Transform your tenants’ view of your properties from “where I live” to “where I belong”. In a safe and lasting way through the power of neighbours.

Happy Community Project provides the “Good Neighbour Method”. A proven framework that makes belonging accessible, safe, and fun for apartment tenants.

Apartments are their own special kind of communities.
But they are changing.

Our communities used to be places where everyone knew one another, and you didn’t have to look far to find a helping hand. But over the years, that story has been changing. Do any of these situations sound like your building?

There is a sense of isolation among tenants. They don’t know each other, even with just a wall between them.
Tenants are reluctant to knock on a neighbour’s door and ask for help.
Communal spaces are not used as gathering spots for tenants to get together.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

As an owner of residential apartment buildings, you believe that the foundation of a thriving rental property isn’t just about the bricks and mortar; it’s about the people who call it home.

The Happy Community Project helps landlords (and their property managers) make it normal for tenants to know, care about and support each other.

Introducing the Good Neighbour Method: a repeatable process that turns tenants from unengaged strangers to connected neighbours.

Moving tenants from “avoiding others” to “I care about this building and the people in it” can seem tough. Maybe even impossible. That’s why we (a team of community development experts) created a method that empowers rental property owners to create change – at scale. The Good Neighbour Method enables property owners to shift building culture and transform tenant relations and enhance property value through the power of community.

Our unique Method focuses on transforming your properties by addressing the 3 most common obstacles landlords face:

Short on management capacity and skill?
The Good Neighbour Method consists of bi weekly 1 hour workshops that include “required action” that a property manager can complete within 2 hours per week. Additionally, our team are on hand to coach, guide and support for any roadblocks that come up.
Worried about diminished ROI?
While the Method can be initiated by your team, it is specifically designed to keep sustainable momentum via the larger tenant community. It it’s about empowerment by meeting tenants where they are. Ripples, not splashes.

As tenants embrace the Good Neighbour Method, your management effort goes down, brand reputation goes up.
Worried about communicating to tenants under the constraints of your Tenancy Act?
The Method includes access to the Good Neighbour App Dashboard: a simple but effective Web 3.0 tool designed to respect privacy and your local Tenancy Act regulations. No need to rely on registered mail or complex mailing lists to communicate to 10’s, 100’s or 1000’s of tenants!

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The Good Neighbour App with various neighbour situations around it

Cultural shift made possible in your buildings through accessible training… and a special little app.

The Good Neighbour Method is based on a theoretical framework developed by Bruce Dienes, PhD. Community Psychology, with the goal to “to make (re)connecting with community members easy, safe, and effective”.The overview is as follows:

1. Support your staff and a core group of tenants to plant the seeds of change.

Together, they will have what they need to do the things that cause fellow tenants to come together as a supportive community. They will have the tools and understanding of how to shift culture, how to develop meaningful community, how to motivate people to want to belong, and how to move people out of fear and into action.

2. Connect tenants to each other safely via the Good Neighbour App

The Good Neighbour App is the new doorbell! Tenants can communicate without having to divulge phone numbers, email addresses or social media accounts. Now they can safely ask for help, create or attend social events that bring them together, and share news and ideas that helps them thrive. All without the use of an email list or social media!

Learn more about the Good Neighbour App

3. Build momentum; watch happiness bloom.

Once the Good Neighbour Method hits the milestone you have set, we safely ease ourselves out of the process. Now your building is operating on its own positive flywheel. The best part? You now have the experience and expertise from one building to repeat this process in the next!

Why Choose “The Good Neighbour Method” for your buildings?

Our transformative approach invests in the long-term value of your properties. It’s not just a strategy; it’s a proven blueprint of how to get people engaged and connected with each other over shared living space. Here’s what’s makes it so powerful for multilevel dwellings:

Attract More Reliable Tenants: Most people understand that belonging is fundamental to their happiness and wellbeing. Attract the tenants who want to belong and they will be more reliable for paying rent, respecting other tenants and take better care of your building.
Retain Quality Tenants: Tenants who feel a sense of community are more likely to stay long-term, reducing turnover and vacancy rates.
Enhance Property Reputation: A strong, positive community reputation makes your properties more desirable to potential tenants.
Lower Operating Costs: Less maintenance, less damage, fewer nuisance calls.
Compliance and Peace of Mind: Rest easy knowing your tenant communication strategies are within legal boundaries, fostering a positive atmosphere that respects the law.
Scales Cross-Property: Once applied to one building, the Method is easily rolled out to other locations.
Increase ROI: Lower operating costs and stronger reputation equals greater ROI
Create incredible social impact: the effects of your tenants’ sense of belonging ripples into the wider community.

Thought leaders are telling us that our humanity’s survival depends on communities where we no longer just look out for our self, we look out for each other. They also say this is the true path to happiness.

We can ignore them. After all, right now most of our personal lives are still pretty good. But what are the lives of our children and grandchildren going to be like 20 years from now?

We can hope… or we can do something about it. Help make your building communities happier. Collectively, we can make a difference everywhere.

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Who are the people behind Happy Community Project?

The volunteers and professionals at The Happy Community Project believe it is important that neighbours know, care about and support each other.

Collectively we bring skills from multiple disciplines including community psychology, community development, marketing, sales, finance, technology, and cultural change.

What started as an experiment for citizens to make their communities more connected has grown into an international movement. We have helped citizens launch our program in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, USA, Uganda and Kolkata India amongst many others.

It prepares the community to roll with the punches and come up smiling in an age of disruption. It is the best legacy we can leave our children.

Will it work for your buildings? The Good Neighbour Method has been recognized by academics, politicians and ordinary citizens for getting results beyond expectations across diverse communities.

We provide the training and support; your tenants do the work and determines the outcome.

Interested in the community development force behind the Method? We work in collaboration with the Good Neighbour Builders Society.

The Happy Community Project is bringing people out, getting people involved, turning negatives into positives. When you see 20,000 people taking a negative tone and now taking a positive tone, that’s remarkable.

Abe ZebianWarden, Municipality of the District of West Hants, NS

The Happy Community Project has encouraged a lot of people in our community to get involved and to make things happen and to not sit back and let others do it.

Anna AllenMayor of Windsor, NS

Ready to Make a Difference?

Discover how “The Good Neighbour Method” can redefine your rental properties and elevate your brand.

Email Barry Braun or call (+1) 902-830-6569.