Among my first positive impressions of Armory Park was the strong sense of community. What makes a neighborhood a community? It is the sense of connection of its residents to each other. That connection is best illustrated when a neighbor has a need and others step in to help. The following two examples gleaned from emails on our listserv illustrate what I am talking about.
The first is an example of a neighbor stepping in to gather support for another experiencing hard times. In addition to the money and food gathered for our struggling neighbor, there is the sense that others care and that you do not have to suffer alone. This last part may be as important as the more material aid.
The second is a story repeated frequently in our pet loving community. The second email thanked those who helped to round up a couple of escape artist dogs who took advantage of a security breach. I found the explanation of the security gap helpful and I could empathize with the challenge of restraining opportunistic escape artists. Donna and I had such a pooch a few years back. The image of our little dog leaping from a window opening the contractors had left open is burned into my memory. In any event, the way our AP neighbors helped and how we learned a little more about each other is another building block of a great community.
Neighbor in need: A friend who has been a good neighbor to all of us is facing a financial crisis and is in need of food and money donations. They are too embarrassed to post on the listserv or reveal their identity, so I will be accepting anything you may have to offer on their behalf. You can drop off whatever you may have available to me at 544 South Third Ave, and if I’m not home, you can leave money (cash, I suppose) in my mailbox in an envelope and food donations inside the front door gate which is on the NW corner of 3rd Ave and 16th Street. Ideas for resources that I can pass along would also be helpful I’m sure. After seven years of living in Armory Park, I know we have a wonderful community of kind-hearted folks who always come through in tough times for each other. If you can’t donate, just sending some positive energy out into the neighborhood is good enough 🙂