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Grass-Roots Groups Rely on Web Sites to Get the Word Out: Organizations Say Sites Can Save Time and Money

Posted on: Monday, 27 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Denise Oshodi, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Feb. 26--Not every neighborhood association, homeowners association or neighborhood activist group in Boise has its own Web site. But the ones that do say Web sites can save time and money when getting information out to the masses.

Several groups have worked to launch new Web sites or revamp old ones in the past year.

The groups range from activists fighting for a hot-button cause to established neighborhoods that want residents to have free, open access to neighborhood news and documents.

Here is what some neighborhood groups have done with their Web sites:

-- North End neighbors living near the Salvation Army Family Care Center: www.boothneighbors.org.

When neighbors found out the Salvation Army shelter on 24th and Bella streets cut its live-in program for pregnant teenagers and decided to house more families, they organized opposition. To help share every bit of news on the subject, they published a Web site.

Kris Hartung, who works at HP and has created music-oriented Web sites in the past, stepped up to publish the group's Web site.

"It was really easy for me to whip something together rather quickly," Hartung said.

The Web site helped field questions neighbors had about the shelter. Hartung posted letters the group wrote to the mayor, linked to news reports about the project, and listed the group's committees and contacts for Web visitors who wanted to find out more.

The site's last update was in December because the group is still working out an agreement with the Salvation Army, said Garth Newman, who helped lead the fight against the expanded shelter.

Hartung mentioned that if a neighborhood group puts up a Web site, it should make it clear who the "brains" behind the organization is and leave easy-to-find contact information.

-- Collister Neighborhood Association in Northwest Boise: www.collistercna.org.

The Collister neighborhood's Web site isn't new, but it's experiencing a revival.

"Really, it's a work in progress," Klocke said. "We're just trying to clean it up."

The green, gold and gray Web site has meeting minutes, the draft neighborhood plan that outlines the group's vision for the neighborhood, upcoming neighborhood events, and a list of contacts.

The site is a good way to get a lot of information out to a lot of people without having to send individual e-mails or make phone calls, Klocke said.

-- Mesa Neighborhood Association in East Boise: www.warm springsmesa.org.

The neighbor/volunteer Web master for the Mesa Neighborhood Association wanted to make the site look good. So the site has a lot of color -- cartoonish cacti, a brown lone ranger scene, a real picture that looks Foothills-esque.

"The whole visually exciting tactic is just sort of a trick to make people look at it," said David Paul Wyatt Perko, a graphic designer and Mesa neighborhood resident.

Perko recommends neighborhoods find a graphic designer or Web designer to work on their sites so they don't appear boring or hard to navigate.

Having a neighborhood Web site can help residents not get lost in the "jungle" of information on the Boise city Web site, Perko said. The Mesa site is a one-stop shop for emergency and services numbers.

The Web site also has a history section that details the geological and human history of the area.

Perko plans to add a new feature soon that highlights the neighborhood's emerging Neighborhood Watch Program.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

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Source: The Idaho Statesman, Boise

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