Start at Home: 5 Ways Families Can Help Their Community

Being a part of a community is a great honour and a great responsibility. Everything you do doesn’t just reflect you and your values, it shows what your community stands for. Often, people can forget how much of an impact they can have on their community.

There are hundreds of ways to make a difference in your community. From working on libraries, pools, churches, or hiking trails to dog parks or schools, the ideas on how to improve your community are endless.

While most of these are governed by local and state law, you can still find ways to do your part and make the community more enjoyable for everyone, from the youngest to the oldest member. Although it may seem time-consuming, here are 5 simple ways to be selfless and help people that surround you.

Be a Good Neighbour

First things first – you can make sure you are a neighbour everyone wishes to have. Community starts right there, on the street. Do your best to make a habit of greeting everyone, memorising names, and checking in on new neighbours.

Soon, you’ll figure out if anyone around you needs extra help. For instance, you may encounter new parents, elderly citizens living alone, or students who have just arrived in a whole new city. Being there for people when they need help will immensely help the entire community.

You can start a group chat for people in your building or street to keep up with all updates, make plans, lend tools, or organise garage sales. Make sure to include everyone and wait for these text chains to grow organically to avoid overwhelming anyone.

Spend Your Money Wisely

There are probably plenty of small business owners around you. With every purchase you make, you can affect their lives and livelihood. If possible, you should buy goods from local farms and independent shops. Supporting small service providers is essential.

You can also attend weekend markets, visit neighbourhood bakeries, and hire local handymen. These are all great ways to spend money consciously, especially in times of fast fashion and alarming amounts of waste all around us.

Another great idea is to help advertise local handymen, boutique owners, photographers, or any other skilled individual in your community. If you’re happy with the service, make sure to share it on your socials or tell your friends and family about it!

Volunteer Together

When it comes to volunteering, you can do it however you wish to. From micro to macro-level, anything is possible. For instance, even the small things like assembling hygiene kits for a local shelter or writing cards to the local hospital patients are pretty beneficial.

On the other hand, if you want to do something big, you can even try to family volunteer abroad. Taking your kids on such a journey will be an incredibly enriching experience and it will be the perfect learning opportunity.

You should try to be a role model to young people around you, especially your kids. That is why showing them how important empathy is. Make sure to include them in creating community gardens or reading sessions at the local library, to deepen their relationship with their surroundings.

Focus on Shared Spaces

Public spaces are the heart of any functional community. These are the spaces where you most interact with people and where relationships and budding conversations occur. These spaces are bus stops, parks, playgrounds, and many others.

If your community doesn’t have proper public spaces, make sure to start signing petitions and get the local government to fix these issues. If you do have them, but they’re not in the best shape, organise a neighbourhood clean-up.

You could also plant some pollinator-friendly flowers or raise awareness on the importance of environmental cars. Whatever you do to improve shared spaces will be significant for every single member of your community!

Share and Listen

Finally, the most valuable thing you can do is share what you already know. Do you have an interesting skill? If so, you might want to share it with others. For instance, you can start a mini guitar school or offer knitting courses for those interested.

Your teenager can tutor younger students and your parents can hold some language classes. If you’re a skilled cook, you could start a weekend cooking school or you could teach others the basics of coding, if that’s what you do.

Try to do the best you can by listening too. Sometimes, people around you will tell you exactly how to help them and that is when you should be there for them.

Conclusion

Being a part of a community is a huge privilege. It is a great way to be a selfless and caring person. With these simple tips, you don’t even have to leave your home and you can still make a great change!

Author Profile

Readree: I am the owner of the blog readree.com. My love for technology began at a young age, and I have been exploring every nook and cranny of it for the past eight years. In that time, I have learned an immense amount about the internet world, technology, Smartphones, Computers, Funny Tricks, and how to use the internet to solve common problems faced by people in their day-to-day lives. Through this blog, I aim to share all that I have learned with my readers so that they can benefit from it too. Connect with me : Sabinbaniya2002@gmail.com