We live in a culture where everyone goes inside and shuts their doors.
But people want more.
You want more.
We do too.
At The Hopeful Neighborhood Project we long to see more and more hopeful neighborhoods.
We know you do too. Here’s how we got started:
Having grown up in Downs, a small rural community in Illinois, Tony Cook learned the beauty of neighbors helping neighbors. He experienced firsthand how each member of the community, regardless of background, had unique gifts to share. If you needed your car fixed, you took it to Chuck’s dad; if your wiring went bad, you called Russ. Tony saw the art of neighboring being practiced everywhere in his community.
In 2017, Tony began to dream about neighborhoods in America. What would it be like if people across the country participated in their neighborhoods like his neighbors did, back in Downs? What would it be like if people pursued the common good with their neighbors right where they lived?
There are many reasons for reasons our culture stays inside: fear for their safety, busy schedules, demanding family or work life, or even just awkwardness in engaging with their neighbors.
The Hopeful Neighborhood Project was created to equip you with the tools and resources you need to engage your neighbors. That engagement will lead to deeper community connections, and those connections will help you create change in your neighborhood, to pursue the common good, right where you live.
We believe a “hopeful neighborhood” is a neighborhood where people work together to pursue neighborhood well-being.
A hopeful neighborhood is where:
Possibilities
are the focus
Everyone’s gifts
are shared
Neighbors value their neighborhood’s uniqueness
Neighbors long for their neighborhood’s well-being
Neighbors collaboratively imagine possibilities
Neighbors create and work a plan together
We long to see more and more hopeful neighborhoods.
We know you do too. Let’s work together to make it happen!
Click on a member of our team to read their bio and get to know them.
The Hopeful Neighborhood Project was started and is supported by Lutheran Hour Ministries. Lutheran Hour Ministries is a Christian non-profit organization that is committed to helping all people increase the well-being of their neighborhood.
A neighborhood without neighbors is just a collection of houses.
We help you turn individual houses into hopeful homes.