Stories & Blog Posts
Why Naming Our Gifts Matters
A note from the Director. This piece was first published at the launch of The Hopeful Neighborhood Project, five years ago this month. We launched The Hopeful Neighborhood Project to...
Apartments Are Neighborhoods, Too: 5 Tips for Apartment Dwellers
When you hear the word “neighborhood,” what image comes to mind? For me, I often visualize a residential street in the middle of a suburb, complete with sidewalks, trees, and single-family homes. ...
Fans Have More Friends
It was Sunday afternoon. I was making a cake, cooking dinner, and watching three soccer games at once while furiously typing on a group text with my husband and a...
The 15-Minute City: A Recipe for a Happy Neighborhood
If you’re reading this from somewhere in the United States of America right now, it’s likely that you commute to work. About 86% of us do, according to the most...
I Like to Walk
Note from the Director: This blog was originally published a few years ago. When we rebuilt our website, we saved some of our favorite blogs to share again. This is...
The State of Neighboring in Missouri: Turning Politeness into Connection
Reposted Reposted from we-are-neighbors.blogspot.com. Note from the Director: For our last blog of the year we are featuring The State of Neighboring in Missouri. We felt this was a timely piece as we head...
Substitute Santa
Originally Published Dec 15, 2021 Every year at our church, we have a Christmas Eve service which is led by the children’s ministry. It is always endearing to see the...
Holiday Neighbor Gifts that Build Connection
Holiday gift giving can be pure joy, or a tricky conundrum, especially if you’re trying to find gifts for people you don’t know that well. As our consumption has gone up, and our connections with others have gone...
An Invitation to Listen
It wasn’t all that long ago when I learned that there are different types of listening. As someone who’s come to realize that learning is one of my core values,...
Our 5 Favorite Neighborhood Traditions for the Holidays
Our team listens to a lot of stories. One of the many benefits of the work we do is having the ability to share these stories. To help spread the...
Check Your Windows: Become a Better Neighbor through Self-Assessment
There’s a story that’s stayed with me over the years—one that reminds me how our perspectives can be clouded by our own lenses. In the story, there is a man...
National Good Neighbor Day: The Power of Small
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop We love big things. Big yards, big houses, big vehicles, big titles, big numbers…. All these big things...