Building Social Capital, Block by Block

For the next three weeks, we're spotlighting a few of our all-time favorite episodes of The Neighbor Next Door. This week, join us on the front porch as hosts Adam and Matt have a hilarious conversation about a concept that's important to our work: social capital.

This is a busy time of year for us at the Neighboring Movement, so we've decided to take the next three weeks off from new recordings and instead re-release some of our all-time favorite episodes from the podcast. We'll be back on August 18th with original episodes, but in the meantime, you won't want to miss the episodes we're choosing to re-release! This week, we're presenting an episode that was originally released almost exactly a year ago, on July 23, 2019. In it, Adam and Matt take a deep dive on social capital, which is a concept that can seem confusing at first, but we think we have a fantastic way of talking about it, which Adam and Matt present in this episode. It's a concept that's very important to our work, and hence, we think it's important to share with you all! It's also quite related to the subject of next week's re-released episode, so we would highly suggest listening to both this week's and next week's, as they play off of one another. The following week, we will re-release a favorite neighboring tip episode, before then returning to original content on the 18th. Until then, we hope you enjoy these re-released episodes! Happy listening and happy neighboring!

John McKnight (Part 3): Turn Those Rocks Over!

This is it. The finale is here! Welcome to Part 3 of our three-episode series in which hosts Adam and Matt sit down with the founder of asset-based community development, John McKnight.

Hopefully, you have had a chance to listen to the first two episodes in this series. If you have not, we would highly suggest going back and listening to them first, as this final episode builds off of the first two. Plus, they are just fantastic episodes!

If you have not yet read a little about John, here is a bit of description...

John began community organizing when he was in his early twenties, and since then, he has done everything from training Barack Obama in community organizing to developing an entirely new model of community development. This model that he developed is of course asset-based community development, or ABCD, and we, the Neighboring Movement, consider ourselves asset-based community developers. That being said, John has always been a hero of ours, and over the years, we have followed his work closely and been deeply inspired and influenced by his practices. He is incredibly kind, absolutely brilliant, and a gifted teacher who always tells the perfect story in order to illustrate a point. We are so very honored that John was willing to sit down on the front porch with us, and we are so excited to now share all three of these episodes with you all!

In this third episode, John starts by talking about the importance of fostering cultures of connectedness and community consciousnesses. Intrigued already? Yeah, he has that effect on people....The episode only gets crazier from there, too! Next, John outlines how people, in association, can own their power and ask three simple questions in order to start producing their future together. To end it all, he tells one of our favorite stories of his, and then, it is get-up-and-go time! There is a call to action here, and you are invited to join in this work!

As one final note, thank you for joining us for this series that has been a dream of ours to produce. John's work is incredible, so please check it all out! Here are some resources:

• His website - Here you can learn more about John and access his learnings, publications, videos, and blogs.

• His institute

• His blog

P.S. The Neighbor Next Door isn't going anywhere! In the weeks to come, we will continue to release new episodes every Tuesday, and these episodes will directly address neighboring in the time of coronavirus. Thank you, as always, for listening!

John McKnight (Part 2): Making the Vehicles Visible

Greetings friends! Welcome to Part 2 of this three-episode series in which hosts Adam and Matt sit down with the literal founder of asset-based community development, John McKnight.

Hopefully you had a chance to listen to the first episode in this series, which is titled "John McKnight (Part 1): Have You Been Out in the Garden?". If you have not, we would highly suggest going back and listening to that episode first, as this episode will pick up right where that one left off. 

If you have not yet read a little about John, here is a bit of description...

John began community organizing when he was in his early twenties, and since then, he has done everything from training Barack Obama in community organizing to developing an entirely new model of community development. This model that he developed is of course asset-based community development, or ABCD, and we, the Neighboring Movement, consider ourselves asset-based community developers. That being said, John has always been a hero of ours, and over the years, we have followed his work closely and been deeply inspired and influenced by his practices. He is incredibly kind, absolutely brilliant, and a gifted teacher who always tells the perfect story in order to illustrate a point. We are so very honored that John was willing to sit down on the front porch with us, and we are so excited to share these three episodes with you all!

In this second episode, John starts by detailing the last three of the five categories of assets that all communities possess and that he started describing in Part 1. Then, he details what the work of asset-based community developers looks like moving forward and how we as citizens gain power. Of course, all of this is interspersed with incredible stories, and we are so excited for you to hear them! As one final note, this episode is dedicated to all of our Canadian neighbours out there; we have been referring to this episode as the "Canada rocks!" episode, and you will soon see why. We hope you enjoy, and don't forget to tune in next Tuesday for Part 3 and the finale of this series!

If you would like to learn more about John and his work, please check out the following resources:

• His website - Here you can learn more about John and access his learnings, publications, videos, and blogs.

• His institute

• His blog

John McKnight (Part 1): Have You Been Out in the Garden?

