Dear Neighbors:
It’s been a long time since we last contacted you, and I wanted to share
with you the progress we’ve made since then. Before I begin, however, I want
to thank all of you who took part in our needs assessment survey. I’ve
drafted a report on the preliminary results based on the 50 answers from
Rock Creek Hills and 99 from Kensington Heights. Tomorrow, I’ll share the
highlights with you. Also, if any of you would like a copy of this draft,
let me know and I’ll send you one. Please note it’s not yet finalized into a
professional/technical document, but gives you the facts. Of these, the most
impressive was the willingness of so many of you to volunteer your time to
help your neighbors.
For those of you who haven’t yet completed our survey, please do so at your
earliest convenience. We have a new link as follows:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/
our neighborhood so that our results will be statistically valid and more
importantly, that we’ll be carrying out your wishes when we’re “up and
running.”
We created this new survey link because we need to be able to accommodate
any additional Kensington communities that would like to join us. So far,
people from Rock Creek Hills-Palisades (RCP) and the Town of Kensington
(ToK) have expressed interest in working with us, and two from each
community have joined our Steering Committee and are working to get
endorsement from their civic associations and neighborhoods. In addition,
several people from Chevy Chase View and Parkwood have approached us and may
also seek membership in the Villages of Kensington. Please be assured that
RCH and other VoK communities will be able to participate in all
decision-making affecting the entire group and will have their own Board
members. However, member communities will be able to maintain their autonomy
in an arrangement similar to Home Rule in Great Britain.
Now, here’s some of what we’ve done so far:
1. Established a Steering Committee which meets monthly and has expanded
to 12 members including ToK and RCP.
2. Developed a Village logo (see above) which looks a lot nicer in
different colors, 3-fold brochure and flyer
3. Created a Village website, www.villagesofkensingtonmd.org
<http://www.
and updates
4. Set up a Village Facebook,
https://www.facebook.com/
any problems, please contact Rachel Gall at [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
5. Received confirmation of Incorporation from the State of Maryland
6. Confirmed that VoK will be intergenerational with members within the
20895 zip code, and that members will be charged a fee to cover operational
expenses-one that will be on a sliding scale to accommodate lower-income
members
7. Began building partnerships with community organizations including
Kensington Park Senior Living and Seabury Resources for Aging with plans to
partner and/or work with social service, healthcare, and religious
organizations
8. Participated in community/promotional activities like Kensington’s
Day of the Book last April
Our next big tasks are to complete all the paperwork necessary to become a
viable non-profit organization, e.g., applying for Federal (501c3) and State
tax-free status, and completing and implementing our strategic,
fund-raising, and publicity plans. We will continue work under the guidance
of Pazit Aviv, Montgomery County Village Coordinator, the nationwide Village
to Village Network, the local Washington Area Villages Exchange, and leaders
of neighboring Villages, who have already been most helpful.
From now on, I’ll keep you posted with monthly updates on our progress.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and thank you for
your interest in our Village.
Sincerely,
Suzanne
Suzanne Bowler, Ph.D.
Coordinator, RCH (Villages of Kensington)
10106 East Bexhill Drive
Kensington, MD 20895