GILROY
– Three local neighborhoods were approved for grants from the
Community Foundation Silicon Valley.
GILROY – Three local neighborhoods were approved for grants from the Community Foundation Silicon Valley.
The money received from the Community Foundation will help residents in Gilroy and Morgan Hill by supporting Neighborhood Watch programs and providing fire and home safety presentations.
A focus of the Gilroy police is to teach residents about being proactive instead of reactive toward crime, said Rachel Munoz, Community Service Officer for the Gilroy police.
“If we can stop it before it starts, (the neighborhood will) be a harder target for crime,” Munoz said.
Gilroy police and fire departments will be working with the three neighborhoods who were approved for the grants. They will talk to residents about practicing personal safety and raising awareness about graffiti and gangs and what to do about each of them.
The GPD discourages people from handling crime or suspicious situations alone, instead people should call 9-11. The GPD will give instructions to the neighborhoods on what information is important to give 9-11 operators and what questions they will need to answer when they call.
“We go out to build the community by developing a partnership with the community … so that they would call in crime or suspicious activities in their neighborhood. The goal is to have our community act as the eyes and ears for GPD by reporting all crime and/or suspicious activities that may be occurring in their neighborhood,” Munoz said.
The Swaner Drive Neighborhood Association received $820, which will go toward hosting a barbecue and several neighborhood safety meetings. The barbecue for the Neighborhood Watch program will be held in late spring or early summer.
Later, they plan to host a Neighborhood Safety Day, with a simple, smaller barbecue and perhaps police or fire officials to talk about home safety. The community started its Neighborhood Watch Program last year, after several neighbors brought out the need for more togetherness, according to Doug Funk, who applied for the grant.
“We want to have more community unity and a nice safe peaceful neighborhood,” Funk said.
The Ventana Neighborhood Association received $2,000 to organize tree dedications, host a home safety and fire safety program and distribute a quarterly newsletter.
The association will meet with the city to find out which trees to dedicate and have the city approve them. They will be dedicated to people who have made significant impacts to Gilroy.
At the end of June, the neighborhood plans to meet with Munoz and learn about home safety and crime prevention. The quarterly newsletter will talk about interesting people in the Ventana Hall, events, introduce new neighbors who move in and maybe even include a local recipe or two.
The Summerhill Association was granted $950 to hold a neighborhood public safety meeting and a cooperative tree planting day at a park.
Summerhill, which includes 65 homes, plans to hold its safety meeting on May 11. The GPD will help teach home and neighborhood safety and get its Neighborhood Watch Program started. The city has promised to start building a park this spring. Once that is set up, Summerhill can organize a tree planting ceremony. The neighborhood hopes the tree planting will promote unity among residents.
“Well, I think in a lot of neighborhoods we know who our neighbors are, but we really don’t know them,” said Judy Hess, coordinator of the grant money for Summerhill.
The Community Foundation was created with funds left over from the San Jose War Chest, money raised to assist in World War II efforts. Their focus is to help residents solve the problems and fulfill the needs of their community.
