Abundant Community Lendrum

What Exactly Is
The Abundant Community Initiative?

Inspired by John McKnight and Peter Block’s book "The Abundant Community", this initiative is intended to build on the social fabric of Lendrum Place through a grassroots process that includes connecting neighbours with neighbours.

Back in 2016-2017, Stew Carson and his wife, took on the role of "Connector Coordinators" for Lendrum and hoped to identify and enlist "Block Connectors" on every block who would have conversations with their neighbours about what their passions, visions, gifts, skills and abilities could bring to the community.

The findings of those conversations have been collated into YOUR Lendrum: Neighbour Conversation Guide Results

As the LCL moves forward, we have a new Abundant Community Lendrum Coordinator, Lisa Vaughn, who will bring new energy to the program. If you would like to become more involved or have any suggestions, please contact Lisa Vaughn at 780-918-6678 or email seniors@lendrum.org

The hope is that The Lendrum Place Abundant Community Initiative will:

• initiate a momentum of household connection within each block and the neighbourhood as a whole.
• shape neighbourhood life according to our residents’ vision of the neighbourhood.
• facilitate relationship through the formation of "associations" within the neighbourhood.
• connect the gifts, skills, and abilities of residence to neighbours and to the neighbourhood as a whole.
• connect local neighbours together through a relationship with a "Block Connector".

Neighbour Conversation Guide

The Abundant Community Initiative has served to form more groups within a neighbourhood and greater relational connectedness on individual blocks.

The idea is that these groups form upon the basis of the actual interests and gifts of the neighbours in the community.

The challenge is that they don’t generally know what each other’s interests and gifts are. So, the ACI Pilot program has asked that people join with a neighbour or two to find out what the interests and gifts of the approximately twenty households on their block are.

A Neighbour Conversation Guide 2017.pdf 164KB has been used to get at these through a casual twenty-minute interview.

In Lendrum Place, we already have a few Block Connectors having Neighbour Conversations. The information is being collected and collated into neighbourhood building lists, which range from the "vision of neighbours to guide in neighbourhood decision making" (for example, safety, senior care and walkability) to neighbours’ activities and interests (such as walking, cycling, photography) to their skills and experience (senior visitation, youth mentoring, snow shoveling, writing, yard care).