Cal Heights Neighborhood Association wins for best neighborhood newsletter in national conference

On the heels of their Neighborhoods, USA (NUSA) Neighborhood of the Year Grand Prize award in Indianapolis last year, the California Heights Neighborhood Association (CHNA) brought home top honors in the Best Neighborhood Newsletter competition at NUSA’s 38th Annual Conference on Neighborhood Concerns in Minneapolis last week.
Awards were presented in two divisions of newsletters— electronic and printed. In both categories, gold and silver levels were recognized. CHNA received the “Gold Level for Excellence in Neighborhood Newsletters” in the printed division for the association’s newsletter “The Heights,” which is produced, funded and distributed by association volunteers to 1,750 homes in California Heights every other month.
“We’re very pleased to bring more positive recognition home to Long Beach, and it’s a satisfying follow-up to our exciting Neighborhood of the Year award last year,” said John Royce, CHNA’s president. “It’s a labor of love. We’re very proud of our little newsletter, which we provide to every resident in our neighborhood at no charge. CHNA is a dues-free association.”

Royce explained that advertising revenue pays for the letter to be professionally printed, which requires them to maintain a rather professional schedule and system. “We even turn a little profit, but our goal was for it to at least pay for itself, which it has for many years,” he said.
The Willmore City Heritage Association took home a Silver Level achievement for its printed newsletter “The Willmore City Enterprise,” and the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office came away with a third-place finish in the “Best Neighborhood Program” award in the social-revitalization category, for their comprehensive gang-prevention strategy program. The 2013 recognitions continue a strong showing for Long Beach at NUSA in the last few years.
The 2013 Neighborhood of the Year award went to the Harlow Neighbors of Eugene, Oregon. Eugene will host the conference in May 2014. NUSA, established in 1975, seeks to build and strengthen neighborhood organizations by sharing their information and experiences and offer encouragement and insight in meeting the challenges facing communities.

Cal Heights and Willmore City newsletters are archived at calheights.org and willmorecity.org, respectively.

Source: CHNA