When my husband Ted and I moved from our 19th-century rowhouse in Boston's South End, we traded a life of endless repairs, crooked staircases and dusty brick walls for the convenience of a modern high-rise apartment building. We also traded nearly 40 years of community involvement for a different kind of community, one of renters rather than homeowners, and because of the transience, people are less involved with the world outside our doors, and less connected to each other.
All of that lack of connection leaves the door wide open for those of us who are natural community builders. The more I looked for opportunities to bring people together, the easier it was to find things I could do myself, or propose to my building's "cruise director" (i.e., manager of resident satisfaction). SCUBA anyone? One of my neighbors is a veterinarian and a certified SCUBA instructor, and he's offering a class in our pool. Another is a scientist and traditional Indian dancer; I connected him with the cruise director, and I hope he'll be doing a class or demo in Indian dance.
For my part, I'm starting with voter registration. A few weeks ago I manned (womaned? peopled?) a table in the lobby offering voter registration information, forms, and applications for mail-in ballots. I did it again this week, while there's still time for people to register for the November election. I had information sheets telling new residents where to vote in person, when to vote early, how to sign up for a mail-in ballot, and how to change their registrations online. Easy to do, and it felt great to be able to answer questions and help my neighbors.
As a fellow community builder, I LOVE that you did this! It's inspiring me..... thanks!
Posted by: Susie R | September 30, 2022 at 12:20 PM