Community without Pixels

We use the word “community” a lot. Over the past 5 years the internet and social media have taken the definition of this word to whole new lengths. Where it used to be the only communities you were a part of were ones that were in close proximity to your home, now this is no longer the case. The amount of online communities you can be a part of is literally endless. From Facebook to SecondLife and any niche that you happen to fancy, there is an online community with which you can participate (or not), and at any level you like.

All of this connecting and interacting with people you would have otherwise never known has its benefits for sure. The sharing of information and experiences has made us the most informed generation yet. With all of this information at our finger tips we are able to react to people in need faster and more efficiently than ever before. When the earthquake in Haiti hit, people all over the world were able able to mobilize and start working to raise money in an effort to help those effected. The team at R29 even threw our hat into the ring and participated in The Haiti Poster Project, which was a strictly online effort, to do our part.

Like most things, though, there are negatives that accompany these positives. When everything is just a click away sometimes making connections in the community in which you actually live becomes difficult. While participation in online communities can be beneficial, often times there are people in the home next door that could genuinely use a helping hand.

Reaching out to people in our immediate area, though riddled with potential difficulties, does have long term benefits. We are all aware of continuing trends towards sustainability and eco-friendliness, and like all of industries we are a part of, there are growing implications of what “going green” means for community. Local governments are already encouraging their citizens to make adjustments that would help the earth; offering public transportation and bike lanes for commuters, providing space for community gardens as well as farmers markets so people are able to purchase locally grown food. Community based activities are also on the rise as park districts and libraries hold free or low cost events. As a result, people are staying closer to home. This gives everyone the opportunity to get to know their communities and the people in them in a whole new way.

This summer we have taken this challenge to heart. We recognized that though we love serving people with design, there were some opportunities we were missing by staying behind our screens. By location, R29 is a part of the Fox River Valley community, so we decided to start there, and more specifically the towns that surround Geneva.

We began asking questions about the type of people who live in our area and what their needs might be. Through questions and some research, we found that homelessness was a big issue in our area. Initially it was difficult to imagine that in such an affluent area people would be living in cars or on the streets. When we looked into what was being done to help this issue we found an organization called Lazarus House located in St. Charles.

Started in 1997 as a warm weather shelter, Lazarus House has grown into an emergency shelter open 365 days a year with 24/7 staff support. They help individuals and families get back on their feet and provide them with tools to live a healthy and rewarding life.

Lazarus House is also significantly supported by the community. Business and individuals regularly provide meals, goods and services to make sure the shelter stays in the black and is able to continue its good work. So when we called up to see if we could help out they were more than happy to have us come over and check it out.

Never having served in our local community before there was some anxiety as to what the experience might be like. It turned out to be great. The job they gave us was to create grid system on a memorial/honorarium wall so that people could find their loved one’s name when they came to visit. It seemed like a small, and not so significant job initially, but as we worked staff members would stop and thank us for helping and express how this took something off of their plate and how grateful the families would be.

It felt good to help.

We also got a tour of their facilities and learned about the other services they provide such as transitional housing, a two year program designed to give people the tools they need to succeed at their goals and function as contributing members of society. After all the work and touring, we sat down and had lunch with a couple of the people Lazarus House served to hear a little bit of their stories.

This was our first experiment with venturing out and meeting our neighbors. Stepping out from behind our computers and going out into the world was difficult as it required much planning and making sure work was complete, but it was well worth it. There will be sure to be more as it feels good to know the people around you and lend a helping hand.

If you have not already, see what the community you live in has to offer, or better yet what can you offer it? It could be much better and more real than anything online.