Right Time, Right Place
I 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. We are changing the culture of Canada and USA. It is audacious, it is courageous and it will happen.
You might ask: “Yea, right, how can you say that Barry?“
I can say it because it is happening. We are partnering with organizations and people who also believe we can do this. And together we are making it happen.
For example, a landlord in Halifax wants his tenants in Halifax to not only feel they belong amongst the other tenants, he wants them to belong with the other neighbours who live on the block. We are working to make the whole block a connected and belonging neighbourhood.
For a example, a community of 1 million people in southern USA see how important it is for their youth to live in a Good Neighbour Community. We will be helping them engage their youth as the people who transform this municipality into a Good Neighbour Community.
In Montreal, we are working with an organization that matches people together for co-op living. They want their co-op living to be fully integrated with their neighbours.
And for example, a small rural community of 6000 souls is working hard to become a Good Neighbour Community. Even though they have a long history of social connectedness, they are feeling the stress of isolation and divisiveness.
In each of these communities, the objective is to shift the culture so it is normal to knock on a neighbours door to borrow a cup of sugar. As these communities develop this new norm, we develop the capacity to make it happen in more places.
As it happens in enough places, it will happen everywhere. It will happen everywhere because the majority of people want to embrace their neighbours as trusted members of their supportive and caring community.
Do you believe me? Do you think we can do this? Let’s get the debate going. Let’s hear from the Yea-sayers and the Nay-sayers. Who wants this to happen? What are you prepared to do. We have the tools, the passion, the will and we will work with you to make it happen in your neighbourhood, your apartment building and your municipality.
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