The Southeast Strong Community Plan was released by the city of Colorado Springs recently. The drafted plan sets goals to support business growth, community hubs, public health improvements and the cultural diversity of the neighborhood.

The community plan has been in the works for nearly four years with a committee of city staff, businesses, nonprofit leaders and other representatives of the neighborhood. The people behind the plan say it’s meant to shape where public funds and private investments should be focused.

City officials are collecting feedback online through a public survey through Nov. 3. The city and the RISE Southeast coalition of public, private, nonprofit and community agencies in the southeast quadrant are hosting a public feedback session Wednesday at Stompin’ Groundz, the coffee shop and community center that opened earlier this year.

Doors for the session open at 5 p.m. and the city presentation begins at 5:30 p.m., scheduled to run through 7:30 p.m.

The Southeast Strong Community Plan covers the six neighborhoods south of Fountain Boulevard in the City Council’s District 4: Pikes Peak Park North and South, Deerfield Hills, Soaring Eagles, Southborough and Spring Creek.

District 4 City Councilwoman Yolanda Avila led the steering committee for the plan. Avila said when she ran for office in 2017, a lot of southeast residents were skeptical the city would invest in the area. Some were still unhappy with the Martin Luther King Jr. bypass from the early 1990s, which split the area in half and may have driven stores near the road to close.

“The Southeast is really an integral part of the entire city, but we need to be cared for. We need some TLC and to be acknowledged,” Avila said.