Goodness gracious me oh my, do we have a few episodes in store for you! Today, we are releasing the first episode of a three-episode series in which hosts Adam and Matt sit down with, quite literally, the founder of asset-based community development, John McKnight.

John began community organizing when he was in his early twenties, and since then, he has done everything from training Barack Obama in community organizing to developing an entirely new model of community development. This model that he developed is of course asset-based community development, or ABCD, and we, the Neighboring Movement, consider ourselves asset-based community developers. That being said, John has always been a hero of ours, and over the years, we have followed his work closely and been deeply inspired and influenced by his practices. He is incredibly kind, absolutely brilliant, and a gifted teacher who always tells the perfect story in order to illustrate a point. We are so very honored that John was willing to sit down on the front porch with us, and we are so excited to share these next three episodes with you all!

In this first episode, John introduces what ABCD is, talks about what asset-based community developers seek to do, and explains how ABCD differs from needs-based approaches. He then details the first two of the five categories of assets that all communities possess. We hope you enjoy this episode, and don't forget to tune in next Tuesday for Part 2!

If you would like to learn more about John and his work, please check out the following resources:

• His website - Here you can learn more about John and access his learnings, publications, videos, and blogs.

• His institute

• His blog

Neighboring Tip - Neighboring in the Time of Coronavirus

Greetings, all! This week, we're putting a little twist on our regular neighboring tip episode in order to address COVID-19. For this episode, hosts Adam and Matt sit down on the front porch with Kristopher to talk through this week's tip: Brainstorm ways you can be a good neighbor during this coronavirus pandemic, and then pick one of these ways, and do it this week.

This week's episode, like our other neighboring tip episodes, presents a simple experiment for connecting with your neighbors - but this one directly addresses the pandemic we are all experiencing. We hope you not only enjoy listening to this episode but also experiment with the tip presented, and we hope these ideas might be helpful for doing so!

Justin Moore: Neighboring for Health

For this week, we're spotlighting a previously released episode from June of 2019 in which hosts Adam and Matt sat down on the front porch with researcher and physician, Justin Moore. In this interview, Justin presents the fact that neighboring makes us healthier.

Justin practices medicine in various community-oriented ways, and he also researches the impacts of social isolation and loneliness on physical health. In this powerful episode, Justin shares surprising statistics before giving enlightening advice on how we can all start neighboring for health!

Catherine's Porch Ponderings - Palaces for the People

This week, we're pumped to present a new series: Catherine's Porch Ponderings! Periodically, Catherine Johnson will pop in on the podcast in order to ponder various subjects on the porch with producers Adam and Matt!

For this first episode, Catherine ponders Eric Klinenberg's book Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. Having read the book recently, Catherine presents and ponders some of Eric's main points and his case for the extreme importance of social infrastructure. We are so honored to be able to ponder on the porch with Catherine, and what she draws out of the book is so illuminating. We are so psyched to share this episode with you all!

If you would like to learn more about Eric's work, or read Palaces for the People, please visit Eric's website: https://www.ericklinenberg.com/

Riccardo Harris (Part 1): A Murmuration of Starlings

Welcome back to the front porch! This week, hosts Adam and Matt sit down for the first of two episodes with the most recent addition to the Neighboring Movement team: Riccardo Harris.

Among so much more, Riccardo is an incredibly gifted speaker, author, and trainer, and he works a wide spectrum of jobs that range from being a pastor to being the executive director of Wichita GEAR UP. Riccardo brings an awesome energy to our team, and we are so honored to be able to work with him! In this episode, Riccardo details what his childhood neighboring was like, as he paints a picture of the neighborhood where he grew up. Finally, he speaks towards what he is looking forward to co-creating with the rest of the Neighboring Movement team. Be sure to tune in next week for the second part of this interview, and welcome to the front porch, Riccardo Harris!

If you would like to learn more about Riccardo and about a few of the many incredible things that he does, please visit the following sites:

His website: https://www.riccardoharris.com/

His church: https://www.resurrectioncc.net/

His program: https://www.wichita.edu/administration/diversity/communityengagement/wichitagearup/index.php

His book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0615692273/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Neighboring Tip - Emergency Preparedness

It's neighboring tip week for The Neighbor Next Door! Host Matt sits down on the front porch with Kristopher to talk about this week's tip: Take an active step towards helping you and/or your neighbors become more prepared for a future emergency.

This episode, like our other neighboring tip episodes, presents a simple experiment for connecting with your neighbors. We hope you not only enjoy listening to this episode but also experiment with the tip presented, and we hope these ideas might be helpful for doing so!

Lydia Rodriguez: The Tale of the Dapper Cat

Cat got your tongue? You might end up speechless after listening to this episode in which hosts Adam and Matt are joined on the front porch by a not-yet-introduced member of the Neighboring Movement staff, Lydia Rodriguez.

