Hello friends! This episode presents just a quick update from host Adam Barlow-Thompson that we'll be taking a little over a month off in order to prepare our future episodes. Tune in to this quick, 1-minute episode for a sneak peak on what we're working on next. Also, in the meantime, check out our podcast essentials playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1UGIQIj0MvNlW8jyMVPQcY?si=2af29786815c4ebd&nd=1!
"It's time to start thinking about the upcoming election season!" At least, that's what Lindsay Ford says, the guest on The Neighboring Movement Podcast for this week. Lindsay is a friend and the leader of an awesome organization that we partner with out of Kansas City, Kansas - The Voter Network. In this episode, Lindsay shares with us the deep power of doing voter engagement work through the lens of relational organizing.
"Relational organizing?", you might ask. Relational organizing! It's the amazing way in which the work of our nonprofits intersect. In short, relational organizing is a fancy term for getting things done through the power of your pre-existing network of relationships. In the voting world, this looks like encouraging your family, friends, and neighbors to vote - the idea being that they are way more likely to do so if someone they know is encouraging them to, rather than a complete stranger. This is the work of The Voter Network, an arm of The Mainstream Coalition, where Lindsay is Associate Director. Tune in to the episode to hear more about this work...and maybe get intrigued enough to take part in it!
To learn more about the work of The Voter Network, visit their website here. And, for any Kansans out there listening, to join our Neighboring Movement team on Voter To Voter, click here!
Welcome to this week's episode of The Neighboring Movement Podcast! In this episode, we had the honor of interviewing Howard Lawrence in Edmonton, Alberta. Amongst so much more, Howard is an experienced neighboring practitioner, an expert on asset-based community development, and the leader of Edmonton's Abundant Communities Initiative.
As host Adam names in this episode, if you've been in the ABCD (asset-based community development) world for long, Howard's name is gonna crop up! He has been experimenting with various neighboring and ABCD practices for years, and he is also at the helm of this work within a city with incredible neighboring infrastructure. In this episode, Howard dives deep into how this work looks on the ground in Edmonton and also other contexts, and it's jam packed with resources, stories, and learnings. We are so very excited to share this one with you all, and we hope you enjoy!
And, to learn more about Howard's work and the Abundant Communities Initiative, visit Edmonton's city website here.
Hello friends and faithful listeners! This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer White, the founder and executive director of ICT SOS, an anti-trafficking organization in our hometown of Wichita, Kansas. In the episode, Jennifer gives an overview of her nonprofit's work while also discussing the intersection of this work with making connections and building community.
Amongst so much more, Jennifer is an extremely bubbly individual with a deep passion for her community and boundless energy to connect. In the conversation, she talks with host Adam about how she lives into this personality in the midst of her work and the theories and practices that form the backbone of her organization. Listeners, you're in for such a treat! ICT SOS is doing such amazing connecting work in our community, and it's a joy to hear Jennifer talk about the reasons why and ways in which they do this.
To learn more about ICT SOS, visit their website here! We would also encourage you to consider either volunteering for them or donating towards a special initiative they have coming up, both of which you can hear more about in the episode. To investigate what volunteering might look like, click here, and to donate, click here. You can also learn more about the initiative they have coming up here. Finally, they also have an app! You can download it from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and the links to both of these can be found here!
Enjoy the episode!
This week on the podcast, we had the honor of being joined by Brandon Wrencher - a pastor, author, speaker, organizer, and nonprofit leader. Brandon has his hands in a lot of different initiatives, one of which is organizing with a nonprofit called the Good Neighbor Movement and another of which is researching with the Liberating Church Project. Tune in to the episode to learn more about these fascinating organizations and Brandon's powerful work!
Amongst so much more, Brandon possesses a deep passion for the intersection of spirituality and social justice, contemplation and activism. Along with this, his love for the church and yet desire to hold it accountable has led him to pursue efforts in decolonizing new and existing faith communities. In the midst of this episode, Brandon explores each of these various topics and the work that is at the forefront of his mind right now, and it's all so very beautiful and important! We are so pumped to share this episode with you all.
To learn more about the Good Neighbor Movement, click here. To learn more about the Liberating Church Project, click here. And, spoiler alert, Brandon has a new book out that is discussed in the episode - check it out and purchase it here!
Once again, as Brandon is a pastor and doing work with faith communities, we preface this episode with a disclaimer that it contains discussion of spiritual topics, specifically around Christian spirituality. Though this is the case, we believe this episode will be helpful and powerful regardless of your relationship to spirituality and Christian spirituality. Enjoy!
