What makes a healthy neighborhood, healthy?

One of my favorite projects that I worked on at NeighborLink is this study on what makes healthy neighborhoods, healthy? It was my attempt at trying to gain a better understanding of why we celebrate some neighborhoods more than others when the data and antidotal evidence doesn’t support the praise at the same level. Same goes for neighborhoods that get a negative connotation. They are filled with some of the most dedicated and wonderful people that overwhelm the negativity with positivity.

This summary report is worth reading to learn more about what stood out to the neighbors. Here is info from our post on the NeighborLink website in 2019.

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For the past 15 years, NeighborLink has met the needs of vulnerable homeowners with volunteer service. Just since November 2010, NeighborLink has completed over 7,554 projects in Fort Wayne. That means we’ve heard over 7,554 stories and accomplished over 7,554 acts of kindness. This also means NeighborLink has had an intimate glimpse into the inner workings of neighborhoods through being a neighbor and connecting its neighbors. 

This glimpse has exposed some fundamental questions:

• Why do neighborhoods differ so drastically from block to block?

• Why does the media seem to report negatively on some neighborhoods more often than others?

• Why does economic and community development seem to forget certain parts of the city?

• Why do the desires of the neighborhood residents often differ from the prescription of outside experts?

All of these questions have distilled down to one main question at NeighborLink:

What makes a healthy neighborhood, healthy? 

In an effort to answer this question, we contracted Purdue University Fort Wayne's Community Research Institute to partner with us on a comprehensive research project that gathered relevant quantitative data about each neighborhood and combined it with the qualitative data collected through various neighborhood meetings and interviews we held. 

Perceived ‘healthy' neighborhoods are ones with positive attention, ones where economic development and community development is occurring, but how different are these neighborhoods really from other neighborhoods? We wanted to find out whether the neighborhoods many consider ‘unhealthy’ have the same characteristics that the ‘healthy’ neighborhoods have, and if not, why not. To accomplish this we have undertaken a two-year study of five different neighborhoods in Fort Wayne. 

We, at NeighborLink, are committed to increasing our capacity to foster long-term change by equipping and empowering neighbors to know and help each other. The only way to accomplish this is to get to know these neighbors ourselves. We need to know more about their neighborhoods, what motivates them, what they think their assets are, and what they believe they really need from outside help. 

Neighborhoods Researched: 

• Hoagland Masterson

• North Highlands

• Pettit-Rudisill

• West Central

• Williams Woodland Park

THANK YOU

This project was made possible by a capacity building, Inspire Grant from the Foellinger Foundation. This report outlines our learnings from phase one of a two-part research project and will inform the direction of phase two to be announced in early 2020. 

To learn more about Phase 1 findings, you can download the report by clicking here.

Never Done Alone

I’m writing out a few stories of the transformative moments around my journey at NeighborLink as a way to reflect, document, and share how NL has been such an integral part of life for me. I end my time as Executive Director on January 29th, 2021 after 13 years.

One final public reflection as I closed this volume in the book of life and begin a new one revolves around the team of board members, co-workers, and long-term volunteers that coached, supported, and worked alongside me. The reality is, there are many people that are NeighborLink, not just me.

I really struggled to take the job at NL in the first place because I wasn't sure I was ready to be the only employee and be responsible for an entire organization. I had never done that before and I certainly didn't really know what a nonprofit was. I was assured that I was not alone and that I would have a dedicated board of directors and volunteers who would help me figure it out. I knew I could do the day-to-day work that was needed and I had confidence that I could bring some things that could be used. This all proved true and I've glad I took the chance.

I owe so much to John Barce, who co-created NL in 2003 and has served as Board President ever since. He and I have had lunch at least once a month for 13 years. I don't know a more humble, dedicated, generous, and hardworking person. He alongside the rest of the long-time board members has always created an environment that was stable and supported my vision and energy to explore the boundaries of our mission. I know my experience has been drastically different from many other nonprofit leaders because of their leadership, and I'm grateful.

I was the only employee for 6 full years and by the end of that, I was nearly burned out and was regularly overwhelmed by the number of requests, the activity, and the burden of carrying all the issues people expressed directly to me. Over 80% of the projects that get posted every year come through our phones, so we talk to thousands of people every year, each one having their own complicated situation that you knew for many would not be improved without a miracle. I'm grateful that miracles did and do happen every day.

It was a glorious day when I could offer Jeff Shatto a job 7 years ago. He was my number one volunteer and long-time friend at that time and he was the perfect fit. From there we begin adding other team members over the years. Some stayed for a short time and others stayed for a few years. I'm grateful for each one of them, their contributions, and the lessons they taught me about how to lead others, build an organization, and how to build or to define organizational culture.

