NUSA --- Neighborhoods, USA --- is a national non-profit organization committed to building and strengthening neighborhood organizations. Every year they hold a conference, and the latest one was in Houston, Texas, May 20-23, 2015. As a staff member in the Office of Neighborhoods, I was fortunate to attend this conference in Houston, and it exceeded my expectations. 

I was able to meet many neighborhood folks from across the United States, network with other Offices of Neighborhoods, and attend some inspiring educational workshops. Each workshop offered different information that could, in some ways, benefit communities in Knoxville.

The first workshop I attended was “Creating Community Engagement with Non-Cash Resources”. This could benefit neighborhoods struggling with finances as well as those who are not. Neighborhood groups often do not have a lot of money. What they do have are neighbors and all of their talents, networks, and experience.

Tonya DuBose spoke about her Houston neighborhood, Historic Independence Heights, which was once considered a rough neighborhood with mostly lower income families. In order to improve her neighborhood, she said that it was very important, to start with a plan. What do you value?  What is your vision?  What is your aspiration?  Create the plan from these questions and create your list of priorities.

She informed us that, since they had very few resources, they used what she called “Human Capital”, which means they got EVERYONE involved. They got youth, seniors, politicians, and even homeless folks involved, and that cost nothing. She said that she was not afraid to talk to anyone, getting them to help spread the word about the neighborhood’s activities. This also got people to feel as if they were a part of something: They felt proud, and they wanted to be involved. Having many people being involved lessens the load, making the work more manageable.

DuBose also gave some great ideas for keeping neighborhoods on the leading edge. She said be willing to think outside the box. What is free advertising?  Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Wix (for a website) all are free and can help engage a younger crowd. If individuals cannot afford this in their own homes, she suggested working with local churches to get WiFi hot spots so that people could come in at different times to use these valuable resources.

She also talked about how to organize. She emphasized that sustainability was important. To her, that meant that the group had to coordinate, collaborate, and communicate very well together.  She also emphasized that each person (and neighborhood) is responsible for their future. It is important to play well together --- ‘friend raising’ as she called it --- in the neighborhood. It is important to value ALL members in the neighborhood, even the non-supporters, too. Community work is never personal. She brought up a good point: News will come out about your neighborhood, so she suggested creating your own news based on the good things that you are doing.

What would you like to see in your neighborhood?  How have you been thinking outside of the box?  What plan could you work on?  How can the Office of Neighborhoods assist you in any of this?  How many of the neighborhoods in Knoxville are doing this or some part of this?  We would love to hear your successes and suggestions.

--- Debbie Sharp, Assistant Neighborhood Coordinator