Cactus Village Community

How “Neighboring” Can Benefit You and Your Family

Jul 27, 2003

In the United States, neighbors frequently do not know one another and lead completely separate lives. In response to this fact, there is a tendency to create organizations and to hire professionals whose job it is to tend to human needs, be they physical or emotional. As needs increase, resources are spread thinner and thinner, to the point where needs often are not met. However, personal relationships and informal networks are GREAT resources:

?• the largest number of people are available at this level; neighboring is something almost everyone can do
?• people who would never attend a meeting or participate in an activity or group can be involved in neighboring relationships
?• the flexibility and creativity of personal relationships can tap all kinds of resources which are not available through professional and social services
?• there is no limit to the variety of needs that can be met though small neighborly acts
?• people involved in ongoing relationships are available as role models for each other and for young people
?• one-on-one neighboring relationships allow people to give and receive with dignity
?• whether it be through advice, moral support, providing a needed break, emergency aid, sharing tools, or listening ears, neighbors can often provide:

1) the help you need
2) in a form you can use
3) when you need it
4) where you need it and
5) without stigma or shame

What are the results of having strong ties with a neighbor?

?• a sense of belonging
?• attachment to the neighborhood, which is necessary for neighbors to work together to improve their neighborhood
?• an environment in which people are concerned about and look out for one another
?• easy access to help and support
?• a sense of safety
?• personal satisfaction
?• the development of neighborhood standards

Neighbors who are concerned with each other?’s children and teenagers, are available to give advice and provide relief, grieve and celebrate with one another, share material things and information, do chores for older or sick people, watch each other?’s property, and can be trusted to stand in for an absent parent can create an environment in which no one is left alone, vulnerable, and without resources.

Paraphrased from: The Institute for Families in Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. . . . ☻