NFCCA

Stories from the NFCCA Newsletter, the “Northwood News”

Northwood News ♦ December 2019

President’s Message

By Samantha Jones

Thank you for electing me to serve as the NFCCA President for the 2019–2020 term!  I’m honored to step into this role.  The next meeting of the Northwood-Four Corners Civic Association will be held on Wednesday, 11 December 2019, at 7:30 p.m. at Forest Knolls Elementary School.

A huge thanks goes to our immediate past President, Sharon Canavan, for her two years of service.  I’m happy to say that Sharon will remain active on the Board.  At the October 16 meeting, you also elected a slate of Board officers, including two brand new officers — Robin Loube and Karen Williams — both of whom will serve as At-Large officers.  Our other Board officers will return in their roles, including:  Ed Levy (Vice President), Sondra Katz (Treasurer), Linda Perlman (Secretary), Julie Whitcomb (At Large), and of course our fabulous Raffle Lady, Fiona Morrissey.

I’m thrilled that our Board reflects more geographic diversity of our neighborhood, with representatives coming from every corner of the NFCCA.  As a Board, we are very excited to continue to engage our neighbors and do what we can to serve the whole neighborhood.  I recently had a conversation with my own neighbor about what it is, exactly, that the NFCCA Board does.  Great question!  The answer, simply, is “A lot of things!“

Like other civic associations across the county, the NFCCA serves as an intermediary between the neighborhood and our local government, as well as other stakeholders.  Because we live in unincorporated Silver Spring, civic associations like ours take on the role of representing our neighborhoods’ needs to our local elected officials.  For example, over the past year, we’ve hosted our state Delegates and Senator, Councilmember Tom Hucker, and other representatives from state agencies to discuss pressing issues that impact our neighborhood.

Importantly, the NFCCA Board also helps neighbors engage with neighbors.  These days, it’s far too easy to avoid “plugging into” our local community.  That’s why the NFCCA Board hosts social events, such as National Night Out, and our bimonthly neighborhood meetings, which give folks an opportunity to come together as a community.

Moving forward, I’m looking forward to working on a number of similar priorities in the coming year, such as:

One of the most important priorities the Board has this year is increasing our NFCCA membership.  Our entire neighborhood covers approximately 1,485 homes.  We have an incredibly diverse neighborhood and, as a Board, we want to represent everyone as best as we can.  To do that, we need to increase the number of homes that are NFCCA members.  Becoming a member is fast, easy, and very inexpensive!  Our dues are just $10, less than half of nearby neighborhood associations!  By increasing our NFCCA membership over the next year, the Board can better represent the diverse needs and goals of the whole neighborhood.  Be sure to check your membership status on our website at www.nfcca.org.  [You also can pay dues here.]

I look forward to moving forward on these and other goals over the coming year.  If you have any questions about the NFCCA, or want to share your thoughts about how the Board can better serve our neighborhood, please email me at president at nfcca.org.  Thank you!   ■


   © 2019 NFCCA  [Source: https://nfcca.org/news/nn201912b.html]