For today's episode, we had the honor of interviewing our friend Valecia Vogts-Scribner. Valecia is a pastor in our community of Wichita, Kansas, who has recently been volunteering at our nonprofit as a part of her seminary work. She possesses a deep passion for social justice, and in this episode, we examine her journey of becoming a pastor and how she thinks about neighboring in the context of her church setting and social justice work.
Leaning into both experimentation with neighboring and work upon local social justice issues, Valecia and her church have been helping organize various neighborhood events in collaboration with the neighbors around their church. These events have been creative and wildly successful, and it's such a joy to witness the church live into their new vision statement that revolves around neighboring. We can't wait to see where they go next! In this episode, Valecia gives us a peak into that work while sharing how she arrived at this place and her theories around the importance of these efforts.
As one final note, this episode - like some of our others - revolves around a discussion of spirituality, most particularly Christian spirituality. As Valecia pastors a United Methodist Church, this tradition's language is reflected in the conversation. This being said, we hope this episode is thought-provoking for you, regardless of your faith tradition or relation to spirituality. We hope you enjoy!
Join us for this week's episode of The Neighboring Movement Podcast, where we had the honor of interviewing our friend Lisa Paine, the executive director of Juniper Arts Academy. In this episode, Lisa talks about the ways in which art and relationships intersect and the work of her recently founded nonprofit.
Lisa, a friend and frequent collaborator, has worked at a different nonprofit in our neighborhood for years. But, as of the last few weeks, she has stepped into her role as executive director at the nonprofit she recently founded - Juniper Arts Academy. The Academy seeks to provide excellent fine arts education to teens in the juvenile justice & foster care communities. And, they do this through the primary medium of relationships. So, this week, host Adam sat down with Lisa to hear about her organization's powerful story and work and also their theory of relationship in the context of this work. We hope you enjoy!
And, if you would like to learn more about, volunteer for, or donate to Juniper Arts Academy, you can visit their website here!
This week on the podcast, we had the honor of interviewing Dr. David Docusen - a speaker, author, and professor who recently wrote a book called Neighborliness. In the episode, David shares about how his faith informs his radical pursuit of neighboring, gives a sneak peak of the book's content, and encourages people to neighbor by crossing dividing lines.
In the midst of his pastoral work, David discovered the power of neighboring and became convinced that building relationships with the people who live around us is a meaningful way to live out the Bible's Greatest Commandment. Since then, he has devoted his work to practicing, writing, and speaking about the subject in all kinds of places and contexts. Within this, David gives great attention to the ways in which we must address subjects like race and politics and how we must intentionally foster relationships with people "across dividing lines". This episode speaks ever so powerfully to these subjects in great detail.
To learn more about the various ways in which David engages in this work, visit his website by clicking here. And, to learn more about his work with The Neighborliness Center, visit their website here.
As one final disclaimer, this episode is one in which spirituality - and specifically Christian spirituality and church life - is discussed quite heavily. While this is the case, we hope the content is impactful and helpful regardless of your relation to Christian spirituality. Enjoy!
Welcome back, friends! For this week's episode, we had the honor of interviewing - for the second time on this podcast - David Burton. David is the County Engagement and Community Development Specialist at the University of Missouri Extension Office, and this week, he shared with us both his journey of neighboring and advice he would give to others seeking to neighbor. Enjoy!
David is a frequent collaborator and a neighboring guru. He teaches a class with Missouri Extension called Neighboring 101, and it's an awesome, free course that dives deep into the practical elements of fostering relationships with your neighbors. We're honored to have him back on the podcast in order to continue sharing about his awesome work and also to share his great wisdom with us.
Welcome, listener, to The Neighboring Movement Podcast! For this episode, we had the honor of interviewing Dr. Shareika Fisher, the executive director of Rise Up For Youth here in Wichita, Kansas. Tune in as Dr. Fisher shares about the powerful work of her organization and also her deep wisdom around forming connections and fostering intentional relationships!
Relatively new to Rise Up For Youth, but not as new to Wichita, Dr. Fisher shares about the incredible work of her nonprofit and also what drew her to this work and the Wichita community. As she does so, host Adam cannot help but find many parallels with our work at The Neighboring Movement.
We are so excited to share this episode with you all, and if you would like to learn more about, donate to, or volunteer for Rise Up For Youth, you can visit their website here. Enjoy!
Hello friends and loyal listeners! We are so psyched to welcome you back to our nonprofit's podcast after a brief hiatus...and, we are so excited to announce that The Neighbor Next Door is now officially The Neighboring Movement Podcast! In this brief introductory episode, staff members Elizabeth, Adam, Matt, and Kristopher sit down to talk about the podcast's name change and re-imagination. Welcome to the next chapter of our podcast!
