Hi Gabe - I just spotted your post and would be happy to talk to you about small grants if you're still searching for some answers. I don't have direct experience with your question but am connected to the network of practitioners in the US and Canada who use small grants with ABCD values and principles. My hunch is that I can help you find your way to an answer.
Janis
I just heard from Justin Mayfield, Director ofLocal Life Tacoma, about an idea for using the upcoming July 4 holiday in the U.S. as an opportunity for block-level community building - moving your July 4 barbeque to your FRONT yard.
Justin is trying to get this idea going and has launched a website to promote this idea - with a map to show all the front yard barbeques that are happening that day, with an easy way for people to add their own. Justin asked me to share this idea with my networks and to encourage people to join in and pass along the information.
Here's the site -http://frontyardbbq.org/about.html.
I'm also curious about simple, fun people-centered simple ideas that make community building and neighboring real and could be knit together in a way to suggest a growing movement in this direction. I'm especially curious about the personal stories of people who are joining in - moving their barbeque to the front yard, for example.
I think of long standing programs like National Night Out and the growing Janes Walk movement - also Dave Runyon's Art of Neighboringactivities, Mark Hopkins' We Should Know Each Otherparties in Calgary, and Ross Chapin's 10 Ideas for Creating Community Where You Live, and Jon Horwitt's Lawns 2 Lunch 4 Kidsjourney in Arlington. I''m sure that the ABCD in Action community has thousands of other examples to share.
What comes to mind for you?
Janis Foster Richardson
