I live in a small town in Southwest Michigan. My husband is a native and I love the guy so I became a resident too. After all, I grew up on a dirt road, in a house in the middle of a cornfield so I expected it to be similar to what I knew as home. But this community is smaller than where I came from and I’ve learned a thing or two about small towns.
I went to a garage sale one day. The homeowner took one look at my kids and instantly knew who my husband was because the boys are a spitting image of their Dad.
Lesson 1: Everyone knows everyone.
I stopped at our local grocery store one night to pick-up ice cream. The gal at the checkout counter chuckled and asked how bad the ice cream cravings were because my husband had already purchased a gallon that day.
Lesson 2: They often know your business before you do.
We hired a local contractor when we built our house. We knew the owner and many of the individuals actually putting up our house so it wasn’t just another house to them. It was Trent and Jenni’s home. There’s a deeper accountability that comes when the relationship goes beyond the transaction. We felt comfortable asking more questions when things weren’t what we expected and they made suggestions that improved our home -- like expanding my walk-in closet, which always makes a girl happy.
Lesson 3: Do quality work because you want to be proud when you see your clients at the grocery store, the varsity football game and sit next to them at church on Sunday.
Our community has raised many entrepreneurs and I’m proud of how hard they work to support and do business with one another. The menu at the local cafe features hamburgers, salad greens, soups, breads, barbecued beef and sweet treats all grown, raised or baked within a 15 mile radius of the cafe. Not because it’s trendy, but because they’re quality products and it’s the right thing to do. The cafe's booths are filled with the local residents and some travelers who come to experience the family hospitality Mark, Bonnie and their team have created.
Lesson 4: Take care of your neighbors and they’ll help you, too.
Our village is far from perfect and like many communities, we have some things to learn. But it has shining examples of the support and benefits communities can create.
Creating a Supporting Community
Even with all of the support a community can offer, there are outside influences. No one in Michigan has been immune to the faltering economy in recent years. It has created a lot of scarcity thinking.
We’re told who to blame, that it’s "their" fault and often we renounce our power by sitting back and waiting for others to fix it. But what if we could lend a hand to the solution, rather than adding to the problem? It sounds like a monumental task.
Something bigger than you or me. But maybe it takes each "you" and "me" to get "us" to a solution.
So how do we start?
Peter Block, author and community organization consultant, has a theory about how to get there. He believes that what’s "needed" already exists. The only thing missing is conversations that demonstrate to people how their talents are related to those of others in the community.
The conversations need to take place in atmospheres of belonging; where personal gifts are recognized. Where everyone is encouraged to contribute and accountability exists in order to keep focus.
Block developed his theories after a long career consulting with community organizations around the world. He realized something was missing from most of the organizations he worked with. So he began to study ways in which authentic community occurs. He visited communities large and small, studied the works of scholars and those in the trenches to form a cohesive argument about what is possible.
Along the way he co-authored a book "The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods" with John McKnight. In it he writes that "the good life cannot be provided by corporations, institutions or systems. No number of great executives, central offices, technical innovations or long-range plans can produce what a community can produce. People are discovering that satisfying possibilities for their lives are in the neighborhood, not in the marketplace...And the things that only we can do as a family and a neighborhood are vital to a decent, good, satisfied life."
Peter Block is coming to Kalamazoo
He will be presenting a workshop that explores these views in Kalamazoo from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 13 at Transformations Spirituality Center on Gull Road to share his ideas and help others engage in conversations that can help them replicate abundant communities.
More information and registration for the event is available at the Transformations
website or by
email. Or by calling 269-381-6290 ext. 249. Registration is $100, including the program and lunch.
The greater Kalamazoo area has done much of the groundwork that Block talks about.
Transformations is excited to be bringing him to Kalamazoo to help groups, especially the public benefit sector, and individuals to grow and further their missions.
"Through simple, direct and frank dialogue, Peter challenges people to review their own assumptions and to reflect on their own behaviors," says William Sparks, vice president of program services at Acdivoca, who previously hosted a Peter Block event. "This isn't about coming to see a public speaker; it is about coming to be an active participant. An event with Peter is an open invitation to discover how we can improve the world...one conversation and one community at a time."
My Community Tomorrow
In our community we show support for each other, but we too have much to learn. After having read "The Abundant Community," I look forward to not only hearing Peter’s message and experiencing his techniques for including and supporting others, but implementing it in the communities I touch.
Originally from a dairy farm outside Ann Arbor, Jenni Piper now resides on a little patch of heaven in Climax, Michigan, with her husband and four sons. She thrives on fostering growth and creation in her garden, and her kitchen, her family, and her community.