The following was originally published in the February 10th issue of The Herald Dispatch. For more information, go to www.herald-dispatch.com.

How do we solve difficult problems? Think about it. How do societies, groups and individuals tackle crime and drugs, disease and poverty, homelessness and hopelessness? Do we close our doors and ignore them? Do we expect others to solve big problems for us? Do we become insular and try to tackle them ourselves? Or do we work with others to solve them? I believe how we answer this question says a lot about us and our society.

This spring, Create Huntington is partnering with the West Virginia Center for Civic Life, the Neighborhood Institute of Huntington and United Way of the River Cities to hold a series of forums aimed at promoting safe and strong neighborhoods, and preventing crime. In these forums we will look for ways that individuals, neighborhoods, organizations, government officials and law enforcement can work together to have the greatest impact on community safety.

The goals of the forums are to:

• Engage local residents and help them think and talk with each other about community safety.
• Help people discover opportunities to take action to improve community safety.
• Build upon the strategic planning sponsored by Create Huntington in 2008-2009.
• Increase participation in existing groups that are already working on community issues.
• Boost the momentum for change by sharing information and coordinating action across groups and neighborhoods.
• Create a culture where individuals, organizations, neighborhoods and law enforcement officials can collaborate in an open respectful way to improve safety and security.

We will need your help to accomplish this:

We are inviting neighborhood associations, schools, and other community and faith-based organizations to host a community or public forum anytime during the month of April.

We are seeking community volunteers to serve as forum moderators and attend a three-hour orientation in March.

We are asking everyone in the Huntington area (Barboursville, Cabell County, Wayne County, Southern Ohio and beyond) to participate in one of more of the forums.

At these forums, participants will be encouraged to discuss the problems, brainstorm steps they can take to address the problems and identify the areas where they need help from others, learn from successful efforts already going on in the area and define concrete steps everyone can take to improve the safety of our community.

In May, we will bring the community together for a summit to share what each of the groups learned and to discuss steps to be taken on a community-wide basis.

So I ask again, how do we solve difficult problems? I believe we solve them by coming together as citizens, groups, elected officials and civil servants; by allowing the amazing ingenuity of individuals to shine through; by defining the affirmative steps necessary to solve the problem; and then by committing to those steps.

You are invited to be part of the solution to the region’s crime problem. To do this, your first step is to contact one of the partnering organizations or to attend a Create Huntington Chat ‘n Chew. Chat ‘n Chews are held 5:30 – 7:00 pm every Thursday in the lobby of the Frederick Building, 940 Fourth Avenue. They are free and open to everyone. For more information about Create Huntington, go to www.createhuntington.com.