I am involved in a little community improvement. I live in a pocket neighborhood that I think it awesome. In fact, I stalked my neighborhood for months before a friend called and said "We just looked at a house that would be perfect for you guys!". 6 days later, I had a contract on my house.
Flash forward 13 years and I still love my house. We live here. Truly LIVE here. Right now it is a mess of back to school supplies, unswept floors and breakfast dishes. My husband keeps his shoes in my pantry, his gym bag by the door and his work shirt on the dining room chair.
We have had 12 Christmas celebrations, an innumerable amount of parties, sick days, sleepovers and more. My college dog is buried in the yard along with a cat, several hamsters and a squirrel (courtesy of college dog during a hamster funeral).
My neighbors have gone on vacation with me, sat with me while I cried about the loss of my mom, baked cookies with my kids, drank wine with me and shared their lives. My neighbors are the chief of police, journalists, college professors, dishwashers, teachers and music directors.
So it makes sense that I want the community around my home to be as awesome. Unfortunately, it is not. We live in a mixed demographic and race community, which I personally love. There are millionaires and welfare moms that live in our neighborhood and surrounding areas. My kids see people who ride the bus to get their groceries, and women like me who drive two blocks. I love that about our community.
What I don't love is our dirty, dim store that is about 20 years past it's prime. Broken tile, dirty floors, poorly trained staff and few choices for healthy foods.
What I also started was a discussion about how we live in our communities. Most people are fine shopping at a store outside our neighborhood (me included). When I really thought about it, however, I got really upset. My money should stay in my community and improve my part of town, not the overpriced neighborhood downtown. Not the suburbs. MY COMMUNITY.
I finally have had enough. I contacted their home headquarters, the local manager and started a petition.
So...here I am community organizer. And here is my petition.
Flash forward 13 years and I still love my house. We live here. Truly LIVE here. Right now it is a mess of back to school supplies, unswept floors and breakfast dishes. My husband keeps his shoes in my pantry, his gym bag by the door and his work shirt on the dining room chair.
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| Sometimes we are too comfortable |
My neighbors have gone on vacation with me, sat with me while I cried about the loss of my mom, baked cookies with my kids, drank wine with me and shared their lives. My neighbors are the chief of police, journalists, college professors, dishwashers, teachers and music directors.
So it makes sense that I want the community around my home to be as awesome. Unfortunately, it is not. We live in a mixed demographic and race community, which I personally love. There are millionaires and welfare moms that live in our neighborhood and surrounding areas. My kids see people who ride the bus to get their groceries, and women like me who drive two blocks. I love that about our community.
What I don't love is our dirty, dim store that is about 20 years past it's prime. Broken tile, dirty floors, poorly trained staff and few choices for healthy foods.
What I also started was a discussion about how we live in our communities. Most people are fine shopping at a store outside our neighborhood (me included). When I really thought about it, however, I got really upset. My money should stay in my community and improve my part of town, not the overpriced neighborhood downtown. Not the suburbs. MY COMMUNITY.
I finally have had enough. I contacted their home headquarters, the local manager and started a petition.
So...here I am community organizer. And here is my petition.
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