A community feels more alive when the people who live there love it enough to help improve it. By helping your community, you will enrich the lives of friends, family and others who live in the same place as you. If, looking around you, you notice that there are many problems, it is time to start solving them. The more love you give, the better it will be. Read on from Step 1 to get some ideas on how to help your community become stronger and more vibrant.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Share Time and Capacity
Step 1. Teach people what you know
One of the best ways to help your community is to share your knowledge with other people. It's also an easy way to propose when you're not quite sure where to start. Think about what you have to offer and who could benefit from what you know. Here are some ideas:
- Teach people to read and write. Imagine what it would be like not to be able to read. You could work with children or with foreigners who have difficulty in this regard by giving them this gift.
- Teach children a sport. You could coach a soccer team, gather neighborhood kids to play basketball in the afternoon, or form a group to run in the morning.
Step 2. Volunteer with a group that does something you admire
Some non-profit organization or community in your area probably needs volunteers. Donating your time is a great way to benefit your community and also to strengthen your relationships with its members. Find a group to work in that piques your interest and call them; you will have many possibilities to start helping out right away. Here are some examples of the volunteer opportunities available almost everywhere:
- Help keep a park, river, or stretch of sea clean
- Call to raise funds
- Playing with cats and dogs at the kennel
- Serve meals at a canteen or homeless shelter
- Work for a body that handles various disasters
- Counseling at a children's camp
Step 3. Become a visible member of your community
Probably other people and organizations in the area are taking steps to help improve your community. Maybe reviews, cleaning days and meetings are organized in an attempt to make the neighborhood a better place. How often do you show up at your community events? Start going as often as you can. Being present is a way to help people because it lets them know you care. When you feel comfortable, you can also start volunteering to help out during these events.
- For example, if someone is trying to organize a "bike ride to work or school" on Monday morning, and you have a bike, why not give it a try? Bring a friend too. Show people in your neighborhood that cycling is fun.
- Take part in fundraising walks and rides. Many nonprofits organize walks and runs to raise funds. By paying the membership fee directly to the association and attending the event, you will help raise awareness of the cause.
- Go to concerts, reviews and other events organized by local businesses or associations. If no one shows up at this type of event, there is a risk that they will not be promoted again.
Step 4. Become an active citizen
A great way to help your community is to participate in decisions that affect it. Stay up-to-date on activities that have an influence where you live and develop an informed opinion on the most important issues. For example, if the municipality is deciding whether to cut down a couple of hectares of forest to allow the construction of a new supermarket, document about it and make an opinion. Would it be better to keep the forest intact or if the city had a new supermarket? By having an informed point of view and making your voice heard, you can influence the direction your community should take.
- Voting is an important way to serve where you live. Learn about the candidates and issues raised during the election campaign and vote in all municipal elections.
- Contact your representative to discuss the issues you feel are important. If you don't want the forest to be razed or you think a new supermarket could really help your community, contact the representative or write a letter, indicating what you want and why.
- Introduce yourself to meetings where decisions are made. Take the opportunity to talk about what matters to you. Would the community have greater benefits with more pedestrian crossings on busier streets? Are there too many potholes on the streets of your neighborhood? Do you have an opinion on how the city should handle the rising crime rate? Say what you think.
Step 5. Show your talent
Do you have a particular talent for playing the saxophone? Maybe you like to sing or write melodies during your free time. Why not share your artistic skills within your community? Nothing unites people more than the sound of music and poetry. It attracts people and makes them dance, sing and laugh.
- He plays on the street. Just go outside and play your instrument, maybe to get some people to come. Try playing in the park, where the atmosphere is more suggestive. The sound of live music on the street or on a lawn transforms an open space into a place full of promise.
- Get a group together and form a band. Play at reviews, restaurants and bars in your area. You could also offer to do this at fundraising events held by organizations working to improve your community.
- Organize an open mic night. Talk to the owner of a club, bookstore, or bar to see if he's interested in hosting an open mic night of music, lectures and theater once or twice a month. Most locals will be happy to increase their business.
Step 6. Beautify public spaces
If, looking around, you see trash on the street and graffiti on the windows of your neighborhood, you know where to start to help out. Making the spaces in your community more beautiful and cleaner will lead people to hang out and improve everyone's quality of life. The work to be done will depend on the particular needs of your community.
- You can help beautify your neighborhood right away by picking up the trash on your own. When you walk on the street, collect the garbage you see and throw it away or recycle it. If the work is too much, try involving a few friends.
- Remove or paint over graffiti to renew the look of buildings and fences. If you are good at painting, you could make a mural on a public wall for everyone to see. To do this, you may need to first obtain permission from the building owner or municipality.
- Create a garden in an area overgrown with weeds. Mow or use a brush cutter to remove weeds. Plant flowers, plants or trees wherever you can.
- Make seed bombs and place them in the empty ground.
- Create a community garden where everyone can have a small plot of land in which to grow vegetables, herbs or flowers. Ask people to help you work the land and make their tools available to carry out this project.
Method 2 of 3: Resolve Community Problems
Step 1. Identify your community's most pressing needs
Living in your community, you will likely know what changes are needed. Perhaps the river that flows into the city is so polluted that you cannot swim. Perhaps schools need more resources to purchase books and computer equipment. Perhaps the homeless population in your community is in need of assistance. Whatever it is, understand what needs are to be catered for in the place where you live.
- Try not to get overwhelmed by the size and scale of the problems your community is facing. Choose one thing to change that is close to your heart, one thing that ignites your passion, and go from there.
