Executive Summary

In July 2012, the City of Kettering officially joined the national Cities of Service coalition, thereby making a strong commitment to engage and empower volunteers to address the urgent needs of Kettering neighborhoods.

For years, the City of Kettering has participated in USA WEEKEND Magazine and Points of Light national Make A Difference Day. Cities of Service allows Kettering to extend its annual Make A Difference Day tradition into a yearlong initiative to tackle our City’s most pressing need, neighborhood revitalization.

As the “City of Volunteers”, Kettering thrives on service. Many have worked endless hours to impact our aging community. It is important that we continue to grow and expand our initiative to invigorate, further sustain and improve our community.

Our initiative will focus on this specific challenge: Neighborhood Revitalization.

• Volunteers need to be used strategically to address the City’s most pressing need within neighborhoods.
• Neighbors and residents need to positively interact with each other resulting in community cohesion and sustainability.

This initiative invites residents to convene and connect with their neighbors, service participants and City staff to create a more united, vibrant Kettering.

Our initiative has two important goals:

• Assist residents to take ownership of their neighborhoods and build a sense of pride in their surroundings through neighborhood revitalization projects.
• Create and elevate volunteer opportunities to increase resident interaction.

This document serves as a comprehensive service plan and coordinated strategy focused on matching volunteers and established community partners to the area of greatest need, neighborhood revitalization. Kettering, Ohio is proud to be one of the cities in the nation that is a Cities of Service coalition member.