Neighbor to Neighbor program encourages harmony in community

By Shannon Curley
Collegian Staff
November 15, 2006

The La Salle student community and the residents of neighborhood surrounding the University have not always existed harmoniously. There is an understood mutual distrust, as students tend to assume that locals resent Lasallians and people from the neighborhood assume that students have a sense of entitlement and litter the area with beer cups and trash from parties without respecting the people who live here year-round.

A student group on campus is trying to alleviate some of that tension. This past weekend, around 13 members of Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) woke up early on Saturday morning to travel just a few blocks off of South Campus to Piney Grove Day Care to give the interior and deck a facelift.

“We’re very appreciative of the help,” said Linda Stanton, the day care supervisor who was on hand to oversee the students’ work. “You could do so many other things on a Saturday morning, and it’s so great that young people decide to do this.”

N2N was officially started two years ago. The program has gained momentum this semester by completing seven projects since the start of the school year.

“The heart of the program is building relationships,” senior education major Mike Farrell said. Farrell is one of the program coordinators and has been with N2N since its conception.

The work N2N completed at Piney Grove is part of a number of service opportunities the students will be taking advantage of in the coming year. The Baptist church Piney Grove is affiliated with sponsors programs dedicated to assisting the local elderly and teaches computer classes. This coming weekend, N2N will return to Piney Grove to finish painting and participate in a soup kitchen.

Farrell and the rest of N2N were pleased to find an individual organization they could work with to serve various populations in the community.

“Working with the church has opened up many possibilities,” Farrell said. “We were getting worried about who we could work with this year; it’s hard to find individual organizations to work with.”

In addition to the many options N2N will be exploring with Piney Grove, the organization will also be working with other campus organizations such as the Ambassadors and other service organizations.

Sophomore Jim Rossi’s attention was brought towards N2N because his girlfriend, Anna Thomasson, is currently a member. Another friend of Rossi’s, Jordan Feld, worked with N2N Nov. 4 with the La Salle Ambassadors, and was eager to return.

“Jordan asked if I wanted to do it and I said ‘without a doubt.’ I knew what the work would be like, because of Project Appalachia, and I thought why not do it in our own backyard?” Rossi said. “It was a great experience, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

According to Farrell, some organizations have not chosen the best ways to reach out to the community, and members of the neighborhood are unhappy.

“I’ve talked to members of the neighborhood before, and they are sick and tired of students parading around picking up trash,” said Farrell. “These are real people with real jobs and I know I would be insulted if someone came into my neighborhood and started cleaning up.”

N2N maintains how important it is for students to see that it is not necessary to be wary of locals. According to N2N, the majority of people living the area are elderly. The group is organizing a program called Winter Watch, in which members of N2N will go to the homes of elderly people in the area on snow days to shovel sidewalks and driveways.

curleys1@lasalle.edu