Colorado State University Neighbors Can Expect Community Welcome Teams Knocking on Their Doors

Fort Collins and CSU police, CSU staff and students and Fort Collins residents will be teaming up to help others be good neighbors this week. The 12th Annual Community Welcome, sponsored by CSU’s Off-Campus Life and the City of Fort Collins Neighborhood Services office, connects these groups by teaming them up to knock on the doors of homes surrounding the campus.

At 5 p.m. on Aug. 22, about 150 volunteers, divided into about 45 teams, will visit nearly 2,000 homes and hand out information about everything from important phone numbers to making smart decisions. Teams also will provide decks of cards covering city ordinances and safety tips and talk about the importance of forming positive relationships with neighbors, including long-term residents, students and families.

“Our goal of distributing information on campus is to inform students of off-campus expectations before they move into neighborhoods or apartments,” said Jeannie Ortega, director of Off-Campus Life.

In addition to distributing information off campus, students living on campus in resident halls and Apartment Life will receive information about city ordinances and resources so they begin to become familiar with how to be a good neighbor before they begin living in city neighborhoods. Teams also will share information regarding events in Old Town.

“The Fort Collins community is ever evolving, and each year a neighborhood surrounding the university may look different,” said Emily Allen, community liaison for CSU and the City of Fort Collins. “From encouraging people to meet face to face, to exchanging cell phone numbers so that text messages may be sent, Community Welcome serves an essential role of reminding all residents the importance of communicating with your neighbors.”

CSU and the City of Fort Collins offer a plethora of resources to students, and Community Welcome lends a hand in helping them remember what resources are available for use.

One of the featured resources is the Party Registration program that the volunteer teams will encourage residents to use. The program works with party hosts to keep noise levels reasonable and provide a warning before issuing a noise violation ticket. A noise citation can have serious consequences, including up to a $1,000 fine per roommate.

For more information, contact Emily Allen at (970) 491-2248 or Emily.Allen@colostate.edu.