Homewood Nation

I promised a report on last night's Block Watch meeting. This is not an official set of minutes, it's just a brief recap.

Seven Homewood residents attended. I had to explain to four other people that while BWP meetings are normally very open to visitors, this one was for residents only. They all understood, and left without incident.

Under old business, we discussed the idea of conducting a membership campaign. The suggestion was made that we pass out flyers when local churches and agencies do their food distribution around the neighborhood. The idea caught on, so we'll figure out how to do that over the next 2-3 months. We also want to have some at the Homewood-Brushton Community Meetings, beginning next week.

Under new business, we had open discussion on the question highlighted in my letter and email, "What do we want?"

Responses:

•  a clean community
•  a newsletter
•  "a very serious think tank"
•  changing residents' mindset

Looking at those four responses now, I think they make a powerful quartet. But maybe that's because they all reflect ideas I already had, or work that I'm already doing. A clean community? Why not? It's doable, and everyone would benefit. A newsletter? Already one of my long-term goals. A think tank? Ties in with making Homewood a place where learning never stops, a black Chautauqua. Changing residents' mindset? I was already reading a book to help myself get better at doing that: "Influencer: The Power to Change Anything." (recommended in response to a message I posted on Google+, asking, "Can anyone point to layman-appropriate resources for learning what is known about the neuroscience of cultivating community?").

What do you think of the responses? Are they doable? Do you want to help do them?

Would you want to be part of a group that reads "Influencers," discusses it, then collaborates to implement what we learn?