I know I've been the worst co-worker/boss some people have had and I know I've been one of the best. Growing and leading the staffing side of NL has been one of the most stressful and transformative parts of the past 7 years and am grateful for the experiences because I'm a better human because of them. I've worked hard over the past two years to better understand and articulate the NL culture while developing it alongside our current team of co-workers.

The hardest part of this transition is leaving both the board of directors and my co-workers as our team is really dialed in now. It'll be one of the things I await the Lord to reveal in the coming months. However disappointing, I know they are all as dedicated as I was to the mission and are weaving their own life into the work every day. The person that becomes executive director after me or those that join the NL team in the coming year is going to have an incredible team of co-workers to work alongside.

There have to also be a hundred people that I could list out that played a role in loving me, coaching me, opening a door for me, doing work for me, donating because I asked, inviting me to places, putting in a good word for me, celebrate me, work alongside me, and many other ways to describe how others support us along the way.

If you have served as a board member, a co-worker, a long-time volunteer/supporter, a professional peer, and a mentor THANK YOU. I did nothing on my own and I can only share any positive spotlight that has been pointed towards me or the organization with many others.

PS... there just aren't enough pictures of everyone together. We should have done more of that!

The Lessons Learned

I’m writing out a few stories of the transformative moments around my journey at NeighborLink as a way to reflect, document, and share how NL has been such an integral part of life for me. I end my time as Executive Director on January 29th, 2021 after 13 years.

“When you get your “Who am I?” question right, all of your “What should I do?” questions tend to take care of themselves.
”

— Richard Rohr, Falling Upward

This quote has been one that has stuck with me since I first read this book over a decade ago because it so closely aligns with my journey of how I began my involvement with NeighborLink and what fueled my commitment to going deeper into the core issues we see in our work and is aligned with the Lord’s call to serve professionally in a new space within the Kingdom. 

 As I’ve spent time in deep reflection and preparing the NL team during my transition, I’ve been documenting some of the main lessons learned over the past 13 years. One of our core values at NL is to be committed to learning, and a way we practice this value is to spend time each week during our staff meeting reflecting on what we learned the week before with each other. It’s been transformative for our team over the past two years. In that spirit, here are a few lessons I want to share with you. 

WE ARE ALL A FEW CIRCUMSTANCES OR CHOICES AWAY 

In 15 years of projects, I can confidently say that we’re all just a razor-thin line away from needing the help of others in significant ways. What ultimately determines our ability to navigate life’s circumstances or the bad choices we’ve made is how deep our security net is or how broad and stable our community is. I’ve met incredible people that have lived healthy, productive lives who love Jesus who have bought their own home through hard work and raised a wonderful family just like I’m trying to do, not be able to afford to cover the hefty expenses of home maintenance because they made working-class wages and weren’t able to build a retirement plan like I have been able to so far. I’ve met neighbors who were tragically injured while in the middle of helping someone on the side of the road with a car issue have their life completely changed and need help with mobility repairs to their homes. I’ve also seen someone living paycheck to paycheck do all the right things have that cheap car they had to buy from a not-so-reputable car dealer break again and take any savings they may have had, and now they can’t fix the hot water heater. I can resonate and see many of these issues happening in my own life, and it makes me that much more grateful each time I see NeighborLink volunteers come alongside their neighbors, who are desperate for the community to help and develop a relationship.

PROXIMITY MATTERS

This lesson is what prompted my wife and me to be intentional about where we bought the first house. If we were going to be engaged in community development work, then we needed to be all in, to the point where the issues facing the neighborhood weren’t just issues to solve for others, they were ours to solve because we felt them too. I heard a community development expert say one time that you have to live and work in a place for 7-10 years before you can even begin to understand what the community needs. I thought that was exaggerated, but after 12 years of living and working in a lower-income area, I believe it wholeheartedly. After 13 years of working with individuals aging in place and in various neighborhoods, we learn more every year about the systemic challenges pressing against great people. I can confidently say that NL embraces this philosophy at the core, and any future solutions that we present are because we are proximate to neighbors in need. We’re in the yards and homes of over 1,300 homeowners and dozens of neighborhoods around Fort Wayne every year. We hear the stories, learn from neighbors, and live intentional lives as a team.  

VULNERABILITY MUST BE EMBRACED

Our society does not widely embrace vulnerability as a normal part of our daily lives, and often treats it as a liability. NL has taught me to recognize that we all have vulnerabilities every day, and just because I’m asking for help doesn’t mean I’m weak, broken, or unable to offer something in return from where I am strong. My current vulnerability doesn’t mean I’m going to be vulnerable forever. I’ve learned many times that when I’m at my most vulnerable, it’s others that show up or whom I invited into my life with their strengths that help me move towards strength. Almost every project where I have gotten time to spend getting to know the neighbor I’m helping, I walk away feeling like I have been blessed more than I’ve been a blessing. They had a vulnerability in something that they couldn’t physically do that I could, and they had the ability to speak a word of encouragement, offer a prayer, or share a cold bottle of water with me when I needed it. NL is about relationships and connections, not just our ability to fix broken things. I have learned how to ask for help more freely and receive others’ blessings as their offering, rather than dismiss them out of lack of need. Vulnerability can be a beautiful and harmonious transaction to be sought after rather than avoided. 

