Update: The deadline to participate has been extended to Sunday, January 22nd.
The deadline for Northside residents to participate in the Northside Community Assessment Survey is approaching.
Northside residents are encouraged to share their dreams, concerns and necessities in a new survey.
According to officials from LCG and the Northside Survey Group, the Northside Community Assessment Survey is available online, until December 17.
Carlos Harvin, Chief of Minority Affairs for LCG said his goal is to help northside residents improve the quality of their lives.
"This survey is so important, and I want to thank Reverend Cluse for coming up with the inspiration, the vision to do this, to go directly to the people because we need to hear what the needs, what the concerns, what the frustrations are and we’ve got to come up with answers," Harvin said.
Together, Harvin and retired social worker, Sylvia Cluse are making strides by bridging the gap between city officials and the community.
Cluse said Northgate Mall is a staple in the northside and closing businesses hurts the economy.
"I couldn’t even come up with the words to tell you how detrimental it was because there were several businesses in that Northgate Mall and people were hired to mend these businesses," Cluse said. "So, we lost a tremendous number of jobs."
According to LCG, the goal is to gather at least, five thousand survey responses over the next month.
Harvin said if they reach this minimum, the data will account for roughly ten percent of the northside population.
The survey is designed to identify necessary resources for the community like employment and business opportunities, healthcare, etc.
"There’s not enough progress," Harvin said. "There’s a lot of pain and we want to turn this into commerce, we want to build businesses, we want to build neighborhoods, we can turn those blighted properties around."
Cluse said there is a clear distinction between the northside and the rest of Lafayette.
"Lafayette is a wonderful city, but everybody knows it is separated in terms of demographics and also the who-haves and the who have-nots," Cluse said. "Although northside is a very viable and vibrant community, we have issues with disparities."
Anyone interested in participating in the Northside Community Assessment Survey, should visit the LCG website or click here before the deadline on December 17 at 10:59 PM.
