In Queen Village, the handheld civic group has arrived. Well, kind of. This month, members of the Queen Village Neighbors Association (QVNA) launched a free mobile app for Android and Apple phones.

Community members receive a monthly QVNA newsletter, delivered door to door. Therefore, one would imagine that many Queen Village residents know there’s a civic group in the neighborhood and that is does “stuff,” said Jeff Hornstein, QVNA president, but “they might not know exactly what that stuff is.”

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The QVNA mobile app is designed to answer that question. It contains features like a calendar of neighborhood events and meetings, news and announcements about timely community and city issues, links to important City sites like 311 and the Office of Property Assessment, neighborhood photos, and means for neighbors to connect with one another. It was designed by QVNA member Amy Grant, who also designed QVNA’s website. The idea for a mobile app surfaced this summer at an annual board members retreat. That’s when someone said ‘South Street Headhouse District has an app. Why don’t we build one?’

More screen shots

Hornstein has been interested in expanding the group and increasing its accessibility since he joined eight years ago. Before joining the group, he experienced a cold introduction from the then QVNA president. According to Hornstein, a few years passed before a friend in another neighborhood civic group introduced Hornstein to other QVNA members, and he finally became involved in the community group.

“I vowed from that day if I ever get involved … I’m gonna do anything I can to open this organization up a little bit,” said Hornstein.

As longtime QVNA members, some of whom fought the construction of an I-95 Queen Village off-ramp as well as a casino, begin to age into their 50s and 60s, it’s time for a younger generation to enter the ring, as it were. And with that new generation, comes the world of the wireless. You can find the QVNA mobile app at the Apple App Store or through Google play. If you live in the neighborhood, check it out! You certainly can’t beat the price.

–Lou Mancinelli