The Civic League for Regional Atlanta

"Goodbye 2009, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out." It’s a sentiment that’s been repeated a lot lately, and, true, 2009 was in many ways a real stinker. I can think of one thing to be thankful for though: The mess that was 2009 has opened a lot of eyes to some real and complex problems that need to be addressed, and created a sense of urgency toward doing so together.

At The Civic League for Regional Atlanta, we focus on the people and communities within the 10 counties our region encompasses: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale. Our role is to involve people like you in creating solutions to the problems our region faces, and not coincidentally, many of Metro Atlanta’s problems look a lot like those at the state and national level.

Experts can debate "top-down" versus "bottom-up" solutions all they want, but I know that if we work together to address the issues around us, our good work can grow and help solve problems in other communities and at higher levels. To that end, here are three events I’d like to bring to your attention:

• On Jan. 19, we’ll host our final Neighborhood Forum on Public Health and Healthcare, where we ask you what can be done on a regional level to improve the health of the more than 4 million people who live here. This event will be held in Norcross, but it is open to everyone. We’ve even scheduled it so that you should have plenty of time to get there after work.

• On Feb. 25, we invite you attend our annual What’s Right with the Region! event, where we will honor three organizations and two individuals who have successfully worked in a variety of ways to make Metro Atlanta a better place. Their stories are inspiring, and it’s always great to celebrate success.

• In September, we will host our second annual Neighborhood Summit. It is impossible to describe the ideas, momentum and spirit generated by the first Summit held this past fall, though we will attempt to do so in the coming months as we encourage you to involve your neighborhoods in this event.

Other programs are in the works, and we will let you know as they are scheduled. As always, the issues that are important to you are important to us. Your ideas and feedback inform our programming decisions, and we are always eager to hear from you This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Thank you for your continued support of The Civic League for Regional Atlanta. On behalf of the staff and board of directors, I wish you a happy and healthy new year!

Lesley Grady

Chair, Board of Directors