Neighborhood Engagement
In searching the City of Fargo's website for regulations on slow-moving vehicles (that's another story altogether), I found that there are 7 neighborhoods in town that have formed an assocation. Here's their brief definition...
A neighborhood organization is any group that is:
- bringing people together,
- defined by a geographic boundary, and
- concerned about issues that affect the neighborhood/area.
These organizations work to increase the livability of Fargo's neighborhoods. They can help citizens have their voices heard in the public policy debates that take place in the city.
Various types of neighborhood groups can exist, but they must all be defined at least by the boundaries of their neighborhood. In other words, you must live in the neighborhood to be a part of the group. However, the focus of your group can vary from very broad to very specific.
I share this as a way to build bridges to the gospel, creating an expanding network of relationships where your group meets. As I mentioned, there are only 7 associations in Fargo and it doesn't appear as though they meet all that often. If your group is in a neighborhood with no representation, this may be a formal way to care for those around you.
As we define our shared missions as groups, this may be a great way to get started.
Whether or not you work through this process in starting an association, or just join one in existence, a resource I just found is called Next Door. This is basically a social network only for people in your actual neighborhood.
This may be a good resource, last winter someone in our neighborhood tried to get a directory set up for our street, but the feedback was that people didn't want to divulge much personal info. All we ended up getting in the end was the last name of the family living in the house with their house #. Not great. And it showed the mentality of some families on our block. For me, that means I need to be creative and continually intentional.
Hopefully we'll leverage resources and help one another as we seek to engage those around us.
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