Joan’s house sits at the bottom of a big hill. It’s a hill that I’ve ran up and down – hundreds of times.
Sometimes, I see Joan. She may be sitting on her porch or gardening. We usually wave and say “hi” to each other. I continue up the hill. She goes on with her life.
Throughout most of human history, we knew our neighbors well. In today’s walled and disconnected world it’s possible never to meet the people living close to us – let alone get to know them. People could and did help their neighbors.
On the flipside we have tools like Facebook. Where we can keep in touch with lots of people who we either rarely or ever see.
These worlds collided late last week. Bill Childs, Associate Dean at Western New England School of Law and a fellow alumni board member – posted a link urging his friends to “save Joan’s house. Bill’s a good guy so I clicked on the link. The person who needed help, was Joan, my neighbor.
A few hours later, the Dean of the Hartford Blogosphere, Helder Mira posted the same link on Facebook. Joan has good friends.
It turns out that Joan was out of work for more than a year and fell behind on her mortgage. She has a job now, however, needs help in making up the $6,000 deficit.
Click here to read more about Joan and her situation. If you enjoy this site, and Joan’s cause worthy (which I trust you will), please give something to help her out. Any amount would be greatly appreciated. I’ve got miles to run. I hope to be waving to Joan for year’s to come. I ask you to help my neighbor.