SMALL THINGS CHANGE NEIGHBORHOODS

It is those individuals in our circles of awareness and influence that do the things that everyone sees and thinks need done. Ever since the first time I called a neighbor who now had an actual, physical neighbor helping them after I had been mowing their grass for months, I’ve become more aware of just how much everyone observes what’s going on around them, but rarely acts. What happened in that project is that the neighbor saw that there was a stranger showing up week after week to do something that had been done a certain way for a long time by the person I was helping. Eventually, the neighbors interacted outside in passing, and questions were asked, awareness was gained, and generosity was offered. I see this most clearly in my own neighborhood when I see a neighbor who has faithfully filled a small bag of trash up twice a day as he walks his dog for years. This neighbor regularly gets celebrated for this simple act, as they should. It’s those small actions that have prompted other neighbors to take responsibility for the small things they see because they know they have a part to play in solidarity with others. Not everyone is motivated to pick up trash, but we all have something we see in our daily lives that we wish someone would do something about. I’ve learned that this is the Holy Spirit’s way of talking to me and encouraging to own that aspect. If I see it, maybe I should be the one to do it. When I do this and when I’ve seen others do it, others are quick to show up and join in the efforts. It takes courage to be the one who moves first, no matter how small the task is. 

I have a hundred other lessons learned that have impacted me over the years thanks to all the volunteers, board members, community partners, friends, neighbors, and supporters who have been gracious and generous to me over the years. 

NeighborLink is so much more than its leader. Any success or praise that has come my way over the years is shared with the dedicated staff that is weaving their life and vocations together on a daily basis. They are the true operational power behind NeighborLink. And, beyond our staff, NeighborLink doesn’t exist or work without the hundreds of volunteers each year that move from a desire to do good and help to actually do it. If you reflect on all that is involved in a simple 45-minute yard mowing project, you will see how monumental the efforts of NeighborLink volunteers are when you think about the completion of 1,300 projects a year. 

Forever grateful. Forever different.

Work Hard. Do Good. Love Wins

I’m writing out a few stories of the transformative moments around my journey at NeighborLink as a way to reflect, document, and share how NL has been such an integral part of life for me. I end my time as Executive Director on January 29th, 2021 after 13 years.

Today's journey down transformative memory lane is the role Team Neighborlink has played in my life and the life of NL.

Athletics has always been a part of my life and I first did an athletic event with a charitable bent just after college when I signed up to do my first half-marathon and raise money for Youth For Christ. I was asked to raise $100/mile and I remember buying into that challenge without much thought and pulling it off by asking friends/family. I don't even remember getting anything in return, just the knowledge that something I enjoyed doing and a personal challenge could incorporate and benefit something else that was important to me. From there, I did that a second time and discovered other charity runs/events that were more event-based and where my participation helped them raise money.

When I started at NL, I was still doing cycling and running events and beginning to evaluate the way orgs raised money, which reminded me of athletic events as fundraisers. As I participated in other events and was standing around hundreds and sometimes thousands of people, I began to think I should be putting NL logos on the gear I was purchasing. Missed marketing opportunities! I could be telling my story rather than the identity mark of some clothing maker.

I bought some shirts for a friend and me for the event challenges we had set that year. It then clicked after those events and the other athlete friends of mine asked me about the gear that we needed to create gear for our community at NL. I knew that volunteers don't only volunteer in their life and many are active. If I created a running shirt that looked great and was of good quality, would they consider buying it rather than a blank version of the same thing? The answer was a big yes and we sold a lot of running shirts the next year. I also asked the same question of my cycling friends after I began seeing how so many cycling teams had custom gear. I learned that it only took 10 people to buy 1 kit each to get started. I had 11 that first year.

Team NeighborLink was born. I was also learning that the charity 5k market was saturated and the amount of work it took to pull off an event was way more than it was worth for our small organization and if I was going to put that kind of time into it, I wanted to have more than just some dollars in our pockets. I wanted a community of people because that community of people is what is going to change things and have greater success over time. So, we took an alternative approach and tried to sell as many running shirts and cycling kits as we could and build a community that went to everyone else's events together and to raise awareness.

We've sold at least a thousand cycling kits all over the country, hundreds of running shirts, and all kinds of other merchandise. We've had competitive race teams winning major events and athletes tackle incredible personal feats in TNL gear all in an effort to help us raise money and awareness for the cause.

