Dear Neighbors,
My name is Sarah Koucky and I am the new President of NANA. I have lived most of my life in North Avondale and have been a member of NANA for over twenty years. I am so excited to serve as the President of the North Avondale Neighborhood Association.
I am a North Avondale resident through and through. I graduated from the North Avondale Elementary School, Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati. I worked at Cintas for twenty-years, which included responsibilities in finance and compliance and recently retired as Vice President of Compliance at Stericycle.
Most recently during my retirement, I focused on caring for my elderly parents who have been North Avondale residents for over 50 years and caring for new grandchildren. All of my six grandchildren live within a few miles of North Avondale and enjoy coming to play at grandma and grandpa’s house.
In addition to my family, I have been working on giving back to society. I am currently part of the NANA beautification team and volunteer weekly at Seasongood Square Garden. I also recently served on the Clinton Hills Swim Club Board of Trustees.
I have been a North Avondale resident most of my life and dedicated to this neighborhood. My goal is to help support a diverse and inclusive neighborhood where ALL FAMILIES live and grow together. North Avondale is a unique neighborhood where we have chosen to live in and raise children in this wonderful diverse neighborhood.
I recently asked a few Board Members what they felt they needed to be successful in serving the NA community. Interestingly both mentioned ZONING support. I thought that was interesting. So that will be a goal for 2022-2023.
Many of you remember that the North Avondale residents recently fought and won a unique challenge in our neighborhood with the potential sale of the Rose Hill home to the Legionnaires of Christ. We fought this and won preserving our family friendly neighborhood. Unfortunately, I believe our greatest challenge is with the City that continues to disregard our neighborhood objectives. There are many other examples of housing of this type that we should be monitoring and potentially challenging.
The North Avondale Community Master Plan has since 1974 focused on restoration of owner occupied, single family character homes. I believe North Avondale should continue to focus on issues that threaten our neighborhood. We should continue to challenge the city and oppose outside developers and out of state home buyers where they do not have the same neighborhood goals “to support a diverse and inclusive neighborhood where ALL FAMILIES live and grow together.” This will be a long term, continuous battle that we will need to continue to fight.
As I reflect on our wonderful community, I want to remind all of you that we need everyone to give back. Great neighborhoods like North Avondale need everyone to participate. Over the next few days, please think about where you can help. We need all types of help, and resources. We are looking for neighbors interested in dedicating a few hours on many different areas, for example: social activities, beautification, membership/technology and zoning. Please feel free to reach out to any Board member if you want to help.
Thank you and I look forward to serving our neighborhood.
Sarah Koucky