The Hour is reporting on some of the plans that NEON is implementing to provide a friendlier, more inviting and efficient face to the community it serves. Executive director Joe Mann is once again showing a commitment to making the agency operate better for its customers.

The South Main Street community center, which houses NEON’s main offices, will receive a completely new entryway, he said, and a new reception desk that will be located within feet of the new doorway. A new office area for the agency’s caseworkers will also be located near the reception desk, Mann said, enclosed in glass.

“We want to create an inviting and encouraging environment for our clients — we don’t want this place that says, ‘This is for poor people,’” he said.

Presently, the center’s reception desk is set back towards the middle portion of the facility’s first floor, much of the front part of the building taken up by a waiting area with a number of chairs. If that waiting area gets clogged, some prospective clients don’t know where to go when they first come in, Mann said.

“Everybody accumulates in the front area, and, if there’s a line at the reception desk, people don’t know where to go — they might hit the elevator,” he said. “Now we’ll be able to direct people when they first come in … With one stop, we want to direct them towards where they need to go.”

The estimated $60,000 project, which will be partly covered by a roughly $30,000 Community Development Block Grant, also includes a new side door on the first floor of the center and a fresh coat of paint for the interior of the building, he said.

Some of the caseworkers using the newly allocated office space on the first floor will be coming over from NEON’s offices at the Ben Franklin Center, Mann said.

“We’ll be relocating some personnel to that space so they’re right here as (the clients) get through the doors,” he said.

The bonus outcome of the renovations is that NEON can add some youth development programs for teens. Providing teens activities is a great contribution to Norwalk’s community.

source: The Hour, NEON to renovate and make changes at headquarters, By JEREMY SOULLIERE, Spetember 20, 2007