There is growing recognition that too many people in this country are facing serious challenges – challenges that threaten their well-being, including their happiness and ability to contribute to society.
Intentional neighboring offers a way for ordinary people to provide daily support as family and friends to those facing serious social challenges.
In this newest version of Generations of Hope’s core conceptual whitepaper, authors Brenda Krause Eheart, David Hopping, and Deborah Finck explore the limits of a conventional understanding of vulnerability, and introduce the concept of Intentional Neighboring as a potential key to tapping a whole new dimension of response.
Rarely, when we think of providing a safety net, do we think about the value and essential importance of caring relationships and neighboring to well-being. Yet there is a substantial body of research showing that this aspect of daily living, where people are surrounded by a culture of friendliness, kindness, helpfulness, and consideration, is essential to emotional and physical well-being, to everyone’s health and happiness.
This missing dimension consists very simply of ordinary people doing what we always do to help people in times of need, but doing this in a more systematic and intentional way.
Download A fuller response to vulnerability (pdf).