Over the past four years, 12 neighborhood associations in Champaign let their registration with the city drop, including 5th and Hill Neighborhood Group and Clark Park.

Others include Country Brook CARES, Mittendorf Neighborhood Association, Bristol Resident Committee and South Willis Neighborhood Group.

Though registrations tend to fluctuate over the years depending on neighborhood leadership, several associations have disbanded or let registration drop for various reasons. Some community leaders cited burnout, while others said they accomplished their neighborhood’s goals.

Registered associations qualify for small grants from the city for community projects and neighborhood cleanups. Eligible projects can be granted up to $2,500 and cleanups up to $2,000.

Associations are distinct from neighborhood watch groups, which primarily focus on crime- and safety-related initiatives, and are listed separately on the city’s website. However, the website said some watch groups partner with the city for other concerns “beyond crime.” There are currently 11 registered watch groups — including Country Brook and Mittendorf, indicating some groups simply switched types.

Since 2020, five associations were added or registered again, including Holiday Park in October 2020, Shadow Wood Mobile Home Park in August 2022 and Carver Park, Stonegate/Holiday Drive and Ridgewood Neighborhood Association in 2024.

There are 11 registered neighborhood associations as of December 2024.

The City of Champaign’s Neighborhood Relations Manager John Ruffin said the city promoted registration to these neighborhoods.

“With some proactive effort on our part, we worked to identify some core leaders to take on the leadership role in the neighborhood,” Ruffin said in an interview.

Deb Roberts, a resident of Carver Park, said the neighborhood association has been around for years, but it was just never registered. She said the city came to them about registering so projects such as fixing the streets and the flooding problems could be addressed. 

Neighborhood associations form to maintain and improve the neighborhood beyond just community safety according to the city’s website. Groups that are only focused on safety are instead referred to as neighborhood watch groups. 

There are also 22 registered homeowner associations in Champaign, two times the number of registered neighborhood associations. Homeowner associations require all property owners within a boundary to pay dues for amenities, which differs from a registered neighborhood’s improvement project goals.

Despite the shift in registered neighborhoods, Ruffin said the usage of the city’s small grants has been consistent in the last five years. 

Neighborhood associations can apply for up to $5,000 per year. Ruffin said the grants are often used for improvement projects, beautification efforts and social initiatives like block parties or neighborhood engagement events.

Because all associations are made up of volunteers and must hold a minimum of two meetings a year to remain registered, some associations cannot be maintained over time. 

Some leaders ‘burn out’

“The leaders burn out, the other volunteers from the community don’t step up, there might be a death, folks move away — we’re a very transient community,” Ruffin said. “Once you lose that core leadership, it’s very hard to get other folks to step into the role as being the leader.”

Eileen Oldham, former member of the 5th and Hill Neighborhood Group, which was registered until 2022, said many of the key members had died or were diagnosed with illnesses, which ultimately led to the disbandment. 

“Under these circumstances, it became very challenging to continue our efforts,” Oldham said in an email.

Ruffin said there is an update application each year that leaders are required to fill out. According to the city’s website, there must also be at least a primary and secondary leader for an association to stay registered.

The West Washington Street Watershed, which was shown on the city’s website until October 2021, is no longer registered for a different reason — the goals of the steering committee were completed. 

Steering committee member Brenda Diehl said roughly 15 years ago, people living in central Champaign were experiencing flooding because the storm drains were installed over 100 years ago when the area was farmland. 

Diehl said citizens were unhappy, so they started working with engineers and the city to fix the flooding issue. Instead of digging holes surrounded by fencing used to solve flooding in a different part of town, she said the city was very accommodating to alternative solutions proposed by the community. 

Preservation Pond was created to collect and drain excess rainwater, which Diehl said was the first step to solving the issue. Later, a second pond was dug up at Glenn Park with a path, gazebos and a playground surrounding the area so it could double as a community meeting space.

“There’s no activity happening among a core group of people or anything like that because the work is done,” Diehl said. “We were not created like many neighborhood associations that are created with the safety of the neighborhood.”

Diehl said there is a similar project being worked on in the United Garden Hills neighborhood because flooding has become an issue on that side of town.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Dec. 20, 2024 to include clarifying information on registered neighborhood watch groups.