Neighborhood Services Division
About Neighborhood Services Division
The City of Jackson promotes and supports community efforts that contribute to vibrant neighborhoods. The city recognizes the need to creatively plan and partner with residents to ensure that this city continues to be a place where families and businesses want to locate, live and thrive. It is to this end that the city created the Neighborhood Services Division (NSD).
The Neighborhood Services Division (NSD) was created to bridge the gap between the city of Jackson’s governmental body and its citizens. Its intent is to strengthen relationships amongst the more than 250 neighborhoods and the City of Jackson by collaborating with the neighborhood associations, community partners, stakeholders, and leaders. One of this division's goals is to equip the public with the knowledge of how the government process works when addressing constituent inquiries and concerns by facilitating inclusive discussions and fostering open conversations about important civic issues.
NSD provides information to the citizens of Jackson regarding all five divisions in the Planning Department: J-Tran, Office of Economic Development, Office of Code Services, Office of Housing and Community Development, and the Office of Zoning and Land Use, along with all of their sub-divisions via an education course curriculum called Government 101. In addition, the Neighborhood Services Division will be the point of contact in the community providing a visible presence for the Planning Department.
The program driving the Neighborhood Service Division is the Healthy Neighborhood Initiative. The objective of the Healthy Neighborhood Initiative is to encourage neighborhood growth and development by providing a financial investment in the form of a small grant to neighborhood associations. There are four (4) programming areas:
NSD will utilize interdepartmental resources, neighborhood association collaborations, community leaders and partners in a collective effort to help build capacity in undervalued low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods.
NSD Mission
The mission of the Neighborhood Services Division is to educate and collaborate as we rebrand, rebuild, and elevate where we live, laugh, work, and play.
NSD Vision
The NSD is committed to building strong, thriving, and sustainable neighborhoods through education, capital investment, increased community participation, and improved access for residents to its governing leadership.
Guidance by FABRIC (I AM JACKSON):
It is the goal of FABRIC to create and sustain strong neighborhoods. Individual neighborhoods can be defined by physical and / or organizational parameters. The strength of a neighborhood can be determined by the level of positive interaction, organization or involvement of residents and by the physical conditions of property and structures that dominate the neighborhood. Because of the variety of neighborhood conditions in Jackson, it is important to target appropriate resources to appropriate locations.
NSD Philosophy
Our drive is to create a unified civic fabric that is woven by relationships built upon a singular belief that the strength of Jackson lies within the collective power of its people.
We Believe in Jackson:
We know talent exists in every neighborhood, but, because of years of disinvestment, opportunity does not. We believe our people are our city’s greatest strength. We are firmly rooted in support of Jackson.
We Encourage Innovation:
We are risk takers and are open to new ideas! We support pilot projects and creative initiatives that seek to reduce economic and racial disparities and fuel opportunities for growth, learning, and positive change.
We Deeply Value Partnership:
We strive to be connectors and collaborators and are here to support the people doing the hard work in our community. We aim to attract additional public and private investment in the City of Jackson.
Our Doors are Always Open:
We learn by listening, reading, and engaging. We welcome conversation and debate about strategies for how to improve Jackson. We encourage you to contact us, engage, and apply – we’d love to hear from you!