COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD ? Creating community in Holland

During the past week, I traveled to a communication research conference in Orlando and spent a few hours in the Baltimore airport while transferring planes. I stopped at a restaurant briefly for breakfast and noticed another customer playfully urging the cashier to smile. ?It?s a good day,? the customer said, laughing.

Seconds later, another customer near the line?s rear barked complaints about their friendly chatter. ?Stop being nice and just do your job,? he shouted. I furtively turned to look at the man, wondering why he was wasting energy over harmless interactions.

The rather sad incident reminded me of the neighborly care that I often take for granted in Holland. When we first moved to Holland nearly eight years ago, we chose to live in the city?s Historic District because we liked its sense of community. The Historic District?s neighborhood association, which hosts regular events such as an ice cream social open to all district residents, appealed to our desire to get to know our neighbors.
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Creating neighborhood community though goes further than just being friendly. Several weeks ago, I found a reprint of an illustrated poster with the prose, ?How to Build Community,? among old papers. The prose, which was originally created by the Syracuse Cultural Workers publishing house, includes short statements that are guides to action. For example, phrases such as ?Know your neighbors? and ?Garden together? accompany broader encouragement to ?Buy from local merchants? and boost community.

The colorful poster?s statements reminded me of the valuable work that the Westcore Neighbors project is doing in Holland?s west-central neighborhoods. A partnership between Holland?s New Community (Nueva Comunidad) Fourth Reformed Church, Good Samaritan Ministries and Maple Avenue Ministries, Westcore was launched in November 2010 with the goal of creating a stronger neighborhood community. Westcore?s overall area includes properties within the borders of 13th Street to 22nd Street and River Avenue to Ottawa Avenue.

I first learned about the organization when Holland resident Raul Garcia, who grew up on West 20th Street, helped establish Westcore and worked as an AmeriCorps worker with the organization. I followed Westcore?s activities, such as creating a community garden, painting a mural in an alley between West 18th and West 19th streets, and doing neighborhood clean-ups. More recently, Westcore invited neighbors to help another resident with exterior maintenance to her home.

In a Sentinel article from Aug. 11, 2011, Garcia described Westcore?s mission and future possibilities. ?This group is not about what needs to be done and assigning someone to do it,? he said. ?It?s about us asking, ?What are you interested in and how can you help get it done?? It has to be about neighbors actually caring to do the work.?

Garcia?s assertion reminds me of additional statements from the ?How to Build a Community? poster. ?Ask a question? and ?Look up when you?re walking? invite listeners to practice sensitive observance of their neighborhood. Strong, safe neighborhoods result when people listen and notice enough to care.

One reflection of this caring is Westcore?s collaborative involvement in developing a neighborhood community center with Good Samaritan Ministries, Women?s Service Day and New Community Fourth Reformed Church. The community center, or Nuestra Casa/The Gathering Place, will be located in a formerly vacant home at 253 W. 15th St.

I enthusiastically support the organizations? hopes to use Nuestra Casa as a base for activities such as kids? crafts, book groups, a community garden and many more possibilities. I was previously active in a similar community center when I lived in Australia and it remains one of my favorite life experiences. In addition to attending a book group at the center, sometimes I just joined neighbors for chats over cups of tea.

Communities are built when neighbors stop, listen and help when needed. To learn more about Westcore Neighbors, visit: http://westcoreneighbors.com/About_Us.html.

? Teresa Heinz Housel is an associate professor of communications at Hope College. Contact her at teresahousel@gamil.com.

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Source: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/opinions/x1107410569/COMMUNITY-ADVISORY-BOARD-Creating-community-in-Holland

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