You know how Spotify has "This Is" playlists for popular artists, filled with songs considered to be their classics? In this bonus episode - which we are calling "This Is The Neighbor Next Door" - we reveal our Spotify playlist, filled with classic episodes from our nonprofit's podcast. Stay tuned for the next chapter of the podcast, and in the meantime, check out the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1UGIQIj0MvNlW8jyMVPQcY?si=b2f0c384ca734e44. Happy neighboring!
Happy New Year, friends! In this short New Year's episode, hosts Adam and Matt sit down to discuss a theme that they are sensing for 2022 and also to announce that we will be taking a break in which to re-examine, and retool, the podcast. Don't worry, we're not going away, and we'll be back! Just taking a break in which to prepare for the next chapter of the podcast....Stay tuned, and we'll see you on the front porch soon!
We are so excited to present the fourth and final episode in the 8 Front Door Initiative series! In this finale episode, we hear final reflections from our youth and listening teams, along with (teaser!) some hilarious clips that had not yet made it into the series. We hope the entirety of this 8 Front Door Initiative story has been both entertaining and thought-provoking for you, and we hope you enjoy this concluding episode!
As one perhaps obvious reminder, as this is the fourth and final episode of the series, now is the time to tune into the first three episodes if you have not already! In the first three episodes, we give you an introduction to the team, an introduction to the initiative itself, examples of some of the resistance the team experienced throughout the summer, and examples of how the team pivoted in the midst of experiencing that resistance.
In short, in the midst of the 8 Front Door Initiative, we encouraged every household within the northern-most portion of our neighborhood (about 400 homes) to get to know the neighbors behind the 8 front doors closest to their own. This was accomplished through the work of an awesome team made up of both staff members and high school students who live in our neighborhood and/or attend our neighborhood high school. These high school students paired up with staff members to form listening teams, and these listening teams checked in with each of the 400 households weekly! The students were such incredible listeners and so beyond fun to work with. You’ll get to know them, and hopefully get such a fantastic taste of the summer, through this series!
We’re excited; this series is a bit different than anything we’ve ever released! Throughout the summer, our host Matt was very intentional about sitting down with the listening teams that went out and interviewing them about their experiences. This series is a compilation of those many recordings and an attempt at telling the story of this transformative initiative. Again, we hope you enjoy the entirety of this summer's story, and we hope you enjoy this series finale! Happy neighboring!
Welcome to Part 3 of the 8 Front Door Initiative series! Last week, in Part 2, we ended on a bit of a sour note, so this week's episode is all about how the team responded to the resistance they were experiencing and pivoted in a variety of ways. The initiative was indeed a long haul, but the team never let their practices stop evolving, and you'll get to hear the nitty-grittiness of that process in this episode.
As this is the third episode of this particular series, if you have not already, now is the time to tune into Parts 1 and 2! These first two episodes give you a fantastic introduction to the team, and the initiative itself, so you will definitely want to tune into those episodes before listening to this third one.
In short, in the midst of the 8 Front Door Initiative, we encouraged every household within the northern-most portion of our neighborhood (about 400 homes) to get to know the neighbors behind the 8 front doors closest to their own. This was accomplished through the work of an awesome team made up of both staff members and high school students who live in our neighborhood and/or attend our neighborhood high school. These high school students paired up with staff members to form listening teams, and these listening teams checked in with each of the 400 households weekly! The students were such incredible listeners and so beyond fun to work with. You’ll get to know them, and hopefully get such a fantastic taste of the summer, through this series!
We’re excited; this series is a bit different than anything we’ve ever released! Throughout the summer, our host Matt was very intentional about sitting down with the listening teams that went out and interviewing them about their experiences. This series is a compilation of those many recordings and an attempt at telling the story of this transformative initiative. We hope you enjoy and stay tuned for the series' final release next week!
Hello friends! Thank you for joining us on the front porch for Part 2 of our 8 Front Door Initiative series! In this second episode, we hear more from the team about their initial door-knocking experiences, examine an event the team organized with the neighbors they were meeting, and start to feel some of the resistance the team experienced throughout the summer. Enjoy!
Again, as this is the second episode of this particular series, if you have not already, now is the time to tune into Part 1! The first episode of the series was released last Tuesday and is titled "The 8 Front Door Initiative (Part 1): Meet The Team". In that episode, you get to hear more about the initiative itself and meet the team that made it happen!
