FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                       

Contact:   Elly McKuen, Lee County Human Services, (941) 652-7942

COUNTY ADDS TWO NEIGHBORHOODS TO DISTRICTS PROGRAM 

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 16, 2002) – The Board of Lee County Commissioners today unanimously approved adding two North Fort Myers neighborhoods to the county’s Neighborhood Districts Program.  The two neighborhoods are Palmona Park and Suncoast Estates.  The existing districts are Charleston Park, Dunbar, Harlem Heights, Page Park and Pine Manor. 

The Neighborhood Districts Program – which is administered by the county’s Department of Human Services – was established in 1995 to develop strategies for revitalizing neighborhoods with affordable housing, improved living conditions and expanded economic opportunities.  District committees of local residents help plan their communities’ needs and come up with a program for meeting those needs. 

Since March 1995, the five neighborhoods have spent about $5.4 million in Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding for improvements, primarily through Community Development Block Grants.  About two-thirds of the funding has been used to construct capital projects (water and sewer lines, roads, sidewalks with stormwater drainage, neighborhood parks and community centers); 23 percent has gone to affordable housing (new construction and rehabilitation) and the remaining 11 percent for public service activities. 

Some of the improvements include:

§         3 neighborhood parks, 2 community centers and 1 activity building

§         More than 14 miles of sidewalks

§         30 homes constructed by various non-profit organizations and the county

§         1 full-time code enforcement officer and full-time sheriff’s coverage for each neighborhood (joint partnership with Lee County Sheriff and neighborhood at no cost to neighbors)

§         Part-time Resident Coordinator in Charleston Park

§         Financial assistance for non-profit social service organizations to provide after school tutoring, mentoring, summer camp, teen pregnancy prevention classes, adult fitness classes, juvenile programs and recreational services. 

Over the next year, Human Services will work in partnership with the residents of the two new neighborhoods to design a revitalization strategy – a neighborhood plan representing its vision and priorities.  The neighborhood plan will serve as a “road map” and planning tool for each community.  Each neighborhood – Suncoast Estates and Palmona Park – will receive $100,000 ($200,000 total) to begin the neighborhood building process. 

Lee County Human Services provides a complement of integrated services to low-income families and disadvantaged neighborhoods, including emergency financial assistance, housing assistance, counseling services, housing rehabilitation, neighborhood infrastructure improvements and neighborhood building, and services for the homeless.  The department employs 42 people and has a Fiscal Year 2002 budget of $16.9 million.