TNL really got transformative when I started to take those early lessons of crowdfunding experience and giving up my birthday to raise money. TNL members started doing the same thing and taking on big event challenges to raise money for us. We've raised over $100,000 together through fundraisers, sponsorships, events, and merchandise.

More importantly, TNL has connected me to some of my closest friends today, several co-workers over the years, dozens of really important connections, and expanded our network and mission to communities all over the country. If you choose to commit to long runs or bike rides with others, you cover a lot of ground in life-related conversations in a 2-3 hour time slot or several times a week. TNL has always been about relationships and community first, athletics secondly.

TNL is another example of how work-life integration is so fulfilling. It grew out of a simple gesture to screen print a logo on a shirt rather than leaving it blank to asking my friends to be a part of it and to sharing it with the world it became a significant part of our family's extracurricular activities. My kids love Night Moves and Hot Laps events and have their own TNL shirts/kits.

I may no longer be the ED of NeighborLink, but I'm a TNL member for life. I don't have any athletic gear that doesn't have a TNL logo on it!!

My Most Transformative Moment

I’m writing out a few stories of the transformative moments around my journey at NeighborLink as a way to reflect, document, and share how NL has been such an integral part of life for me. I end my time as Executive Director on January 29th, 2021 after 13 years.

There isn't a more personal transformative story of my time at NeighborLink than the one of meeting Michelle Hoffman on an NL project, which will continue to be transformative for the rest of our lives.

We first met when Michelle and her friends signed up for a project I was leading at FMC. It was a yard reconstruction project due to sewer line repair for a wonderful family that was dealing with medical conditions for 3 of 4 of their family members. (Funny story is that this family is still connected to NL and loves to remind us that their project was the first project we met on. We got to know them over time as we would spend time with them.) We also met at the Rialto Theatre where we would meet up as volunteer teams due to its central location and its initial demolition work by the Reclamation Project at the time. All important details for our long-term story.

That project connected our friend groups and made it much easier to talk to her in the future weeks on projects and through a young adult ministry we ended up being a part of. This was right before I took on Jean's project, and I would use that project as a way to invite her to come scope the project out and meet the homeowners with me.

The story we laugh about the most is that my office at the time was near her apartment and she invited me over for dinner after work before going to look at the first project together. It was definitely not a date, but a great glimpse into the heart of Michelle and I knew I needed to spend way more time with her however possible. I thought making me enchiladas and inviting me over was pretty forward, but definitely not complaining. (Michelle can add her side of the story in the comments).

We spend the next couple of months doing projects together while getting to know each other before I had the confidence to ask her out on an actual date. We continued to volunteer and weave our lives together from then on. Michelle was and is always a more compassionate, engaging, and loving neighbor who is gifted at connecting with people in a deep, relational way. I just overthink things and she's the real neighbor.

We kept serving together and learning about what it means to be a neighbor. We were in a community with others willing to have big conversations about what it looks like to fully immerse ourselves in mission as a lifestyle, not just an activity. As we moved towards buying a house, we felt led to be intentional about being in proximity to where we were spending the majority of our time serving, and we wanted to live in proximity to neighbors who were doing the same.

So, we kept going with it and decided alongside Joe and Steph Johns to buy houses in the same urban neighborhood. They found a house immediately and it took us about a year to find a place. Then another almost year to transform that house into our home. The fear of that decision is that you won't have good schools, you'll have questionable neighbors, you'll be unsafe, and you won't have access to as much.

What we found is a neighborhood full of incredible people that also moved intentionally into the neighborhood in the decades and years before us for similar and related personal reasons. The unifying piece for us all is that we believe in community, diversity, and a shared vision that we all have a role to play in creating the community we want to be a part of, not avoid the hard things. Our desire to be on mission in a space was quickly replaced with the idea of simply being our best selves among neighbors.

We often hear that "work-life balance" is an essential part of living a healthy life, and I would agree that we have to keep the percentages of time doing both in check. However, NeighborLink has taught me that it is far more fulfilling to have a "work-life integration" philosophy and find a way to embrace it all as one. It's all mixed up anyway and why not figure out a way to align it all rather than try to manage the balance of the buckets?

Michelle and I are on that journey and it began on day one of our relationship together. The work we both do, the places we live/shop/play, where we send our kids, the relationships we invest in, the extra-curricular activities we do, etc. We now absolutely love serving as a family and seeing our kids have fun out on projects. It definitely gets out of balance at times, but it helps in discerning what we do and how much we do it.

All I know is that I'm grateful Michelle signed up for that project and she kept saying yes to my covert attempts of volunteerism to spend time getting to know her.

This story could go on forever! And, it will.