Tag: Neighborhoods

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Spring Cleanups

It’s time to clean! MSD is partnering with our neighborhoods this May to help clean up our streets and alleys. If your neighborhood is not hosting an event, please consider volunteering to help another neighborhood. Facebook events are linked when available.

May 3rd

Old West End – 7:45 AM | Meet at Clifton-Wallace Park

Industry – 7:45 AM | Meet in Heekin Park at corner of 9th & Penn

Thomas Park/Avondale – 7:45 AM | Meet at Thomas Park

South Central – 7:45 AM | Meet at the Community Garden on 7th St.

May 10th

McKinnley – 8:00 AM | Meet at the Daycare on Columbus Ave.

Riverside/Normal City – 7:45 AM | Meet at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Morningside/McCormick

Whitely – 8:00 AM | Meet at the Buley Center

May 17th

Southside – 7:45 AM | Meet at Frankie D’s Flea Market

East Central – 7:45 AM | Meet at the corner of Vine and Main

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NLC 2025-2026 Training Schedule

Two women speak to each other across a table at the 2023 IDEA Conference

EVERYONE is welcome. You don’t have to hold an official role in your neighborhood to attend. Anyone interested in getting involved is invited!

Thanks to funding provided by CenterPoint Energy Foundation, we have developed a training schedule for our Neighborhood Leadership Council / CenterPoint Scholar meetings that we hope will help build everyone’s leadership capacity. Here’s what you can look forward to over the next 12 months!

Tuesday, April 15 6-7 PM
The Importance of Neighborhoods		Tuesday, October 14 6-7 PM
CenterPoint Scholar Project Pitch
Tuesday, May 20 6-7 PM
Effective Communication – Listening with your Eyes		Tuesday, November 18 6-7 PM
Celebrating Lessons Learned
Tuesday, June 17 6-7 PM
How to Fund your Association’s Work		Tuesday, January 20 6-7 PM
Recruitment
Tuesday, July 15 7-9 PM
Neighborhoods Pool Party @ Tuhey		Tuesday, February 17 6-7 PM
Stakeholder Meet and Greet & CenterPoint Scholar Presentations
Tuesday, August 19 6-7 PM
Conflict Management		IDEA Conference – March 7 9 AM – 3 PM
Tuesday, September 16 6-7 PM
Resident Listening

Come hungry! We always provide dinner at the start of the training.

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2023 Spectrum of Development Update

Building Better Neighborhoods (BBN) was established as a program of Ball State University in 2014. Over the last ten years BBN has helped neighborhood associations meet development goals that fall within the “Spectrum of Development”. These include things like registering at the Indiana Secretary of State as a non-profit and acquiring a bank account in the name of the association. BBN has also assisted in setting up social media accounts and providing sample Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. Every neighborhood is different, and their needs are unique. BBN strives to meet every neighborhood where they are in their development journey and provide the assistance required to get them where they want to be to best meet the needs of their residents. 

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Muncie Action Plan CenterPoint Scholars initiative update!

CenterPoint Scholar class of 2024 group photo

MAP has been providing neighborhood leadership skill development since 2010 through the Neighborhood Leadership Council. In October 2023, MAP received a generous grant from CenterPoint Energy to create a new program to train ten individuals in grassroots advocacy. The program began with a competitive application process in January 2024 and an announcement of Scholars at the March 2024 IDEA Conference.

The CenterPoint Scholars attended a weekend retreat at Hueston Woods in April to set the framework for the year-long program and to build connections between participants. Scholars are participating in monthly trainings (Mar. 2024 – Mar. 2025) on topics that include project management, conflict resolution, and trust building while working towards the completion of projects that will positively impact our city’s neighborhoods.

The 2024-2025 CenterPoint Scholars are Alexis Dishman (Western Woods), Bernice Graham (Whitely), Christah Brantley (McKinley), Gracie Scholl (Thomas Park/Avondale), Judah Smith (Halteman Village), Marquiese McClendon (Southside), Napoleon Price Jr. (South Central), Patricia Akins (Industry), Rheaunna Jones (Carlton), and William Thomas (Thomas Park/Avondale).

Learn more

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Official Boundaries

Muncie is unique in that if you are inside the city limits, you are more than likely in a neighborhood. Unlike other cities, which have one or more historic neighborhoods surrounding a downtown, Muncie is a city of neighborhoods. It has been said that its current map was devised through public comment and at the hand of the City of Muncie’s Community Development Department in the 1960’s. That the small size of the westside neighborhoods are due to their historic plats and covenants, many of which still held some power, and the vastness of Southside was due to a brother and sister that lived on opposite ends that expressed a desire to live in the same neighborhood.

Click here to view the map of Muncie’s current neighborhoods.

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Practice Hospitality

Practice makes perfect, as the old adage goes. But why hospitality? What does it mean to be hospitable?

Hospitality is extending a welcome to another and it is a basic act of kindness. When we are hospitable we are creating an environment that makes others feel relaxed and at ease.

Think of a time that you felt welcomed into another’s home or at an event. What made you feel that way? Did the host greet you individually with a smile? Did they introduce you to others so that you could build connections? What was the environment like? Was there food and drink and comfortable places to sit that invited conversation?

Being hospitable is extending welcome and is an important part of being a good neighbor. Everyone wants to feel like they belong – in their workplace, in their social sphere, and in their home.

How can you make your neighbors feel that they are an important part of the neighborhood? Here are a few suggestions:

  • Invite them to attend a neighborhood meeting or gathering like a picnic, ice cream social, or ultimate Frisbee game.
  • Find out what foods they enjoy and treat them to fresh baked Naan, chocolate chip cookies, or sopapilla.
  • Get to know them! Find out the names of their children, pets, and family members and what they enjoy doing.
  • Host a dinner party and invite several neighbors to help build connections.

Building better neighborhoods is the work of all of us and an easy way to start is by extending a welcome to your neighbors.