Ross (the Boss) of NDG's Blog

  Somewhere along the way to adulthood, many of us stop playing. We walk through parks instead of playing in them. We watch children toss balls, chase one another and laugh uncontrollably—and perhaps forget that there was once a time when we did exactly the same thing. But what if play isn't just for children? What if it is one of the ingredients of a healthy community? Imagine walking through NDG on a summer evening and finding a chessboard set up on a sidewalk table. A few blocks away, grandparents are teaching children how to play bocce. In the park, teenagers are shooting baskets beside adults who haven't touched a basketball in twenty years. Someone has brought a guitar. Another group is playing cards. Children are drawing an enormous picture in sidewalk chalk. Two strangers are tossing a Frisbee. And somewhere, inevitably, people are laughing. There is something important happening in all of those moments. Barriers are disappearing. We spend much of our liv...

  There is something almost magical about eating with another person. We may begin as strangers, acquaintances or neighbours who merely recognize one another from the hallway. But sit down together with a cup of tea, a bowl of soup or a plate of food between us, and something changes. We begin to talk. And when we talk, we begin to discover one another. NDG is wonderfully diverse. On a single walk through our neighbourhood, we encounter people whose families came from every corner of the world. Each arrived carrying something precious: traditions, memories, recipes and stories. Imagine what could happen if we brought more of those things to the same table. I would love to see NDG develop a simple tradition: The Neighbourhood Table. It wouldn't require a major organization or an expensive event. It could begin in an apartment lobby, a church basement, a park, a community room, a backyard—or around somebody's kitchen table. The idea would be beautifully simple: Bring s...

  There is a question I believe every strong community should ask from time to time: Who is missing? Who hasn't been outside lately? Who used to sit on the same bench every morning but hasn't been there this week? Who lives alone at the end of the hallway? Who recently lost a spouse? Who moved into the building but hasn't met anybody yet? Who stopped coming to the community centre, church, café or park? Who might be sitting only a few hundred feet from us right now, wondering whether anybody would notice if they weren't there? We live in a world in which it is surprisingly easy to become invisible. And loneliness doesn't always look like loneliness. The person smiling at us in the elevator may go home to an empty apartment. The senior we pass on the sidewalk may not have had a meaningful conversation all day. The newcomer may be surrounded by thousands of people and still know almost nobody. The young person who seems withdrawn may simply be waiting f...

  Every community has heroes. The problem is that most of them will never appear on television, receive an award, or have their name written on a plaque. They are the people quietly making life better for somebody else. The crossing guard who knows the children's names. The neighbour who shovels an elderly person's walkway before doing their own. The teacher who stays an extra twenty minutes because a student needs to talk. The merchant who has been serving the same families for thirty years. The teenager who carries groceries upstairs for a neighbour. The person who leaves food for someone struggling. The volunteer who keeps showing up even when nobody says thank you. The apartment superintendent who notices that an elderly resident hasn't been seen for a few days—and knocks on the door. These people are everywhere in NDG. What if we started noticing them? Imagine if, instead of reserving recognition for extraordinary achievements, we began celebrating ordinar...

  When we think about helping our community, we often divide people into two groups: those who need help and those who can give help . But perhaps that is the wrong way to look at a neighbourhood. Because every person has something to give. The retired accountant may have an hour to help a young entrepreneur understand a business plan. The teenager who thinks they have little to contribute may be exactly the person who can show an elderly neighbour how to use their phone. The lifelong NDG resident may know stories about our neighbourhood that should never be forgotten. The newcomer may bring traditions, food, music, ideas and perspectives that make our community richer. The person who cannot donate money may be able to donate time. Someone who cannot volunteer physically may be a wonderful listener. A child can draw a picture for someone who is lonely. A restaurant can occasionally provide a meal. A gardener can share tomatoes. A musician can share a song. A tradespe...

  When we talk about transforming a community, our minds naturally turn toward the big things: better services, stronger organizations, new programs, improved housing, safer streets and greater opportunities. But there is another kind of transformation that can begin with a flowerpot. Beauty matters. A planter overflowing with flowers beside an apartment entrance. A neglected patch of earth turned into a tiny garden. A colourful bench. A child's drawing displayed in a shop window. A Little Free Library lovingly painted by neighbours. A balcony filled with geraniums. A clean sidewalk where yesterday there was litter. None of these things will make headlines. Yet collectively, they send a powerful message: Someone cares about this place. And when people sense that someone cares, something interesting happens. They become a little more likely to care too. Imagine if every block in NDG adopted one small place to make beautiful. It might be the patch of soil around a street tr...