- See if anyone else feels like you. Is there a group or organization to meet this need? Do you know someone who is as enthusiastic as you are about making changes?
Step 2. Decide how to help
Once you have identified the problem to be solved, realize how you can start working to solve it. Whether or not you believe that one person can change the world, since you are reading this article, you will know that one person can make a difference. And how do you intend to make a difference?
Find a place where your passions and skills intersect. For example, let's say you are longing to remedy the fact that your city has few trees, since the greenhouse effect and air pollution are a high-risk problem. You have the ability to use social media and, in addition, you have more than a thousand friends who follow you on Facebook. You can raise awareness of the problem by sharing what you know with as many people as you can and encourage them to plant more trees
Step 3. Set achievable goals
The problem you have identified will probably not be solved easily. Perhaps it will require a considerable amount of work. Maybe years of work. It is also possible that, after several years, the problem will still not be completely solved. However, if you set manageable goals and start working gradually, you will eventually be able to look back and see the progress made.
- Set short-term goals. You can set a deadline in the near future so that it makes sense and motivates. What do you want to accomplish in a week, a month or a year?
- Set long-term goals. In five years, what will your community look like? In ten? What seems feasible in that time period?
Step 4. Organize a to-do schedule
To accomplish your goals, you will need an action plan. And to execute an action plan, you will likely need help and funding. Come up with a plan that describes everything you will need to achieve a certain goal, including:
- People. Include all the most qualified people to engage, the hours of work that will keep them busy, the exact number of volunteers or spokespersons that will be needed to accomplish your goals.
- Resources. Include buses to take people downtown to clean up the river. Garbage bags, shovels, protective gloves and masks for the volunteers. Pizza for lunch. Think about everything down to the last detail.
- Money. Plan a budget and expenses to accomplish your goals.
Step 5. Get other people involved
Ask around to find out who else would be thrilled to make a difference, just like you. Try to form a core of activists committed to carrying out the project to improve your community. Everyone will have something to lend a hand to and together you will be able to complete the planned things.
- To find passionate volunteers and spread the word about what you are doing, share information through social media. Make your plan to change things public and tell people how they can get involved. Hold meetings to discuss how to put your plan into action.
- Some people prefer to help by offering money instead of giving their time. Don't be afraid to ask for donations or organize a fundraiser to raise money for your cause.
Step 6. Commit to getting things done
Once you've set goals and put in place an action plan for meeting people, you'll need to get organized and invest the time and effort needed to bring change to life. If you give up on this, your community will likely never see the solution you've been dreaming of. It won't be easy to make things better, but every little effort you make to make your project a reality will make a difference.
Method 3 of 3: Be a Good Citizen
Step 1. Help people in need
It's an easy way to make the place you live better and to create the kind of atmosphere that makes people feel safe and happy. If you see someone in need of assistance, run to their aid instead of looking away. Do to others what you would like to receive if you were in their situation.
- If you see a mother who is having a hard time carrying the stroller down, help her.
- If you notice that someone is feeling lost, help them find direction.
- Imagine how you can help people asking for money on the street, instead of walking by without looking them in the eye.
- Help in an emergency, instead of assuming someone else will do it.
Step 2. Support the local economy
When a community is thriving, it has a thriving economy. People work together to make a living and thrive. You can help improve the well-being of the local economy in a number of ways, by changing your shopping habits or by starting your own business. Consider the following ways:
- Shop at local suppliers. Try to get most of the products you need from local markets, where members of your community go to sell the groceries they have produced with great effort.
- Shop at nearby stores whenever you can. For example, if you can choose to buy a new pair of jeans at a large mall or small shop run by a member of your community, opt for the latter if you can. This way the money you spend will go to help your community.
- Consider starting your own business. You can serve your community by offering great products and perhaps even hiring employees.
Step 3. Recycle and collect the wet
Many communities experience problems with landfills that are always too full. Producing too much garbage pollutes the environment and is detrimental to the health of the community over time. You can do your part to improve the situation by recycling as much waste as possible and collecting the wet, which will be used for the production of fertilizer.
- If you want to go further, you could also raise awareness of recycling or start a take-back and recycling program at school or in the workplace.
- Composting is useful in more ways than one. If you have land or a garden that you cultivate, composting allows you to dispose of food waste, without throwing it in the bin, and consequently you will have a useful resource in the garden. Once you learn how, teach others how easy it is.
Step 4. Save energy and water
Using too much electricity and water, we end up depleting the resources of the territory. Saving electricity and water is good for the planet, but also good for the local environment. Doing your best to preserve these two resources is a gesture that in the long run protects the health of your territory.
- Turning off the lights when not in use, using energy-saving appliances, decreasing your dependence on air conditioning, turning down the water heater temperature, and unplugging your computer when it's off are all ways to help save energy.
- Taking showers faster, making sure your pipes don't leak, not watering your lawn too often, and not wasting water while washing the dishes are all ways to help save water.
Step 5. Put less reliance on your car
Communities that base transportation on private vehicles often have high levels of air pollution. Air pollution is not only harmful to plants and animals, it also causes serious health problems for humans. If you use your car less, your carbon footprint will decrease, which will have a positive effect on where you live. Here are some alternatives to try:
- Walk or ride a bike. It takes longer, but you see more things along the way.
- Use public transportation. Even if the area you live in is not served by a large metro or train network, there will probably be some bus lines nearby.
- Arrange with a group car to go to work or school, instead of using your own car.
