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OUR People: Dwight Amery
Communi t y Highl ights
I F YOU DO KNOW HIM, the relationship is invaluable, whether
it be family, friend or community activist partner. If you don’t
know him, you may not realize the extent to which Dwight directly
or indirectly impacts your life. Dwight wears many hats, currently
presiding as president of the Maryvale Revitalization Corporation and
president of the Maryvale U.N.I.T.E. Neighborhood Association. He also
serves on numerous committees, including chair for the Maryvale Village
Planning Committee, founder and president of the Jacori Rufus Memorial
Scholarship Fund and member of the West Phoenix Revitalization
Community Advisory Board. Still, Dwight manages to be very active and
generous with his time at community events, even extending his generosity
and time to the Canyon Corridor community.
With Dwight’s help, the Serrano Village Community Library is
always stocked, from children’s books and novels to resource guides and
encyclopedias to magazines, videos and puzzles, for residents and other
walk-in community members to enjoy. In this way, he helps spread the
love of reading to people of all ages.
One of his most crucial impacts on the community was leading the
way for the Game Changers program, an innovative teen leadership
conference and service project with adult mentors and various teen
leaders hosted last year at Grand Canyon University. It was a huge
success in helping inspire youth leadership in looking towards success
as an achievable dream.
Dwight continually donates his time and efforts in helping to build
strong relationships within the community and is always generous in
helping spread knowledge and contacts. Thank you, Dwight, for your
service to the community!
Dwight Amery can be reached at 623-848-2795 or
A CCORDING TO A 2009 GALLUP poll, only 12% of Arizonans
believe the people in their community care about each other. At
the same time, Pew Research has found that 28% of Americans
cannot name a single neighbor’s name. Neighborhoods Connect, a
new Arizona non-profit, was founded to change those numbers. The
founders believe a democracy cannot survive if its citizens don’t feel
part of anything past their front door.
With active participation from Mayor Stanton’s office;
Councilmembers Thelda Williams, Danny Valenzuela and
Laura Pastor; Phoenix Neighborhood Services; the Phoenix City
Prosecutor’s Office; and an array of neighborhood leaders, the mission
of Neighborhoods Connect is “working to build, support and connect
healthy, flourishing neighborhoods.” Phoenix is their pilot city.
On Feb. 21, 2015, at Grand Canyon University, Neighborhoods
Connect will bring together a diverse group of about 150 neighborhood
stakeholders and leaders in a day-long Neighborhood Gathering. The
purpose of the gathering is to allow participants to share:
• What is working in effective neighborhoods
• How existing public and non-profit institutions and organizations
can assist them (but not be expected to do what only
neighborhoods can do for themselves)
• The ways that Neighborhoods Connect
can help both institutions and neighborhoods interact, share ideas
and “clone” healthy, flourishing neighborhoods
For more information, contact Susan Edwards, co-chair, at
or 602-625-6952
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Neighborhoods Connect to Hold February 2015
Neighborhood Gathering
Dwight Amery and granddaughter, Darian Jameson