Lydia is one of our neighbors, and among so much more, she is an incredibly hard worker with a great sense of humor and a deep love for pit bulls. Lydia started working at the Neighboring Movement in June of 2019, and along with writing grants and reconciling accounts, she has also been working towards making one of her biggest dreams become reality. You will have to listen to the episode to discover what this dream entails, but we will say that it does involve a deeply dapper cat...

Prescott Barlow-Thompson: Be Kinder to Your Neighbors

Today, we are quite excited to announce Prescott Barlow-Thompson's debut on The Neighbor Next Door!

Prescott is the son of host Adam Barlow-Thompson, and recently, Prescott hosted a block party. In this episode, we first take listeners behind the scenes of the party through never-before-heard recordings in order to discover what this creative process was like. Next, Prescott details how the party went before then discussing his own perception of neighboring on his block. You won't want to miss this episode! It's full of lots of laughs and lots of wisdom, and it's also an amazing reminder that neighboring is for everyone.

Prescott on the “front porch”.

Prescott’s invitation.

It's celebration time!

It's celebration time! Last Wednesday marked the 1-Year Anniversary of this podcast, so this week, hosts Adam and Matt are joined on the front porch by their wives, Ashley and Catherine, in order to both celebrate and reflect upon their neighboring in the past year.

In this episode, the group reflects upon the following three questions:

1. Are there any specific highlights for you from neighboring in the past year?

2. What did you learn about neighboring in the past year?

3. What are you thinking about or looking towards for your neighboring in the year to come?

Thanks for celebrating the 1-Year Anniversary of The Neighbor Next Door with us!

Episode 10 streaming now!

It's neighboring tip time! Host Matt sits down on the front porch with Kristopher for this week's neighboring tip: Acknowledge an issue your neighborhood struggles with, and then ask, "What gifts do I have that could address this issue?".

This episode, like our other neighboring tip episodes, presents a simple experiment for connecting with your neighbors and seeing your neighborhood with abundance. We hope you not only enjoy listening to this episode but also experiment with the tip presented, and we hope these ideas might be helpful for doing so.

Out now: Lisse Regehr (Part 1): The Story of a Thriving Organization

This week, hosts Adam and Matt are honored to sit down on the front porch for the first of two conversations with the President and CEO of Thrive Allen County, Lisse Regehr.

Lisse is an excellent storyteller, and she brings to the front porch a ton of community development experience. Her organization, Thrive Allen County, is a health, wellness, and economic development coalition located in Allen County, Kansas, and her team does incredible work! In this first episode, Lisse tells the story of her organization and what their work looks like throughout Allen County. We are so excited to share this with you all!

Please check out Thrive's website to learn more about their amazing work, and stay tuned for next week's episode, when Lisse will join us on the front porch for another wonderful conversation!

We are pumped to present Episode 14!

This week, we present the second part of our interview with Rev. Mike Mather, the person who inspired us to utilize an asset-based approach in our work. We split the incredible conversation into two episodes and encourage listening to the first episode before this second one.

In the last episode, Mike outlined both his shift and his church's shift from scarcity to abundance. In this episode, Mike first presents practices that can help us stay focused on abundance before detailing how individuals, organizations, and institutions must structure themselves differently in order to be built around abundance. Next, Mike describes how he sees this movement of abundance-focused work taking shape around the country. To finish, Mike re-frames the idea of Christian discipleship and details what discipleship looks like for both him and his church.

Like Mike's first episode, this second one also contains discussion of religious topics. We want to reiterate that we do not present these episodes to promote any one religion or being religious but instead because we think they are helpful and encouraging for all neighbors, religious and non-religious alike.

We also want to take a moment to promote Mike's book, Having Nothing, Possessing Everything: Finding Abundant Communities in Unexpected Places. It is an amazing read, and we recommend it to everyone! You can find more information about the book here.

Episode 7 has landed!

This week, we are delving into the relationship between neighboring and community health, as we are honored to be joined on the front porch by Kate Kingery. Kate works with County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, and she does fascinating work! Her team of researchers studies almost every county in the United States and gives each of these counties a health ranking based on a multitude of different factors. In doing so, they utilize a very broad definition of health, and their data paints an amazing picture of how health is influenced by where we live, learn, work, and play. In this episode, we explore what sort of factors are present within healthy and unhealthy communities, how Kate's team measures these factors, and how neighboring plays a vital role in healthy communities. We hope you find this episode insightful, and if you would like to learn more about Kate's work, visit https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/. Enjoy!

Episode 6!

For episode 6, hosts Adam and Matt return to the front porch in order to unpack a concept that can seem confusing but is extremely important to understand in order to help create healthy communities: social capital. The term is prevalent in the community development world, but oftentimes, it's definition is hard to find. And even with an exact definition, social capital can sometimes be hard to understand in the context of a neighborhood. In this episode, Adam and Matt tell a story that exemplifies social capital before defining the term and even playing a game that displays how the concept looks in the context of a neighborhood. Let social capital be confusing no longer, and let's start building it within our neighborhoods!