Atlanta, GA — The Kirkwood Neighbors Organization met via Zoom on Sunday, July 10, at 7 p.m. for their monthly meeting.

Below are the major highlights from the meeting:

Brooke Condrey, chief of staff for Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari’s office, joined the meeting to deliver a few updates.

“Councilmember Bakhtiari passed a resolution to make any violations around reproductive freedoms the lowest priority for [Atlanta Police Department] as well as prohibiting them from using city funds to investigate any of the supposed violations,” Condrey said.

Condrey also discussed the demolition of Gospel Tabernacle, a church located right at 277 Clifton Street SE in Atlanta.

“[The church] is just outside of Kirkwood, but it does affect the Kirkwood area. It’s scheduled to be demolished Wednesday [July 13],” Condrey said. “We’re working with APD, PAD, and other diversion service providers basically to provide resources that are living there because we want everything done safely.

“What we anticipate by demolishing this church is it’s going to interrupt a lot of the surrounding crime.”

Have any questions for Councilmember Bakhtiari’s office? Reach out via email at [email protected] or by phone at 404-330-6048.

Environmental Committee urges people to volunteer

KNO Environmental Committee Chair Earl Williamson continues to urge community members to come volunteer in Kirkwood, noting that the pandemic has negatively affected turnout.

“It can’t be said enough, given the changes in pandemic volunteer patterns, I need warm bodies from the neighborhood to show up, or else we’re not going to be able to carry the load we’ve been carrying,” Williamson said. “Sorry to be blunt, but that’s basically what’s happening.”

Below are details for the upcoming volunteer opportunities:

– This Saturday, July 16, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., volunteers will be working on spreading wood chips on the southwest corner of Branham Park to help stop erosion in places where there is no topsoil or grass left.

– KNO will also be having a small group of volunteers join Trees Atlanta this Saturday, July 16, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kirkwood Urban Forest (KUF) Preserve to clean up around the bridge (pruning trees, plant trimming, removing invasive species, etc).

– Then next Saturday, July 23, Kirkwood community members will be meeting with a contractor from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to paint the KUF bridge, using fire retardant and slip retardant paints.

For each of these events, all gloves, tools, and any supplies needed will be provided to volunteers.If you have any questions about any of these events, reach out to Williamson via email at [email protected].

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