11 Comments
Nov 13Liked by Courtney Martin

Organizing a Get It Done Day is maybe a less challenging undertaking than building a community who would rise up and offer that.

Faith communities often having specific organization for that, a crew of volunteers who go to the homes of people who are isolated and lack social support. There are non-profit agencies too that offer support for people on their radar.

I think it can be hard for very outgoing people to understand how hard building informal community is for the great majority of fairly isolated people. What is easy for one is often very difficult for others.

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Nov 14Liked by Courtney Martin

This is incredibly astute. I you rightly guessed, I am outgoing and have a natural orientation towards people and building community. It isn't lost on me that so many people in need are isolated and struggling to get the help and support that would really make a difference during challenging times. Thank you for your comment.

My writing throughout treatment on the CaringBridge platform led me to work with the non-profit organization. It's a site where people can document and share a health journey and use it as a means to communicate with loved ones and bring them in.

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love this. it's so great that she highlighted how meaningful and fun it was for the helpers, too.

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Thank you Katherine for the comment. I'm a big fan of your writing! No question there was an ah-ha moment here for people. I don't think they had expected it to feel so rewarding or fun. It was a heavy time, but the act of us coming together and doing something positive seemed to offset that, if just for a brief moment.

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Thanks for your kind words, Nadia. In our individualist society, we often deny people the opportunity to be helpers because we are afraid of putting them out somehow. One of the most important tenants of community building in my opinion is both giving and receiving help.

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Nov 13Liked by Courtney Martin

We have a nesting party in the works for my sister-in-law who is pregnant with her first baby and just lost her mom. Like Nadia said, it's easy to see the need in extraordinary circumstances like that, so I also want to bring this to my usual close friend group. Seems like a win-win to spend time together and take things off each other's plates.

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Thank you Nadia! In these challenging circumstances your brilliant example is truly inspiring. You and your community should be cloned! We need you everywhere!

I’m 86 years old and haven’t witnessed your actions anywhere else, even in my beloved Portland where I’m lived and taught high school for a decade. Please write more! DD

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Nov 14Liked by Courtney Martin

Thank you Dennis. This is truly kind. I'd love to figure out a way to spread this kind of support to others who are in need. You can follow my cancer related writing on CaringBridge at the link below. I appreciate your encouragement to write more about what I learnt about community and asking for help.

https://www.caringbridge.org/site/ed7a0ce4-d810-3dc3-9f35-4065d015b29b

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This is brilliant, reading this community support gave me goosebumps! Thank you for this idea, I'll keep it close to my heart and brain at the same time and look out for people, who need this. <3

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Love this so much!

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This is very, very beautiful and also good. I love the format and the tangible steps. Thank you.

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