In short, in the midst of the 8 Front Door Initiative, we encouraged every household within the northern-most portion of our neighborhood (about 400 homes) to get to know the neighbors behind the 8 front doors closest to their own. This was accomplished through the work of an awesome team made up of both staff members and high school students who live in our neighborhood and/or attend our neighborhood high school. These high school students paired up with staff members to form listening teams, and these listening teams checked in with each of the 400 households weekly! The students were such incredible listeners and so beyond fun to work with. You’ll get to know them, and hopefully get such a fantastic taste of the summer, through this series!
We’re excited; this series is a bit different than anything we’ve ever released! Throughout the summer, our host Matt was very intentional about sitting down with the listening teams that went out and interviewing them about their experiences. This series is a compilation of those many recordings and an attempt at telling the story of this transformative initiative. We hope you enjoy and stay tuned as we continue to release the rest of the series!
Hello listener! Thank you for joining us on the front porch. This week, we are so excited to present the first episode of a four-part series around the 8 Front Door Initiative, an extensive neighborhood-wide experiment we kicked off this summer. The series ranges everywhere from heartwarming to hilarious, and we hope it is also so insightful regarding our work here at The Neighboring Movement and this project in particular. We hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for Part 2 next week!
In short, in the midst of the 8 Front Door Initiative, we encouraged every household within the northern-most portion of our neighborhood (about 400 homes) to get to know the neighbors behind the 8 front doors closest to their own. This was accomplished through the work of an awesome team made up of both staff members and high school students who live in our neighborhood and/or attend our neighborhood high school. These high school students paired up with staff members to form listening teams, and these listening teams checked in with each of the 400 households weekly! The students were such incredible listeners and so beyond fun to work with. You'll get to know them, and hopefully get such a fantastic taste of the summer, through this series!
We're excited; this series is a bit different than anything we've ever released! Throughout the summer, our host Matt was very intentional about sitting down with the listening teams that went out and interviewing them about their experiences. This series is a compilation of those many recordings and an attempt at telling the story of this transformative initiative. We hope you enjoy and stay tuned as we continue to release the rest of the series!
This week, we are so excited to present our 2021 End of Year Highlights and Future Plans episode! With this episode, we want to give you a quick update on our past year at The Neighboring Movement, what we're looking forward to in 2022, and also how you can further take part in this work. We hope you enjoy!
In the episode, hosts Adam and Matt interview fellow staff members Catherine, Elizabeth, and Maddie, as they each tell stories of their work from the past year and what they're looking towards in the year to come. It's a joy-filled episode that gives a great snapshot of the scope of our work here at The Neighboring Movement, and we are so excited to share it with you!
We also want to take a moment to remind you that our fundraising week is next week! The work we do is supported by generous donations from listeners like you, so if you would be willing to consider donating towards this work, we would be so very honored by your gift. As always, there are countless ways you can take part in our work here at The Neighboring Movement (primarily, by getting to know your actual, literal neighbors!), but if donating financially is an option for you, we would greatly appreciate your gift! You can make donations here: https://neighboringmovement.org/donate-today/
Happy neighboring!
Hello, and welcome back for our second episode with Kristina Swanson! This week, we once again had the great pleasure of interviewing Kristina for our podcast, but this time, Kristina brought a special guest with her: her neighbor, and master of neighboring, June Ann. You're not going to want to miss this delightful, hilarious, and inspiring interview!
Again, this is our second episode with Kristina, so if you have not yet listened to the first one, now is the time! We recommend listening to that episode first, as it provides the heartwarming background and story from which this episode follows. Kristina's first episode is titled, "Kristina Swanson (Part 1): Because This Is Our Home", and after this one, is the most recent episode in our feed.
As teased in Part 1 of this two-episode series, for this episode, Kristina has brought with her onto the front porch her neighbor June Ann. As you'll discover in this episode, June Ann is such a kind person and such an incredible neighbor, and it was a true joy to have the two neighbors sit down with one another and share their wisdom with us. We are so excited to share this episode with you all, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have!
Happy neighboring!
Hello friends! This week, we are so honored to be joined on the virtual front porch by Kristina Swanson. Kristina is a student who lives in Dublin, Ireland, and just recently moved to a new home, where she has been doing - and has been witness to - some incredible neighboring! We brought her on to share about these experiences and were so inspired. Enjoy!
Kristina is the sister of Kristopher on our staff, and when she told him the amazing story you're about to hear, he exclaimed, "Do you want to share that story on the podcast?!" She was so graciously willing to do so, and because of this, you all are in for a treat! Kristina's neighboring experiences encapsulate so many of the things we teach about at The Neighboring Movement, and to see them so seamlessly woven into a series of abundantly joyful neighboring experiences is a true gift. We hope you are just as inspired as we are! Also, stay tuned; Kristina will be back on the virtual front porch next week with a surprise guest!
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