Fairmount Resident Receives Who’s Who in America’s Neighborhoods Award

Jun 01, 2018

Neighborhoods, USA, a national non-profit organization committed to building and strengthening neighborhood organizations, recently named Fairmount resident Sue McLean as one of their three recipients of the Who’s Who in America’s Neighborhoods award for 2018.

The award recognizes those who work to build and strengthen neighborhood associations; to encourage neighborhood involvement in the decision-making process in local governments; and to promote productive communications and collaborations between neighborhood associations, local governments and the public/private sectors.

Sue McLean has been a neighborhood volunteer since she moved to the Fairmount neighborhood 35 years ago. Neighbors say Sue is always there, always instrumental, always helping. From the moment she arrived, she became an advocate for the neighborhood's historic homes. She immediately began her volunteer work by helping with The Fairmount Tour of Homes, an event where 6-10 homes are selected to highlight the beautiful architecture of Fairmount, and (in the early years of the event) to inspire new people to move into a neighborhood that was considered neglected and run-down.

Over the many years, Sue has become a fount of information on houses in Fairmount. She began gathering and cataloguing all the Fairmount written history, which was then sent to the Fort Worth Public Library for safekeeping. In 1990, 5 years after she arrived, the neighborhood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a City of Fort Worth Historic and Cultural Landmark District. 

Beyond her work with the Fairmount Neighborhood Association and historic preservation, Sue has been a key volunteer for the City of Fort Worth's Code Blue, Citizens on Patrol (COP) program, the Fairmount Southside Garden Club, the Fairmount Marching Band, the Good Neighbor Animal Rescue, and resurrected the neighborhood’s monthly Girls Night Out.  For many years, Sue's neighbors and fellow FNA members have recognized her to be the most loyal and consistent volunteer within their neighborhood, and nominated her for this award so she could be recognized and thanked for her years of service and dedication.

Sue recently traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Neighborhoods, USA national conference, where she received the award. Congratulations, Sue!