Calling All Lemon Grovies to Action!

Are you tired of parts of downtown smelling really, really bad? Of looking at mattresses and desolate back lots of stores when you bring your kids to school or take the back way to Henry’s? Would you like more healthy food choices or, for that matter, more restaurants serving delicious entrees that are good for you? Has graffiti been an eyesore for you or a cause of concern about what is going on in your neighborhood?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, the is where you want to spent your next 13 Wednesday evenings.

Do you feel safe walking your neighborhood? Do you know all your neighbors on your block? Do you watch out for each other and each other’s properties? Do you feel safe and secure while shopping at any time of the day or evening in Lemon Grove? Can you buy what you want here? Are your friends coming to Lemon Grove to hang out because they love our small town and what it has to offer?

If you answered “no” to any or all of the questions above, most certainly the is where you want to hang out for the next 13 Wednesday evenings!

What is that ? I am glad you asked. It is a 14-week program designed to bring community members who want to improve their community to the same table and to develop tools to implement this change throughout the sessions.

The focus is on health. Most will think, well, that is easy. Eat better and/or less and exercise more. Done. Right? Wrong. This is the end goal, but how to we get there?

Eating better is not just a personal choice. Much depends on the environment we live in. For us in Lemon Grove, that means that we need more stores and/or farmers markets selling fresh produce and other healthy food items. We need restaurants serving up healthy fare. And we need those stores sprinkled throughout the city so they can be easily reached. People need to feel safe to shop there.

Now for example, many people do not like to shop downtown. There are areas which smell bad, dubious people might hang about and some of the lots look like trash depositories. So, many rather drive, often out of town, instead of walking to a store close by. 

Walkability of neighborhoods is a huge factor if people of all ages will get exercise or not. Safety is the first issue. Of course sidewalks come to mind, but that is just one issue. How safe would you feel if the area you are walking through has graffiti all over and shows general neglect. I know that I would drive.

During the sessions, participants will inform themselves of all the different aspects involved in creating a healthy environment. The next step is to identify areas in need of improvement. Then, the group will decide on a project (or several), figure out the action steps needed to bring it into form and finally move forward to implementation.

The hope and goal of this program is, of course, that the 14 weeks are just the beginning of many community improvement projects created by and for the community.

It was just last week that I posted my first blog defining what it means to me to be a conscientious Lemon Grovy, and by Sunday night, I found the invitation to join this leadership project— an invitation to put action where my mouth is (in this case my frantically typing fingers).

Sometimes, it is scary how quickly the Universe provides us with what we asked for! 

I did go to the first meeting this past Wednesday and already I can feel the buzzing of the energy of change. I am looking forward to the next 13 weeks and hope that I will meet many of you, my fellow concerned Lemon Grove citizens, at the community center every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. sharp.