Fort Wayne, IN (WOWO): Neighbor Link of Fort Wayne has just completed the first phase of in-depth study of some of the Summit City’s at need neighborhoods, as part of a long-term plan to make meaningful, lasting changes for the residents and empower genuine improvements in the quality of life.

Executive Director Andrew Hoffman tells WOWO News that the study found that the needs were very uniform across the neighborhoods surveyed and the residents expressed very similar concerns. Vacant houses was one major concern voiced, with residents looking for ways to get the properties occupied either through home ownership, or getting the properties as rentals.

Another key area of opportunity was networking or what Hoffman calls “Neighborhood Connectivity”. He said the idea is to get neighbors together and make sure everyone knows each other by name and even has opportunity to exchange contact information. Neighborhoods that are more active in pursuing this have better results in overall community improvement, according to the study, which was funded by a grant from the Foellinger Foundation.