By Lewis Cartee and Kevin Spigener
As 2013 begins, the East Atlanta Community Association (EACA) looks to its neighbors to support the organization for another year. Over the last few years, EACA has increased it organizational strength, and now the association is comprised of 17 committees. Their scope ranges from working with the city through land use, zoning, transportation, and public safety to creating a desirable area to call home with groups such as the Parents Network and Neighbor in Need. Our goal is to make our community a prettier place to live through beautification, parks, arts, and Recycle EAV.
In 2012, EACA was involved with the City of Atlanta in many ways. By creating the final zoning revisions for the commercial district, acting as a voice for mass transit in southeast Atlanta, advocating on behalf of East Atlanta’s Burgess-Peterson Academy, and lobbying the police department leadership for increased patrols during bar hours, the community association was constantly in the ear of city officials.
Understanding that a community is much more than policies and procedures, association leaders realize that making East Atlanta great includes creating a place that we can all be proud to call home in an environment that is welcoming for residents and businesses alike. Realizing how important the business community is to the continued growth of East Atlanta, EACA spent a great deal of time and energy resurrecting the East Atlanta Business Association (EABA).
Fans of the arts had the opportunity to enjoy our transformation of Brownwood Park during “Druganacht,” a performance art event that included 11 performances over five weeks, seen by hundreds of people. Families received attention from the Parents Network, comprised currently of six children’s peer groups that bring families together through outings and arts and crafts offerings. The Parents Network works with the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, the East Atlanta Strut Kids Area, and the Brownwood Park Easter Egg Hunt. In addition, Neighbor in Need continued offering emergency home repair assistance for seniors by working on six homes in 2012.
EACA performed quarterly beautification cleanups and maintenance at both the East Atlanta Village entrance and the Flat Shoals/Glenwood planters throughout the year. They also turned their efforts to bigger ideas on this front. The Adopt-a-Street program was created and taken as a model by the City of Atlanta, and in 2013 this program will begin to take root and spread throughout the community. Furthermore, the neighborhood can look forward to a joint EACA/EABA effort to have the village cleaned three times a week, thanks in part to a grant from the East Atlanta Foundation.
The Parks Committee continued to transform the park through the creation of a fitness trail and south-side walking trail, a north-side entrance, and railings for all stairs. Lastly, Recycle EAV continued its efforts by diverting over 37 tons of materials from the landfill, contributing to over 100 tons diverted since its inception.
EACA is always aiming to keep the residents of East Atlanta aware of issues that are important to them. Specifically, EACA’s Communication Committee saw the creation of 52 weekly online newsletters reaching roughly 1,200 recipients a week. These newsletters featured over 200 unique articles highlighting community meetings, spotlighting local organizations, informing the local citizenry, and allowing East Atlanta to stay informed and up to date. Realizing that a large number of households do not have ready access to our online paper, EACA also supported the Porch Press, a traditional newspaper which delivers 11 months of papers to 6000-plus households each month.
While the above are just a few of the examples of what the East Atlanta Community Association did last year, the success of this organization is only as strong as the volunteers that came out each and every week. EACA thanks you, and continues to ask for your support.
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