on 02-07-2009 01:38

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET - In today's busy, computer-driven lifestyles, "being neighborly" sounds like a quaint practice from the past. However, residents of Quality Hill are finding there are many advantages to making an effort to know one another.

Loosely picking up on a past format, a group of like-minded homeowners has formed a Quality Hill neighborhood alliance. Since last spring, members have reached out to fellow residents of this 20-block enclave from Walcott and Summit streets to the beginning of Armistice Boulevard to promote the idea of looking out for one another and working together.
According to Joe Asermely and Alana Riley, who have spearheaded the alliance effort, the group has held a series of monthly meetings at the nearby St. Joseph Church on Walcott Street and has established its own Web site to streamline communications.
The alliance held a successful neighborhood clean-up in the fall, and also formed a "crime watch" in response to some area vandalism and break-ins. In addition, around Thanksgiving, the group took on two community service projects, organizing a successful canned food drive to benefit the Pawtucket soup kitchen and a winter coat collection that helped the city-wide Warm A Heart coat drive.
Asermely, who lives on Walnut Street, said that when he first moved into the area about a decade ago, an active Quality Hill Neighborhood Association was in place. Interest and attendance at meetings dwindled, however, and the association eventually disbanded.
He said the new group is by design structured more informally than the association, which had a slate of officers and other procedures. "For now, we just want to be a group of people who care about the neighborhood," he said.
Both Asermely and Riley said the new cohesive effort was sparked by a series of minor crimes. They contacted Dist. 4 City Councilor John J. Barry III, who put them in touch with members of the Pawtucket Police Department.
Major Arthur Martins, Sgt. Edward St. Pierre and Patrol Officer Kenneth Provost of the community police unit met with residents, providing them with guidelines on how to set up an effective crime watch and neighborhood alliance.
Asermely credited Barry in particular with helping get the crime watch established, and for responding quickly to various issues and concerns. "He has been a valuable asset to us," Asermely said.
As part of the alliance, there are 10 individuals who have volunteered to be "block captains" assigned to a certain number of streets. These individuals are responsible for making themselves known and, in turn, getting to know the neighbors living nearby, and for being the conduit of communication.
"They are essentially the ‘go to' person," said Riley. She added, however, that residents are still encouraged to contact the police directly for concerns of a criminal nature.
Riley, who works as a computer technician, helped set up the Web site as an effective means of communicating with neighborhood residents about group meetings and other activities. Members who wish to provide their e-mail addresses receive regular updates on the alliance's news.
Riley said that several other Quality Hill residents, such as Mary Healey and Agueda Del Borgo, have also been key to getting the association off the ground. "Most of the people I speak with think it's awesome to have something like this in the neighborhood. They're excited about it," she said.
Asermely thinks the alliance works to create unity among the people who live and work in the area and helps instill a sense of pride. He noted that many residents, including the students and staff of St. Raphael Academy, turned out to help pull weeds from sidewalks, pick up litter and do other improvements in last fall's neighborhood clean-up efforts, and said another such spruce-up is being planned for the spring.
Asermely was pleasantly surprised by the number of residents who participated in the food drive. Group members dropped off flyers and a grocery bag at each house, then drove around and collected the donated goods. "We filled two trunkloads with food for the soup kitchen," he said proudly.
The Quality Hill neighborhood alliance is holding its next meeting on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph Church on Walcott Street. New members are always encouraged to attend, Asermely said.