Coffee, conversation unite neighbours
Under a canopy on a snowy Saturday morning they served coffee to neighbours.
A simple act with a big impact.
Neighbours met people they never knew were their neighbours. People stood on snow-covered sidewalks to introduce themselves and talk. Children drank hot chocolate and huddled together on a sofa that suddenly appeared on a front yard, then played together in a nearby snowbank. A propane-fed portable campfire kept everyone warm.
A community was being built.
It was an event organized by the Fitzgerald Neighbours, a residents’ association that covers the area bounded by Lake and Geneva and Carlton streets and Welland Avenue in St. Catharines.
Money raised from coffee sales will be directed to the Coldest Night of the Year, a fundraiser for Start Me Up Niagara. The organization works with people facing life challenges including addition, mental illness, poverty, homelessness and unemployment.
Last year, more than $100,000 was raised. This year’s Coldest Night of the Year walk happens on Saturday, Feb. 24.
This is exactly what residents Caleb Ratzlaff of McGhie Street and Suzanne Veenstra of George Street had envisioned when they were part of a group to start the neighbourhood association a year ago.
“In today’s society we don’t have a lot of natural opportunities to get to know each other,” said Veenstra.
She has lived in the neighbourhood for some nine years, in three different houses, because she likes the people.
“We’ve lost each other. We stay in our own homes, in our own backyards. We don’t get the opportunity to know strangers.”
Residents meet monthly to plan events, including an Easter egg hunt in Catherine Street Park and a community garage sale. They are trying to raise enough money to build pavilion in the park for shade. And they are working on a survey so residents can share their ideas on a vision for the neighbourhood.
They have a Facebook page and Instagram account.
They want to celebrate the diversity in their neighbourhood, said Ratzlaff. House styles range from wartime bungalow to century homes. There are people who are single to first-time parents to senior citizens. A mix of cultures. And yet, the neighbourhood connects everyone, he said.
“The architecture encourages people to meet people,” he said.
Homes are close together; driveways are short. People sit on their front porches and talk to each other.
And when people come together to talk with each other, something magical happens.
“When we understand our neighbours better, the actions we want to take (to improve the neighbourhood) becomes more legitimate,” he said.
“The more people who know each other and engage with each other, the better our collective voice.”
Edmund Street neighbours Laurie Morrison and Allyson Slee are part of a group of six houses — three on each side of the street — that were already hosting parties at each other’s homes, when they heard about the association.
It fit perfectly into their knowyour-neighbour philosophy.
They had already combined efforts to hold a garage sale, raising funds to help the neighbourhood stray cats with food, and having them spayed or neutered.
Then one day when Veenstra happened by, delivering flyers, they stopped to chat. Simple as that.
The more people who contribute to the collective voice, the better, they said.
“It opens up your perspective,” said Veenstra.
“When you have diversity you’re able to think outside of yourself.”
“Your world view is widened.”