's Neighborhood Association. Having lived in Old L. Richardson for 24 years, she calls this community home. She is very familiar with East Greensboro and tries to stay up to date with the developments that come to the area. During a recent community meeting, Little spent time with some of A&T's journalism students to talk more about what was happening in her community.

Best Thing About Your Community

When asked what her favorite thing about her community, Little said she enjoys many aspects of the area. However, she said that the best thing about her community would have to be how people look out for one another. Growing up in the area, she enjoys where she lives and how neighbors care about each other's safety.

Fun Activities

For Little, one thing she enjoys to do in her community is spend time outside. She likes to be in her yard and spend time in the sun. Sometimes, she will also see other neighbors out enjoying the day. Many people tend to stay to themselves, but she is content being in the outdoors. She says that there have been incentives to help bring the younger and older generations together, but still thinks more can be done to help connect people across generations.

Change Makers In the Community

Before coming to the community meetings, Little said that she was unaware of many of the organizations and leaders in the area. In order to stay up to date on what happens in her neighborhood, Little believes it is important to attends the Old L. Richardson Community Watch meetings. Without them, she wouldn't be as informed on what was happening in the community, or who was able to offer help.

"I attend these meetings because I wouldn't know how to reach this person or that person to get who I need to get to."

She says that one of the key leaders of the organization is Betty Watson, the president of the Old L. Richardson Community Watch. According to Little, her dedication has been greatly important to the upkeep of the community.

"She's very dedicated. She do everything in her power to have the right people here at our meetings."

Events and Developments

Little has been aware of many needs that need to be addressed in her community, but did not know who could help deal with those issues. Some of these developments and issues include water issue warnings from Greensboro and mildew in houses. She says the meetings are a good way of finding who to get in contact about these issues.

"They need to do better when it comes to that. Cause we could all end up sick and we won't even know."

However, there have also been other, more positive developments that have occurred within the community. When Little first moved into the neighborhood, she states that there were major issues she encountered.

"When I first moved on Dewitt, it was a lot of drugs, prostituting, and all that kind of stuff. All that's been cleaned up." She credits much of this progress to the work done through the Community Watch, and the work the community has done to better the area.

Leadership

While Little herself has never held a leadership role of her own within the community, she says she feels confident in the leadership of the local leaders of the Old L. Richard Community Watch. She jokingly remarked on how she feels more confident with their leadership rather than her own

"I'll leave that up to the big people," she laughed.

Future Outlook and What is Needed

The Old L. Richardson Neighborhood Association is an organization that works to address local needs and help create positive change in their community. In her opinion, Little believes that the future of her community will have a very positive outlook. She believes this is possible due to the leadership of Betty Watson and the Old L. Richardson Community Watch. But, it is also up to the people to work and make a better future.

"Everybody pulling together and sticking together. That's what it's going to take." Little touched on how many of the younger people in the neighborhood do not attend the meetings, and how their presence would be beneficial to identifying the needs of other people.

"We won't know until you tell us. And a lot of people are afraid to say they need help because they think people are gonna talk about them or put them down. That's the wrong thing to do. I wasn't raised like that."

Little believes that it is the responsibility of everyone to help one another to make their neighborhood a stronger one. Acts like picking up trash on the sidewalk even if its not yours are not just beneficial to one person, but for the whole community. Working together to help others in the community will lead to a better community overall.

"If I see you in need, help a person. That's how I was raised."