Happy Community Project Blog
A collection of thoughts and reflections on how community leaders, advocates and volunteers can make the world a better place.
Recognition & Partners
We have proven the effectiveness of the Happy Community Project Tool Kit. Our success has been recognized internationally by several universities and organizations. Our partners are critical to our success.
We Can Do Better Than This.
BlogI recently was in a municipality discussing an implementation strategy for the Good Neighbour Method. I met with several leaders in the community including council, administration and Not for Profits.
One of the not-for profits is in charge of delivering meals to people with out means. They tell me how on several occasions, they have called to deliver a meal. No answer. They call again. No answer. So they go knock on the door. No answer. They then call for a wellness check to discover the person living alone had died alone. No one noticed.
I keep hearing stories of how neighbours who live right next door didn’t notice that Mrs. Jones wasn’t about anymore. And Mrs. Jones had no one to call in the neighbourhood.
This is beyond sad. It’s tragic that we are so culturalized to mind our own business that no one notices someone who lived a full and interesting life needs help, or at least the … Read the rest
Right Time, Right Place
BlogI am totally hyped up. For the last two months, I have been giving presentations, key note speaks and talking to community leaders and landlords about belonging communities and how it can be normal for neighbours to know, care about and support each other.
The feedback is that we at the Happy Community Project and Good Neighbour Builders are doing the right thing, in the right way. More importantly, they say we are solving the right problem.
We don’t have a loneliness problem even if Stats Canada says 48% of Canadian are lonely. Similarly for USA, Australia and England. We don’t have a belonging problem. And we don’t have a problem of divisiveness. What we have is a cultural problem that causes these issues.
And if we want to live in a society where it is normal to know and count on your neighbour, we need to change the culture.
That is exactly what we are setting out to do. … Read the rest
The Value of Belonging
BlogBelonging is a fundamental human need. It sits right next to shelter and food on Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Human Needs. And whenever humans have a need, there is a business
opportunity. Property Managers are in an ideal spot to fill this need.
So what is belonging anyway? If we provide belonging, what exactly do we need to provide
so that people feel they belong.
Belonging is an emotional feeling that is triggered by experience. If we want to provide
belonging, we need to provide the right kind of experiences. Here are the 5 main elements
that researchers say people need to experience so they feel like they belong.
#1. Trust: When people are in a community of other people, they need to feel safe. They
need to ‘feel’ they can trust the other community members.
#2. Accepting. Not only do they need to trust others that they won’t cause them harm, they
need to experience acceptance and friendliness. This is … Read the rest
What Does Belonging Mean
BlogThere is a crisis of loneliness going on in the developed world. For example, in Canada and the USA, reports show that as many of 50% of the population experiences loneliness. Loneliness leads to all kinds of other problems including mental, physical and social problems.
The opposite of loneliness is belonging. But what is belonging?
Research over several decades (e.g. MacMillan & Chavis, 1986 and see an updated version at https://www.drdavidmcmillan.com/sense-of-community/sense-of-community) has concluded there are elements needed to build a “sense of community”: Membership, Influence, Satisfaction of needs, and emotional connection.
But we are not academics in a theoretical world. We are real people living amongst other people. So we asked people, what does it mean to belong.
The answers we got were Trust, Friendly, Caring and Mutual Support.
In our everyday world, we have to feel safe (Trust and Friendly), we have to feel connected (Mutual Caring) and we have to get something out of the relationship ( Mutual … Read the rest
Good News for 2024
BlogHope is alive in 2024. No doubt, we are facing many challenges. But when people collectively put their mind to things, amazing things can happen. Bringing people collectively together starts with our neighbours.
The Great News is that in Canada, USA and England, most people want stronger relations with their neighbours. And when Neighbours are connected across their differences, our societies become gentler, kinder and happier places.
So here is our BHAG ( the polite way of saying this is our Big Audacious Goal): By January 2029, Canada will have a new culture where it is normal for neighbours to know each other, care about each other and support each other. And more than that, the USA and England will also normalize the same kind of culture of caring for their neighbours.
Out of this culture, we can choose governments that put being human above all else, we will insist business operate in environmentally and socially responsible ways and we … Read the rest
Neighbours Need Help Connecting
Blog75% of Canadians (Stats Canada) 60% of Americans do not know their neighbours , but most people want to know their neighbours. So why don’t they?
The short answer is because of a long term trend that comes out of stranger danger, a constant message that we are supposed to be self-reliant and government policies and lawyer threats that discourage people taking responsibility for each other, we have come to see connecting with neighbours as somewhere between awkward and terrifying. All of this has been exasperated by Covid isolation policies.
If you don’t know your neighbours, particularly the newer neighbours, you are in the majority. If you would want to have stronger connections with your neighbours, you are in the majority. And if you don’t know how to make those connections in a way that feels safe and comfortable, you are in the majority.
Yet making stronger connections with your neighbours is the best thing you can do for a … Read the rest
5 Reasons Why Neighbours are Important
BlogThere is tons of research that says that knowing your neighbours is the best thing you can do for a better life. Here are just 5 reasons why know your neighbours is a good thing.
We live longer
Knowing your neighbours reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, depression and anxiety. It prevents death from chronic diseases
We are Healthier
Our health is directly related to social connectedness with people who live close by. We Improve your ability to recover from stress, anxiety, and depression, We have healthier eating, physical activity, and weight, We improve sleep, well-being, and quality of life, We reduce your risk of violent and suicidal behaviors.
We are Safer
We feel safer when we know who we can trust and who we can not trust. The best way to know, is to get to know the people who live near you. And once you do, you can look out for each other, notice when something … Read the rest
A Close Call Averted
BlogIn early June of 2023, over 200 Nova Scotian homes burnt to the ground. In one of these home was a couple taking care of the older parent with Alzheimers. The fire was raging toward their house and they struggled to get their uncooperative father out. In desperation, they fled the house while calling 911.
The emergency measures people arrived fifteen minutes later. They got Alzheimer father out of the house and into their truck just in time to see the house go up in flames.
Luckily, no one was hurt and the young couple did everything they could. But it was close – real close.
What would of this story been like if the neighbourhood had been connected with the Good Neighbour App? Besides calling 911, they put out a notice saying we need help getting Dad out of the house? Would a good neighbour have been there to help and things wouldn’t have been so close to a … Read the rest
A Tale of Two Community Neighbourhoods
BlogIn downtown Toronto, on a quiet residential street, the wife of an elderly couple passed away. The street residents did what often happens and brought over casseroles and well wishes soon after they became aware. The gentleman’s house was filled with coming and going of relatives and neighbours. But what made this street special is the residents realized the hardest times are after everybody goes home again.
The street came together and chatted about what they could/should do. They decided to have regular ‘look-ins’ and invites for the new widow. Now some six months later, the widower is rebuilding his social life and adjusting to a new way of living grateful for the support he has received.
On a suburban street in Moncton New Brunswick, my good friend noticed a moving van in front of a house about 8 doors down. My friend, being the curious fellow he is, checked out what was going on. It turns out that the … Read the rest