The City of Savannah launched a new program to help improve the quality of life for its citizens. Savannah Shines is a multifaceted, coordinated approach to neighborhood revitalization and will address four areas: Private Property, Public Property, Public Safety, and Community Engagement.

Today the City debuted the Savannah Shines program in Edgemere-Sackville. A kickoff ceremony was held at the site of a future playground at the northeast corner of Delesseps Avenue and Cedar Street.

Over the next 18-24 months City staff will be working with residents in that neighborhood and the neighborhood association to inform them about housing assistance, promote home ownership, provide information about home improvement programs for our veterans, educate interested volunteers about sanitation, property and zoning standards, improve lighting and prune tree canopies to improve public safety.

Edgemere-Sackville was selected as the first Savannah Shines partnership based on the City’s “Sunshine Index”. The “Sunshine Index” uses specific criteria to rate Savannah’s neighborhoods. The criteria includes: the existence of an establish neighborhood association; the number of housing code violations; property code violations; delinquent property taxes; and crime data. The City is also excited to work with motivated residents who are ready to jump in and make their neighborhood better.

Savannah Shines is a shared vision of the Mayor, Aldermen, the City Manager, and City staff.

“This is a great day for the City of Savannah and for the Edgemere-Sackville neighborhood,” said City Manager Rob Hernandez. “There are so many good, hardworking people who live here and many of them just need a little boost to enhance their well-being.”

“The goal of this program is to work hand-in-hand with our residents and to come up with a plan of action that meets their needs and is attainable,” said Community and Economic Development Bureau Chief Taffanye Young. “We want to educate our residents about the many programs that are out there that can help them with financial assistance to fix up their homes and their yards. We want to work with landlords to rid neighborhoods of blight. We also plan to aggressively go after property owners who violate city code and bring down the neighborhood.”

Dozens of City of Savannah departments will be involved in the Savannah Shines program including: City Attorney’s Office, City Manager’s Office, Community Planning and Development, Economic Development, Housing, Office of Management and Budget, Park and Tree, Parks and Recreation, Property Maintenance, Real Properties, Revenue, Sanitation, Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, Savannah Fire and Emergency Services, Street Cleaning and Maintenance, Water Resources, and others.