May 21, 2009

Angela's Blog - What Are Neighbors For?

A few weeks ago after mowing my yard, a neighbor and I decided to mow the grass of an elderly couple’s yard nearby. Both have been very ill and were unable to do it for themselves. We were already doing yard work anyway, what was a little more?

So, the two of us tackled their grass. It was rather high and took its toll on us. However, when we finished, we felt really great about the good deed we had done. The wife called the next day and thanked us as they weren’t sure when or who would be able to get to it. What a great feeling!

Since I work with St. Luke’s Community House, I’m aware that we once provided a mowing service to seniors in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, this had to be cut in 2007 because of budgeting issues. With donations down because of the economy, we will not be able to start the mowing program again any time soon.

Volunteers through West Nashville Community Development Partnership mow a few homes in the area when they do their once a month work day. Unfortunately, they are not able to do this very often or for very many yards.

According to Neighborhood Resource Center, there are more than 1,000 seniors age 60 and above in West Nashville including the Nations area and Charlotte Park. They live among us and could use our help. If we all looked around on our street, we could probably identify a senior that could use some help.

Maybe not just with yard work but also with picking up items for them when we are at the grocery or just checking in on them. While most of us have family members we could rely on for this, many seniors do not.

I had prepared to mow the yard again for my neighbor this past weekend as I had noticed it was getting tall. When I came home Friday from work, I realized another neighbor had already mowed it. Isn’t it great when everyone takes the time to help others?

We will hopefully continue to work together to help this elderly couple through the summer. If an out of shape, thirty-something mother of two could help them every few weeks, couldn’t you help one of your neighbors? Isn’t that what neighbors are for?

Angela Bryan

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