What do you do to be a supportive neighbor?

These inspirational stories come from neighbors who have found enriching experiences in the act of reaching out. What do you do to be a supportive neighbor?

Carpooling & Sharing Your Abundance with Neighbors

"I live in the Woodstock Neighborhood and know many of my neighbors. If I am ever running to the grocery store, I invite my 75-year-old neighbor to go along. I have known her since I was 3 years old. My grandparents raised my mom, aunt, and uncle in the same intersection that we live in. Going to the store has become a fun social outing instead of a dull shopping errand. She enjoys getting a ride, getting out, and catching up. We share our abundance with our neighbors. Whenever we have too much of something, like fruit, bakery items, or home-grown veggies, we bring the extra to our immediate neighbors. I was making cookies for a gathering and realized I was out of oatmeal. I went running across the street to borrow a couple of cups from my neighbor. A car passed by and probably thought “look at that lady running with a measuring cup in her PJs,” but that is what I like about our relationship. We aren’t just neighbors, we are family!"

-Woodstock Neighbor

Learning Customs and Making Friends
"We tell our children that it is very important to have friends and be nice to others. Our neighbors can also be our friends. In our culture, there is a statement: it is needed to rely on your relatives first, then your neighbors secondly. Some of us are fortunate enough to live by our relatives, but we all have neighbors next door. I watch over my son and our neighbor’s son while they play outside. I encourage them to play ball together and to get to know each other’s customs. They have both learned about each other’s New Year’s traditions. I believe that it is a good value to have respect toward different cultures. I learned that my neighbor has the same expectations as mine towards our children’s education, behavior, and health. We are not so much different as we thought. "
- Portland Neighbor

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