Good neighbors are a gift any time of year. How about giving your most deserving neighbor the gift of a nomination for the City’s Good Neighbor of the Year Award? 

Nominations for the Diana Conn Good Neighbor of the Year Award (NOYA for short) are being accepted through Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, by the Office of Neighborhood Empowerment, which annually recognizes an individual who goes above and beyond to help their neighbors. In past years, winning neighbors demonstrated neighborly actions, including: 

• Starting neighborhood gardens and leading beautification projects; 
• Providing support to vulnerable neighbors, including mobility assistance, grocery store pick-ups, and spur-of-the-moment babysitting; 
• Spearheading an HOA-wide plumbing repair project and payment plan;
• Showing leadership on neighborhood issues at public meetings… and more.

“Neighbors don’t have to be superheroes to warrant a nomination,” says Courtney Durrett, Events Coordinator for the Office of Neighborhood Empowerment. “Good neighbors make your neighborhood feel even more like home.” 

In 2023, the City’s annual Neighborhood Conference will be split into two unique events: an invitation-only Neighborhood Appreciation dinner on March 2, 2023, and a public Neighborhood Resource Fair on August 12, 2023. NOYA nominees and their nominators will be invited to attend the dinner, where good neighbors will be celebrated and the final winner will be announced. 

Durrett says, “We want to shine the spotlight on neighbors working behind the scenes to make their neighborhoods extra special for fellow residents.” 

Download the nomination form and return it to Courtney Durrett by email. Call 865-215-3456 for additional information. Past NOYA winners and a biography of Diana Conn, who received the first award posthumously in 2013, are listed under Good neighbor of the Year Award at KnoxvilleTN.gov/neighborhoods.