Being Neighborly: Lake Stevens
Posted by Gary O'Rielly on Oct 03, 2016
Being Neighborly Lake Stevens and the Unity Project were the topics of last Friday's meeting provided by Terry Myer. The mission of Being Neighborly is to facilitate the empowerment of neighbors so that they can create the needed processes, opportunities and projects to satisfy their needs within the framework of our vision and core values. Being Neighborly has filed the paperwork to be a non-profit organization. The organization is currently waiting for approval. They have about 1,100 members in less than a year.
Their core values are integrity, empowerment, community, kindness, helpfulness, generosity and inclusiveness. They strive to make it easier to connect by offering to help each other, lending things, enjoying the interactions about shared interests using online chat rooms encouraging open conversations, playing games, featuring neighbors and exploring ideas to help make progress in their goals.
Terry lists all of the projects for 2016. It is long and inclusive. They have partners in business and support the Food Bank through sharing produce raised through teaching sustainable gardening and eventually will have community gardens in Lake Stevens. Of course there is the NAK Attacks which stands for Neighborly Acts of Kindness. NAK Attacks are happening now and throughout the community. In September alone, there were 135 NAK ATTACKS reported which amounts to approximately 5 per day.
UNITY PROJECT is currently under development. The Unity public art project examines how labels both help and hinder our ability to build unity as a nation and as a human race. Unity is a circular arrangement of 32 poles in a large field. Each pole is labeled with an identifier. Examples include "I'm a parent," "I speak English as a Second language" and "I am a Baby Boomer." With yarn, participants tie to each pole with which they identify. A canopy of interconnectedness forms as more people participate. The goal of the project is to celebrate the uniqueness of individuals and raises awareness of how labels impact our perception of and interactions with each other and the world. The Unity Project is currently seeking funding for all of the supplies that they need for the project and more. More to follow in the near future. For more information visit their Facebook page.