Alliance for Community Enrichment Program

Benefits of Becoming a Recognized Community

Community Liaison A City of Gastonia staff member will be designated as a liaison between the City and your community. Community Liaisons are City employees that have the knowledge and experience to assist your community in different ways. These liaisons may regularly attend community association meetings to listen and respond to community concerns that can be addressed through City services and resources.
	Movie-in-a-Box Program This kit contains everything a neighborhood would need to host a neighborhood movie night, including a movie screen, projector, Blu-ray player, and speakers. The Movie-in-a-Box is available for Recognized Communities to utilize at no cost in order to host their own movie night. Learn more and reserve the Movie-in-a-Box equipment.
Monthly Newsletters As a means of keeping our citizens updated, a monthly newsletter is published and sent out to Recognized Community Leaders. These newsletters provide information of upcoming City-sponsored events, opportunities for public engagement and public comment periods, highlights from the City's Recognized Communities, and much more. View current and previous editions of the A.C.E. Newsletter.
	A.C.E. Matching Grant Program The A.C.E. Matching Grant Program helps Recognized Communities improve and strengthen their neighborhoods through resident-led projects and community involvement. The program provides matching grant funds from the City of Gastonia to support projects that enhance neighborhoods, encourage community pride, build partnerships, and bring residents together to address local needs. Learn more about the matching grant program.
Priority to the Gastonia Municipal Citizens' Academy A 10-session municipal education program for adults begins each January and meets once every two weeks. Participants learn about the different aspects of Gastonia’s government, and learn first-hand about the services of the City. Leaders of Recognized Communities have priority in participating in this academy. Learn more about the Citizens' Academy.
	Access to Meeting Space without Fee With advanced notice and no conflicting reservations, recognized communities can request access to meeting space free of charge at local recreation centers, public facilities, fire departments, or police station.
City Staff Attendance for Meetings Should your community have a concern that primarily focuses on a single service that the City provides, the Community Liaison will assist your community with securing a City staff member from the Department that can address this concern at an upcoming meeting.

Community and Neighborhood Cleanups
The City of Gastonia makes continuous strides in keeping Gastonia aesthetically beautiful through litter clean-ups and beautification projects. Through a partnership with Keep Gastonia Beautiful, neighborhoods and communities can request litter clean-up supplies at no charge for community litter sweep projects.

In order for a community or neighborhood to become a formally Recognized Community, a community leader should review and complete the application for Formal Recognition. View the application that can be completed online. 

If the community meets the needed criteria for recognition, as mentioned in the application, the Neighborhood Program Administrator will prepare all the necessary Council paperwork, including maps, and will notify the designated community contact as to when the community recognition request will be considered by City Council.

Once formally recognized, the Mayor will present the community with a Certificate of Recognition, and the community will be assigned a Community Liaison. The liaison will serve as the community’s single point of contact with the City. Liaisons attend community meetings to provide information regarding City services and programs and to receive information from the community that may help the City in developing an effective response to the needs of the community.