Gifts

...open the door, go out and have conversations. Recently I was having a conversation with a pastor from a local church, talking about our annual fundraiser for our community park. He had asked if there was anything he could do to help....

I have a friend who makes lists of barriers to neighborliness.  His list includes the new ranch houses that don’t have a front porch where neighbors can sit and talk and greet each other. Air conditioning is also on his...

As schools throughout the country cut back, there are new possibilities for neighbors to become a "village that teaches a child." One of the most inventive people engaging neighbors as producers is Ray Thompson. In his July 2010 blog...

The Democratization of Art I just spent two days at a conference on education reform. While the agenda was to discuss schools and the ways students learn, what was unique about this gathering was the role that art played in...

In North Port, FL, a relatively new community, Don Vande Krol felt he needed to know his neighbors. He distributed an invitation to them to join him and his wife for a "getting to know one another" evening.  From...

The Pew Research Center reports annually on social trends in America and recently reported that the number of Americans who believe that their children will be better off than they are is in decline. This was considered news and...

We've been working on ways to better share resources in Tompkins County, NY. A few months ago we started organizing Community Swap Meets where people can give away, share or barter goods, services and labor with a focus on...

Why buy when you can borrow? Keara Schwartz has come up with a brilliant way to borrow items from neighbors instead of buying them and meet new neighbors at the same time. It's an online service, called Share Some...

Meet a person who is uncovering a local world of hidden treasures. Her name is Allison ... She invites us to see the treasures of her neighborhood through the eyes of children. They are not interested in what is...

Advocacy Organizing and Neighborhood Organizing While President Obama was campaigning, he made the words “community organizing” famous as he told about his youthful days as an “organizer” in Chicago.  That experience in a low-income neighborhood taught him more, he said,...