NEON began in 1996 as a way for North End residents to organize, build community power, and improve their neighborhood. In the following years, facing funding constraints, NEON refocused its work around health outreach. NEON workers went door-to-door providing healthcare referrals and gathering information on the health needs of the community. More recently, under new leadership, NEON has shifted its focus back to community organizing.

        In early 2011, NEON collaborated with MIT and Engage the Power to implement a Question Campaign, in which North End residents expressed questions about their community and identified its most pressing problems. Concerns about education and safety arose overwhelmingly. Residents raised questions about the high drop-out rate of Latino youth, the prevalence of gang violence, the poor quality of school buildings in the neighborhood, and the reality that three of the four schools in the North End have been failing.  

Our current focus

Today, NEON members are working together to respond to these issues. We meet regularly to discuss the problems and their solutions. We research the issues and meet with experts. We do outreach in the community to get more people involved. We teach ourselves new skills so that we can be our own leaders. All the time we are building our community power so that we can determine the future of the North End. We invite you to join us as we become a united force for change. Contact us or see our calendar to join us at our next meeting.