Street Captains
Become a Street Captain
Our Street Captains are the heart of Kingswood. Count on yours. And consider becoming one.
It’s all about communication. With over 200 households in our neighborhood, it is impossible for the president or the board to maintain an up-to-date awareness of the needs of all residents. However, by assigning at least one Street Captain for each street, we are able to break the task into bite-sized pieces. Our Street Captains become the eyes and ears of Kingswood.
What role does a Street Captain play? Essentially, a Street Captain’s job is to get to know who lives in each home in their zone and establish two-way communication. The ultimate goal of our Street Captains is to foster a feeling of community and positive support for each of their respective zones.
What are some representative duties? A Street Captain’s duties are very important, occur only periodically. So, the job is not as daunting as it might appear.
- General Awareness. Basically, Street Captains serve as points of contact to remain in touch with block residents and be aware of needs, ideas, and issues affecting the residents on their streets, bringing such issues to the attention of the board if any action is required or requested. At the same time, when a resident has a question or concern, they can turn to their Street Captain, who will be “plugged in” to some of the people who can provide answers.
- Official Communications. Our listserv has taken on many tasks involving communication, but, in some cases, it makes better sense to disseminate information in printed form. Street Captains will deliver some limited printed information, personally, to neighbors who are not on our listserv or don’t have email.
- Information Collection. From time to time, the neighborhood may conduct a survey or produce an need information to produce an updated revision of our neighborhood directory. At these times, to insure complete coverage of the neighborhood, it becomes invaluable to have door-to-door collection of information.
- Committee Liaison. The Street Captain is entrusted with updating the Welcome Committee of houses sold, so we can welcome new neighbors. Similarly, the Street Captain will help the Benevolence Committee stay on top of births, illnesses, and deaths. Overall, our Street Captains are key to providing valuable information to insure the success of all our committees.
- Organize Events. Street Captains may need to assist in encouraging attendance at neighborhood-wide functions, such as the annual picnic, the Easter Egg Hunt, etc. In addition, Street Captains may want to promote connections within their zone by serving as the organizers for block parties and other events designed to bring their neighbors together.
How can you help? If you become a Street Captain, and adopt a street, you’ll get to know your neighbors by going back to the basics of traditional, face to face neighbor interaction.
Street Captains are responsible for keeping current on only their own zone, typically neighbors on their street. So, we encourage signing up for only as many houses as you can handle comfortably and visiting all of your houses. Subsequently, if you find that you have taken on too much, or that your life no longer supports your being a Street Captain, know that we support you in passing on the role to someone else.
What do we need? Currently, we have a Street Captain for every zone in Kingswood. However, in some cases, a zone might be large enough that it should be split with another person. In addition, some of our Street Captains have had their zone for some time and might welcome an offer of having someone else take over or share their responsibilities. We also have a few Street Captains who could use a “foster” Street Captain who would be willing to fill in while the official Street Captain is away for a vacation or for the season. As in everything, Many hands make light work.
Please let the KNA president know if you’d like to learn more about becoming become part of the Street Captain network and helping increase communication and connection among your neighbors