The West End Neighborhood Association

The West End Neighborhood Association is a grassroots group dedicated to cleaning up the neighborhood, maintaining positive relationships with the High Point Police Dept., and promoting home ownership as one way of revitalizing the neighborhood.

From the very beginning of West End Ministries, the neighborhood association has been a separate organization, partnering with us, working alongside us, and yet maintaining its own identity.

A bit of history: Margaret Sahnow, left, was the first president of the neighborhood association.

"When we first started talking with her about leading the association, she was 79 years old and in poor health," explains executive director Don Stevenson. "She could very easily have declined, citing her health and advanced age. But she didn't."

In fact, she was devoted to the revitalization of her neighborhood, getting other members of her church, Rankin Memorial United Methodist, involved and calling on members of the other churches to join with her and the other neighbors.

It was Margaret who started the semi-annual neighborhood cleanup drives. Though she is no longer alive, Margaret Sahnow is still remembered fondly as a dedicated and inspiring first president of the West End Neighborhood Association.

The neighbors meet at the community center regularly. Check the newsletter for dates and times. High Point Police attend every meeting, ready to listen and act on citizen concerns and complaints. For information about meeting times, call neighborhood association temporary chair Michelle McNair, from the City of High Point's Dept. of Community Development and Housing, 883-3685.

Robert and Melissa Nichols, right, serve as the co-presidents of the West End Neighborhood Association.