Summer Idea: Getting out into your neighborhood this summer

[Guest guest]

Uploaded the entire article into Files, but here's an excerpt that really struck

a chord.

Everyone I know is busy trying to think of creative and low-cost activities this

summer for their loved ones with DDs. Thought this article (posted in its

entirety in Files under the Community folder)might jump start some ideas. The

very last tip, the one about 'becoming a regular' in different spots, has worked

extremely well for my daughter. She is SO very happy to enter a store or

restaurant or volunteer site, where 'everybody knows her name' as they used to

sing on the old TV show " Cheers " . It may seem like a small thing to some, but

to her it's very important.

Happy summer!

Building a community inventory involves looking at the community with different

eyes, as a series of opportunities and potential relationships. Building an

inventory of community options is often best created by walking through the

neighbourhoods and charting the resources that are available. These include

things like:

• Recreation centres

• Stores

• Businesses

• Banks

• Churches and other faith communities

• Schools, including colleges and universities

• Parks

• Cultural resources like theatres, art galleries and libraries

• Child care centres

• Bars or clubs

• Community services like hospitals, police and fire halls

• Clubs and associations

• Resources that welcome volunteers like SPCA, food banks, and thrift stores

• Local hangouts like coffee shops, restaurants, and other places `regulars'

gather

In addition to the " bricks and mortar " places you identify, it is also important

to inventory what associational connections are available to explore. These

include clubs of various kinds, service organizations and not-for-profit

organizations such as the SPCA. The process of searching for and finding these

gems in your community will be interesting and support the exploration of

interests, abilities and experiences for the individual you are supporting.

It is also important to pay attention to the community calendar of events. Small

towns are historically quite rich in community events which offer opportunities

for social connections. Neighbourhoods in larger cities also host events.

Learning about when these occur and making sure they are on the calendar is an

important way to support new experiences and new relationships.

Explore volunteer opportunities in your asset mapping as well. Community events

offer many opportunities to volunteer as do local not-for-profit organizations.

Including these in the asset inventory will extend your creative thinking with

respect to potential friendships and social connections.

Seeing Opportunities

An easy, but often overlooked way to see opportunities, is to become a " regular "

in your neighbourhood or community. Becoming visible involves doing things at

the same time and same place in order to build potential connections. This can

involve an introduction to the clerk at the corner store where you regularly buy

your newspaper, the cashier at Safeway who works on Wednesday afternoons when

you shop, or the other neighbours who go out walking in the evening at the same

time as you. The point is to become familiar and to see and seize these

potential connections.

[Guest guest]

Laurie:

I LOVE the concept of building a community inventory...it is even comforting for

us NT's to be known in our communities and greeted warmly by name when we enter

a business or store. I will be doing that for Noah and I, now that we are

settled in our new homes in Skokie.

Thanks for the great tips!

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

egskb@...