Stories & Blog Posts
National Good Neighbor Day Gains Momentum
Every day is a great day to be a good neighbor! However, National Good Neighbor Day gives us an opportunity to pause and focus on neighboring. This year The Hopeful...
National Good Neighbor Day
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation to establish National Good Neighbor Day and a resolution was later passed by the Senate. Celebrated across the United States on September...
Neighborhood Research 101
The building blocks of a neighborhood are so much more than its physical components: it’s composed of people, culture, and history. For many, like myself, understanding any topic starts with...
Kansas City Hosts Neighborhood Project Lab
Recently, The Hopeful Neighborhood Project partnered with the Chestnut Avenue Resource Center, a KC-based nonprofit that connects people to area resources. Held in the neighborhood of Oak Park, 19 people...
Neighbors: Friends or Foes?
You like all of your neighbors, right?! If that is true, then you are very fortunate. When we talk to friends and co-workers about their neighbors, everyone seems to have...
A Guide to Meeting Your Neighbors
Even though I moved from Detroit to St Louis almost a decade ago, I still remember the panic that came with getting to know a new neighborhood. I’m an introvert...
Practice Hospitality
Probably since the rise of HGTV, hospitality has become synonymous with “entertaining,” or impressing, guests in our homes. But hospitality has very little to do with showing off a home...
Double Joy in Summertime
George Gershwin first wrote the song, and artists have been singing about it ever since. From Ella Fitzgerald to Lana Del Rey to DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince—everyone...
The Power of Community Gardens
In my neighborhood in Minneapolis, we’ve learned firsthand the transformative power of a community garden. They bring people together who might normally not find one other. They create public space...
Creating a Neighborhood Directory Connects Neighbors
During one particularly harsh winter, I worried about my house-bound neighbor. I wondered if the cold temperatures and snow had kept her from getting the supplies and care she and...
Getting to Know Our Non-Human Neighbors
I definitely would not claim to have a green thumb. My main issue with the plants in my life is that I forget about them. I forget to water them....
Spreading Neighborly Kindness with Seed Bombs
We had so much fun making seed bombs with many of you earlier this week. Folks from twelve neighborhoods across the United States gathered on Zoom to assemble seed bomb...