“Because you’ve developed a relationship, you’re willing to meet that neighbor’s needs.”

This is a short radio edit of Just What a Neighbor Does. To see the full video, click here.

Transcript for Just What a Neighbor Does – Radio Edit

A good neighbor is one who may not be related to you, but who cares about your well-being, who cares about what your needs are, who is willing to meet those needs, and at the same time, because you’ve developed a relationship, you are willing to meet that neighbor’s needs. As a rule, you know, my mother’s parents lived in town, and she had brothers and sisters who lived in town, but more often than not, I wouldn’t go over my grandparents house if my parents went out. I would go to my neighbors, and would spend the night at their homes, you know, it was just like being at my own home. And so, a neighbor is also an individual who is willing to contribute their part to keeping the community vibrant, to keeping the community friendly, and making sure that the community is safe.

One of the things that I think is important is to give back to that sense of neighborhood, sense of community through block clubs, through neighborhood watch, because the good thing about neighborhood watch is if you start watching, then you’ll know who the bad actors are, because they’re not going to come to the block club meeting. And then, so, all eyes can be focused on them.

When I think about Gary today, and the perception that people have of Gary, a lot of it is based on individual or isolated media accounts. And so, I know that people have a position, or a thought about crime in Gary about blight, or abandonment in Gary. There are still some of those neighborhoods that exist today. Certainly my own neighborhood even though my mother no longer lives in the house that I grew up in, her sister does. And she still has a relationship – we have a neighbor who’s almost ninety years old who still tries to go out and shovel her sidewalk, and she has to chase him in the house, and that’s because he’s been doing it for over sixty years. And that’s just what a neighbor does in his estimation, even though, you know, he’s as old as he is.

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