Supporting Emergency Personnel,
Making Our County Safer
New Castle County volunteer fire companies have an increasing need for new and younger members who will carry on the tradition of service and help to ensure that the companies can continue to meet the needs of county residents.
The Emergency Services Corps as a model was developed through a series of internal discussions among fire service leaders and county government about the future of the volunteer fire service. The Corps is a cooperative venture between government, emergency responders and the YMCA of Delaware that has placed 15 AmeriCorps members with volunteer fire companies across the county, as well as with county paramedics, to focus on volunteer recruitment efforts to provide new members for our fire companies and paramedics.
The County Executive authored the idea for the Emergency Services Corps program and county officials facilitate and oversee the implementation, in conjunction with program partners. So far Emergency Services Corps members have recruited 400 young people who have shown initial interest in joining the volunteer fire service or the county paramedics. If you are interested in joining the volunteer fire service or New Castle County paramedics and would like more information, please call the Emergency Services Corps at (302) 571-6975.
New Castle County is now recruiting for the Emergency Services Corps program. The next Corps class begins in September 2007 and lasts for one year. For more information about the program, please call (302) 571-6975 or visit the AmeriCorps web site to apply online at www.americorps.org.
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County Programs and Initiatives
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Making our Economy Stronger
Our Office of Redevelopment
The Redevelopment Office is the core of an innovative way to preserve open space in New Castle County: supporting the redevelopment of existing properties, rather than the development of open space and farmlands. The point is simply to encourage and guide developers to use the land that's already been developed and abandoned, and leave open space open as much as possible. The County can play a vital role in this effort by planning, lining up funding, coordinating acquisitions and clean-ups, and marketing to redevelopers. This is the work of the new Redevelopment Office.
Buy From Your Neighbor
Buy From Your Neighbor is a program begun by New Castle County Executive Chris Coons to encourage consumers, wholesalers, retailers and restaurants to seek out and purchase Delaware-grown products. Look and ask for Buy From Your Neighbor products where you shop.
Through the Buy From Your Neighbor website you will learn about New Castle County's Buy From Your Neighbor program and find information on:
- Delaware crops and harvest schedule
- Farmers Markets
- Supermarkets selling local produce
- Farms selling their own produce
- Fun farm activities for families and groups
- New Castle County Farm Facts
- Recipes from Farm Families
It is vital that we maintain the viability of our local farms by supporting the purchase of locally-grown products. We want to send a message that farms are critical to the quality of life we cherish in the county.
A strong farm economy creates local jobs, provides nutritious food and preserves the close-knit communities of our state.
Making our Communities More Livable
Problem Properties Task Force
The Problem Properties Task Force is tackling the numerous abandoned and severely neglected properties that exist throughout the County. The goal of the Task Force is to have the current owners repair the problem property or sell the property to someone who will. The Task Force focuses targeted attention on the 25 worst properties, reaching out to property owners and working through legal avenues to meet the ultimate goal of restoring the property.
Within the first year of the Task Force’s efforts, 20 out of the top 25 worst properties have been cleaned up or transferred to new owners. The Task Force recently announced a new list of Top 25 properties throughout the county that will be targeted for clean up during the coming year.
Rental Housing Code
In working to make New Castle County communities more livable, the County adopted a new rental housing code that will help improve rental housing quality by requiring landlords to register rental properties, beginning random rental property inspections and providing tenants with basic information about their rights and responsibilities under the law.
For more information about the rental housing code, including a downloadable version of the Tenant's Rights and Responsibilities Guide and the rental housing registration form, please visit the Department of Land Use's Code Enforcement web site or call the department at (302) 395-5400. |
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Energy Star
New Castle County has joined Energy Star, a voluntary EPA program, and NACo's Energy Star Courthouse Campaign. New Castle County is committed to improving energy efficiency, and creating a cleaner, healthier environment.
For more information on the Energy Star program and ways New Castle County is working to conserve energy (and save money), check out our periodic Energy Star guide  online.
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Building Strong Foundations for Young People
Summer Youth Programs
New Castle County has more than 200 county parks, and many of them are small parks in working class neighborhoods that badly need positive programs for youth in the summer. In partnership with established, proven community centers, we are offering full-week summer youth programs. These free programs give young people structured activities in their own communities. These programs are serving as a pilot program, and we hope we can expand in the future.
Library Outreach
Through a series of outreach programs, we are working to improve the outreach of our county library system. We are working with the Family & Workplace Connection to provide books and other resources to small, in-home daycare centers, enabling these childcare providers to create literacy-rich environments for our youngest residents. We also are working to improve our ability to provide books to shut-in seniors. County libraries also can be great assets for small and start-up businesses, and we plan to provide staff and other resources so that our libraries can further support such endeavors.
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