Photo By Amber Martin | FORT CARSON, Colo. — Maj. Gen. David M. Hodne, commanding general, 4th Infantry...... read more read more
By Amber Martin
Garrison Public Affairs Office
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Leadership changed tactics at the monthly Community Information Exchange (CIE) by embedding the housing town hall March 16, 2022, at the William “Bill” Reed Special Events Center.
Fort Carson and 4th Infantry Division leaders, housing management and residents attended the event which kicked off the 80th Army Emergency Relief (AER) campaign, introduced Community Life NCOs (CLNCOs) and the Fort Carson Family Homes (FCFH) team, and highlighted Child Abuse Prevention Month.
After Maj. Gen. David M. Hodne, commanding general, 4th Inf. Div. and Fort Carson, shared his opening remarks, Fred Lewis, AER officer, Army Community Service (ACS), appealed to leaders to share the story of AER.
“Our story is 80 years of Soldiers taking care of Soldiers,” Lewis said.
The Army and Fort Carson’s goal this year is to have a 25% participation rate from Soldiers and the community. Last year, Fort Carson Soldiers donated approximately $103,000 and AER provided approximately $644,000 back in loans and grants.
Fort Carson and 4th Inf. Div. are working hard to highlight programs available to Soldiers and Families to help navigate the everyday stresses of life including finances and parenting.
Crystal Nierman, New Parent Support home visitor, ACS, reminded the audience about Child Abuse Prevention Month in April and shared information about the New Parent Support Program and other services offered through ACS before witnessing Hodne and Col. Nate Springer, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson, sign the Fort Carson Child Abuse Prevention Commanders’ Proclamation.
Springer transitioned the CIE into the housing town hall by inviting the CLNCOs up front to introduce themselves.
“We rolled out the Community Life NCO program late last year and it’s really helped us get eyes on the problem and get eyes on maintenance and housing,” Springer said. “CLNCOs work in partner with FCFH to make sure we are doing the best we can.”
CLNCOs walk through each housing village at least two times a week along with FCFH. When residents move in, CLNCOs are there to ensure the house is move-in ready and when residents move out they ensure the house is left in a quality state. They are the voices and advocates for on-post housing residents.
“This has been a great thing for the garrison and the division to keep really good eyes on housing and make sure they’re taking care of our Soldiers and Families,” Springer said.
The housing survey, which ran from Jan. 11 through March 7, 2022, is another way for residents to have their voices heard. This year, approximately 27% of residents completed the survey.
Springer was a strong proponent in promoting the survey, working beside FCFH knocking on residents’ doors and recognizing four residents each week who completed the survey with a gift.
“(The survey) sends a strong message to the Army about the things that are important to our Soldiers and Families in housing — maintenance, quality of housing, wait times … all the really good and the really bad,” Springer said.
The housing survey allows Fort Carson leaders to ask for more money from the Department of Defense for housing.
Older housing villages, including Cherokee West, Arapahoe and Choctaw, which were built between 1958 and 1962, are set for demolition and renovations over the next five years in order to update and build new neighborhoods.
“If you’ve driven past Cherokee West lately, you’ve noticed that we’ve moved every single family out of Cherokee West. We barricaded the streets. Balfour Beatty has closed down the utilities. We’re getting ready to start demolition of Cherokee West,” Springer said.
Lt. Gen. Douglas Gabram, commanding general, Installation Management Command, attended the CIE and housing town hall. Springer thanked him for attending and helping to move the demolition and renovations forward.
Housing town halls are a forum for residents to address their concerns with leadership and housing management. Numerous changes have been made because of residents sharing information about what is important to them.
Justin Taylor, a spouse and veteran living in Kiowa Village, shared a proactive idea that he is working to implement in his neighborhood along with Sgt. 1st Class Ron Taylor, CLNCO, Kiowa Village.
Justin Taylor reached out to residents through the Kiowa Village Facebook page and asked them to come together to help pick up trash once a month around the neighborhood to help beautify the area.
“I just want people to come together. This will be a good building block to help … getting new incoming and existing Soldiers to coordinate and take pride in their community as well,” said Justin Taylor.
Ron Taylor said the post on the Kiowa Village Facebook group received a lot of support from neighborhood residents. In the future, CLNCOs are hoping to get residents from other villages involved in cleaning and beautifying their neighborhoods.
Housing management also heard from another resident, Anne Porter, who lives in Dakota Ridge.
“There are times when you can barely get a car through the street, much less an emergency vehicle … is there a way to enforce that if you have extra vehicles that do not fit in your driveway or in your garage, (residents can) park it in one of the lots that are literally 50 feet away?”
FCFH and a representative from the Directorate of Emergency Services (DES) addressed her question with a multiple-part solution. Aymesha Melendez, community manager, FCFH, said she would ask residents through the Resident Café App and through the FCFH monthly newsletter to use the overflow parking lot before using street parking.
Steve McIntire, project director, FCFH, also proposed a long-term solution.
“In the design of the upcoming replacement of Cherokee West, we are incorporating more parking and the streets will be wider as well, so we’ll have more street parking,” McIntire said. “We understand that in other villages this has been a concern and we will address this in our new designs.”
DES added they would go through Dakota Ridge and look for the “no parking” signs and ensure residents are parked legally and safely.
Housing management and leaders stayed after the close of the town hall to answer questions and listen to residents’ concerns.
For more information about the housing quarterly update visit the CIE housing town hall at https://www.carson.army.mil/assets/docs/dpw/fy22_2ndqtr_town_hall.pdf.
| Date Taken: | 03.16.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2022 15:06 |
| Story ID: | 417111 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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