The Nature of Volunteering in Tough Communities

The good news is that volunteering is not only already present in tough communities, it is crucial to the lives of everyone in them.

Some quick snapshots tell the story. A young friend makes meals for an elderly lady confined to a wheelchair. A next door neighbor takes care of a single mom's small children while she attends night school. Neighbors helping neighbors happens everywhere in tough communities.

However, service like this is often informal. It is organic and happens between neighbors, friends, and family through church and local organizations. It is often not recognized as volunteering, and is not often called "volunteering" by those who do it. Many people call it neighboring. The connections among residents that support positive individual and community behavior based on mutual respect, responsibility, and ownership.

Mainstream volunteering, which swoops in to “rescue” residents, does not recognize neighboring. It does not capitalize on the good deeds already being done in the community or use them to make lasting changes. And often the reality is that members of vulnerable communities don’t respond well to these efforts. That's why it's important to change how we look at the process of serving our neighbors. Organizations that want to work in tough communities need to see residents not merely as recipients, but as viable agents in change and equal partners

The neighboring model calls for empowering communities, engaging residents, and building the capacity of residents to enable them to find creative local solutions themselves.

Learn about the neighboring concepts we’ve identified that enable organizations to engage volunteers more effectively in tough communities.