What If NDG Became a Neighbourhood Where Everyone Had Something to Give?

 

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 tradesperson can repair something.

A neighbour with a car can offer a ride.

And sometimes the greatest thing we can give another person is simply the feeling that they have something worth giving too.

Imagine if we began thinking of NDG as an enormous exchange of human gifts.

Not an exchange measured in dollars.

An exchange measured in abilities, experience, kindness, knowledge and time.

We could begin with a wonderfully simple question whenever we meet someone:

“What do you love doing?”

That question is very different from asking what somebody does for a living.

Someone might say:

I love cooking.

I love fixing bicycles.

I love reading to children.

I know everything about gardening.

I'm good with computers.

I speak three languages.

I love animals.

I'm great at organizing things.

Suddenly, instead of seeing another resident, we begin seeing a community resource.

And just as importantly, that person begins seeing themselves that way too.

One day I would love to see an NDG Neighbourhood Skills Exchange—a simple way for residents to say:

“Here's something I can offer.”

and

“Here's something I could use a little help with.”

No complicated bureaucracy.

Just neighbours helping neighbours.

Because perhaps one of the greatest untapped resources in NDG isn't sitting in a government budget or a corporate bank account.

It is walking past us on the sidewalk every single day.

It is each other.

So today's challenge is simple:

Ask somebody what they're good at.

Then tell them something you're good at too.

You never know where that conversation might lead.

Because the NDG we are building should not be a community where a few people take care of everybody else.

It should be a community where everybody has an opportunity to take care of somebody.

That is how strangers become neighbours.

That is how neighbours become a community.

And that is how we create A NuVo World—one day, one person, and one human gift at a time.