Ross (the Boss) of NDG's Blog

  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 The young person who seems withdrawn may simply be waiting f...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...

  There are many ways to transform a community. We can improve buildings. Plant gardens. Create programs. Help people who are struggling. Build better parks and gathering places. Support local businesses. Find new ways to care for our young people and seniors. But there is another kind of transformation that costs absolutely nothing—and could change thousands of lives. We can become people who encourage one another. Think about how often people hear criticism in the course of an ordinary day. A child is told what they did wrong. An employee hears about the mistake they made. A teenager is reminded of what they haven't accomplished. A parent wonders whether they're doing a good enough job. A senior may quietly wonder whether they still matter. Someone struggling to rebuild their life may begin believing that nobody expects very much from them anymore. What would happen if NDG became different? What if we became known as a neighbourhood where people deliberately looke...

  Another Thought on Transforming NDG — and Creating A NuVo World Over the past several days, I have been doing a lot more walking around my neighbourhood. And something has struck me. There are dogs everywhere! Big dogs. Little dogs. Old dogs moving slowly beside their people. Puppies trying to investigate every tree, blade of grass and passing stranger. Dogs walking proudly down the sidewalk as though they own NDG — and perhaps, in their minds, they do! But what has interested me even more than the dogs are the people at the other end of the leash. Again and again, a dog has provided the introduction. “What's his name?” “How old is she?” “What kind of dog is that?” And suddenly two strangers aren't strangers anymore. We're talking. We're smiling. We're learning one another's names. We're becoming neighbours. And that has made me think about something I have believed for a very long time: I believe that, wherever circumstances make it possible, every househ...