The Lakewood Neighborhood Block Club Program will hold a city-wide block captains’ meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 6:45 PM in the Lakewood City Hall Auditorium, 12650 Detroit Avenue. All current block club captains are invited to attend.

The Block Captains meeting will include a discussion of the block watch signs and window stickers that will soon be available. There will also be a short presentation by a representative of Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP). ESOP has been at the forefront of the foreclosure crisis since 1999, and is a certified HUD Housing Counseling Agency, providing free foreclosure prevention services to Ohio homeowners. ESOP works with homeowners and their lenders to obtain affordable resolutions that preserve home ownership.

At 7:30 PM, there will be a presentation on neighborhood mediation and problem solving. The speaker will be Mr. Ian Heisey of Bellaire-Puritas Development Corporation. Since joining the staff at Bellaire-Puritas Development Corporation in 1996, Mr. Heisey has coordinated the Mediation Program which, with the help of trained community volunteers, offers dispute resolution assistance to any resident, landlord, tenant, business owner or community group in Ward 20 of Cleveland.

Lakewood Neighborhood Block Club is a resident-driven program that helps neighbors work together and work with police and other City departments to ensure safety and security for each person in the community. Block Club operates under the community policing principle that preventing crime and improving our City is everyone’s responsibility. It is successful because people want to assume a more active role in their communities and they work together in a partnership with the City to reduce or eliminate the threat of crime and enhance the quality of life for all.

Anyone interested in attending this meeting should RSVP by calling (216) 529-6657 or sending and e-mail to terri.richards@lakewoodoh.net.