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To get through hard times, you need a support group that's bigger than just your family. That's where neighborhoods come in, or even an entire community if it's small enough.

It's good to have a home that's self-sufficient but even better to have an entire neighborhood that can cover its own basic needs. Plus your neighbors are likely to have knowledge, skills and tools that you don't have. Through mutual sharing, you're all strengthened.

Neighborhood cooperation allows all of you to speak in one voice to local government, whether its city or county, making sure that your needs, interests and opinions are respected.

You can begin to organize your neighborhood by talking to people you already know, and introducing yourself to others. Then hold a meeting at your home, or at a local school, place of worship or other community-focused building.

Neighbors can discuss sharing tools, planting a neighborhood garden, and ensuring food and water supplies. If there are elderly and disabled in your area, you can discuss how best to look after them, whatever happens in the future. Once your neighborhood starts to get organized, contact other neighborhoods and work with them to lobby elected officials, government agencies, public utilities and the like to make sure they're doing everything they can to make your entire community as self-sufficient as possible.

We recommend that you also visit our Community page.

What is My Neighborhood?

The first step is to determine what your neighborhood is. In many cases, that will be easy. In others, it will not be quite so clear. In an urban area, it might be one block of a street. In the rural countryside, a much larger area. In a suburb it might be several blocks, a large cul-de-sac, or a cluster of units in a condominium complex. It probably comes down to what you and your immediate neighbors feel is your neighborhood. And keep in mind that the boundaries you originally determine may change as you begin to organize.

Organize Your Neighborhood

1. Hold a neighborhood meeting. Make it comfortable and informal, with snacks and light beverages. Schedule regular meetings thereafter. Make at least every second or third meeting a social event as well as a planning one, so that people can socialize and get to know each other. Be sure to include teenagers and older children who wish to get involved.
2. Make and distribute a list of everyone's name, address, phone number, fax number and email address.
3. Set up a "phone tree" to notify neighbors about meetings, events and other timely information. The phone tree can be actual telepholne, email or both.
4. Identify the elderly, disabled and others needing special care and attention.
5. Create a Skills Inventory for members of your neighborhood (medical, first aid, alternative healing, midwifery, ham radio, teaching, carpentry, electrical, sewing, plumbing, music, firearms, mechanic, welding, computer, gardening, cooking, canning, childcare, etc.). This will result from occupations, hobbies, interests and other sources. People may be surprised just how many skills they have once they've gone through this process as a group.
6. Create a Resource Inventory of "things" owned by people in the neighborhood that they are willing to share. Wells and other water sources, well drilling equipment, garden tools, firewood, barbeques, generators, fuel, chain saws, radio amateur and CB radios—anything that could be used by, or provide service to, more than one family.
7. Plant individual and neighborhood gardens. (See our Community Garden section. ) Use non-hybrid "open pollination" seeds so that you'll be able to save your own seeds and grow healthy plants year after year.
8. Keep in mind that since you now have an entire neighborhood organized, your purchasing leverage has increased. You should be able to negotiate group discounts and bulk purchases, since many of your fellow neighbors will be wanting to purchase the same things. That's just one of the many advantages of organizing your neighborhood.
9. Use your neighborhood organization to lobby for your needs with local government. Coordinate with the city and other neighborhoods to make sure the needs of the entire community are served.

Websites & Books

Neighborhood Association Manual

Designed by Salem, Oregon for the city's neighborhood association chairpersons, but an excellent model for any community.

Neighborhoods Online

Resource center for people working to build strong communities throughout the United States. From the Institute for the Study of Civic Values and Philadelphia's LibertyNet

Organizing for Neighborhood Development

A handbook for citizen groups

Seattle, Washington - Department of Neighborhoods

Pioneer in the U.S. in organizing and supporting neighborhoods

Neighborhood Organizing

Examples of several different types of successful neighborhood self-help organizations including ad-hoc project groups, a baby-sitting co-op, an "empowerment" group, and a "community building" group. Also addresses the issues of whether to hire staff, how to raise and manage money, organizational structure, membership recruitment, and organizational self-evaluation. [pdf]

Superbia

31 ways to create sustainable neighborhoods. [book]

Copyright © 2005, Mick Winter