Being a good neighbor is….
Encouraging and building others up;
Carrying the burdens of the weary;
Looking after one another;
Recognizing vulnerabilities and stepping in to help;
Building long-lasting relationships;
Living in community with each other.

This is exactly what NeighborLink does on a daily basis and last week was no exception.  During the week of July 20-26, we hosted our fourth annual Be A Good Neighbor Week. Be A Good Neighbor Week was created to build deep, meaningful, and diverse relationships that provide more life-giving benefits than anything else in which we could ever invest our time.

What did Be A Good Neighbor Week look like? It looked like fire hydrants and houses being painted by children; like wheelchair ramps and a complete roof replacement built by thriving communities of friends; and, like yard work and gutter cleaning completed by businesses and organizations from across Northeast Indiana. By the end of Saturday, Be A Good Neighbor Week looked like more than 100 volunteers from across the city of Fort Wayne completing around 50 total projects for their neighbors in need. And that right there is what we mean we we say NeighborLink exists to encourage neighbor-to-neighbor expressions of God’s love.

Some of the major projects that volunteers completed last week include a complete roof replacement for our neighbor, Doug. Doug’s roof was in desperate need of repair as it was very old and causing significant water damage on the inside of his house.  Volunteers from Faith Baptist Church came out in full force to help Doug for three straight days to get his roof in top-notch shape. Doug’s next door neighbors and family even came out to lend a hand after seeing all the work being done. The excitement on-site was so infectious, his neighbors couldn’t wait to be part of the team that saw the project through to its end.

Fort Wayne’s Youth For Christ City Life ministry showed up to help Paul and his wife, who have lived in their home in Southeast Fort Wayne for over 30 years. Paul has underlying health issues and their home really needed some help. This group of young volunteers value their community and are always seeking ways to be difference-makers to the world around them. They painted the exterior of Paul’s home and stained the deck to keep it protected from the elements and well-maintained. This is what loving your neighbor is all about. 

The Carpenter’s Sons volunteer group built two wheelchair ramps during Be A Good Neighbor Week to help some vulnerable neighbors gain better and safer accessibility into and out of their homes and garages.

Several volunteers from various YMCAs across the Fort Wayne area, as well as groups from Three Rivers Wesleyan Church, Ruoff Mortgage, and Northeast Christian Church, took to the streets to help paint fire hydrants and complete yard work projects. Each was a great act of service that has helped beautify our community. To those who came out, your efforts made an incredible impact in the lives of those you served.

Neighboring Productions was also in full swing, capturing the entire week by filming at several project sites each day. They were able to talk to volunteers and neighbors in order to bring each day’s events to viewers online.  Make sure to check out each day’s inspiring highlight video by following the links below:

Day One:  Monday

Day Two:  Tuesday

Day Three:  Wednesday

Day Four:  Thursday

Day Five:  Friday

We are so grateful to all of the families, individuals, and staff who came out last week in support of Be A Good Neighbor Week. Please know that everyone involved made a significant choice to use their time, disrupt their schedules, and step outside of their comfort zones to help in ways that may not feel natural. For that, we say Thank You and encourage each of you to build on this experience moving forward. We would love to help you in your volunteer journey. So feel free to reach out to us in any way.

Thank you for your support and heartfelt compassion for our beloved community. Each moment spent and every act of kindness displayed still resonates with long-lasting impact from where we stand today. But let’s not make the good news end right there…. We can choose to love our neighbors today and each new day, because Be A Good Neighbor Week truly never has a beginning or an end.