The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th drove home the truism "It takes a village".

Shocked into an awareness about the need to build tight-knit communities, many residents have come to realize that to know thy neighbor is to build stronger communities.

When information is shared, fewer problems arise, problems that do arise are more quickly solved and resources quickly flow to those who need them, says Joelyn K. Carr-Fingerle, a certified public accountant from Fremont, CA.

"What we need to do to build community is to explore the connections and find more common threads," Carr-Fingerle says in "Community Building" a paper produced for the ECHO Journal, the publication of the Executive Council of Homeowners (ECHO), an educational and service organization for homeowner associations (HOAs), association members, board directors and others associated with HOAs.

Carr-Fingerle penned the article for a common interest development audience, but her finds can serve any community, large or small. She says most people are involved with or know people who are involved with a variety of social and community organizations including schools, churches, volunteer groups and interest groups as well as the workplace. The key is tapping that network for the greater good.

"We usually have friends overlapping a number of the groups and the more connections we find, the more comfortable we are. This does require us to participate and communicate together. Little kids are taught early that we have to share; well, big kids sometimes forget that we have to keep on sharing; and, if we share enough, sometimes we forget about our differences and only remember our connections," Carr-Fingerle says.

What might sound like a touchy-feely approach to community building is really the practice of altruism using a host of simple activities Carr-Fingerle says anyone can initiate or join.

Borrowing from the Fremont Community Building and Engagement Summit's "101 Ways You Can Get Involved In Your Community", Carr-Fingerle offers the following suggestions that help the village become a community.

• Learn your neighbors' names.

• Organize a block party.

• Start a babysitting co-op.

• Help an older neighbor.

• Grow a garden and share the produce.

• Organize a new-neighbor welcoming committee.

• Offer a neighbor a ride.

• Talk a walk around your neighborhood with a neighbor.

• Share your technology skills.

• Design a Web site or newsletter (or be a reporter in the effort) for your neighborhood, your HOA, or a neighborhood interest group.

• Pick up trash and keep neighborhood parks and streets clean.

• Form a neighborhood Crime Watch.

• Organize a book, cultural or other special interest group.

• Tutor non-English speaking residents.

• Volunteer to read books to people with visual impairments or to children.

• Go to your local farmers' market.

• Talk with your family and friends about racism, AIDS, domestic violence, school violence, drugs and other tough issues.

• Get involved with faith-based community projects.

• Get to know someone from a different ethnic background.

• Organize a group to sing together.

"The City of Fremont's police department Web site has a series of Tip Sheets you can download on subjects like 'Organizing a Neighborhood Crime Watch,' 'Creating a Community Newsletter,' and 'Neighborhood Block Parties.' Even if you do not live in Fremont, you can certainly use this information to build your community activity," Carr-Fingerle says.

Simple activities work too.

Each fall, Carr-Fingerle joins her church members for a potluck supper and a sharing game -- everyone writes a little-known fact about themselves. Later, those facts are read aloud one-by-one to the group as participants try to guess who wrote what.

"The events of this fall have made all of us very aware of the need to build community and to know our neighbors. When neighbors know each other, the communities we live and work in are stronger," Carr-Fingerle said.

For more articles by Broderick Perkins, please press here.

Published: January 16, 2002

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.