Volunteer Locally - Look No Farther Than Your Own Block

A great way to get started volunteering is to look locally – as in your own neighborhood. As a parent and concerned community member, I care a great deal about the health and safety of my neighborhood. Last year I had a few concerns about issues on my block and contacted Creston Neighborhood Association, which covers my neighborhood.

Most neighborhoods in the city of Grand Rapids are overseen by a neighborhood association whose mission it is to connect neighbors and promote the social, economic and environmental health of their area. To find out the neighborhood association in your area, check out this interactive map of Grand Rapids.

Click on your neighborhood and it will let you know which association covers your area: http://www.cridata.org/Neighb_GR.aspx

In addition to helping me with the concerns I called about, I found out that my block was in need of a block captain. A block captain is a neighbor designated to be a key contact on a given one-block stretch of a street. If neighbors are having a problem, concern or suggestion, they contact the block captain who gets in touch with the neighborhood association and in collaboration, sometimes with a community police officer, depending on the issue, tries to resolve the matter.

Living in the city, we are in such close proximity to our neighbors that we have a real chance to become a close-knit community that looks out for one another.

Being a block captain is a great way to meet your neighbors, promote the social and physical well-being of your neighborhood and, low and behold, it’s actually volunteering too!

A big benefit of living in the city is that you have the opportunity to be part of a community which is literally close to you.

I like being a block captain because it’s helped me get to know my neighbors. I know who lives in which house and I can better look out for everyone. It’s fun to canvas my neighborhood inviting people to a pancake breakfast to raise money for the association. I hear stories about what my neighbors’ kids are doing, talk to neighbors about sharing plants from our gardens or possibly hear about problems that I myself can help solve.

Being part of the neighborhood association has opened up other opportunities as well. Creston Neighborhood Association has a committee called Living Green in Creston that addresses the environmental health of our neighborhood. They have partnered with the West Michigan Environmental Action Council to offer workshops on building and the use of rain barrels.

At the end of the short workshop, I’ll be bringing home a rain barrel to catch rain and water my garden. I’ve thought about doing this on my own, but the barrels are expensive and I didn’t know where to get started. Thanks to Creston, I get one for free with a tutorial and all.

The rain barrel project is just one example of a take-away benefit of being involved. The neighborhood association will help me plan a big Spring clean-up or a summer block party where we close down the street. All I have to do is organize my neighbors and bring our plan to the association who will help us from there.

Being a block captain is a great way to feel part of a close community, protect your property value, and maintain the environmental health of your neighborhood. You could be part of something great!