New Blog for New Job

Haz click aqui para espanol

First off, I want to apologize because my Spanish is not the best.  Hopefully it will improve little by little.  Please have patience with me.

I'm going to tell about a neighborhood where I met like 4 or 5 families, 4 weeks ago.

I was canvassing - that's knocking on doors - with my work buddy Erwin.  He said it was almost all Latinos living in the area and he could not communicate with them because he doesn't speak Spanish.  Though I don't speak it well, a little bad Spanish is better than no Spanish at all. 

One mother said she cannot permit her children to play outside because of kids who throw mud and pine cones at the outside walls and doors.  She pointed out the lattice marks left by muddy pine cones.  Another family told about broken windows and thieves.  One man said, yes, there have been problems, but the manager talked to them and anyway the trouble makers moved and now things have quieted down, we'll see how things are when spring comes.  But then 2 more families had accounts of problems with violence, shooting bullets and robbing people.

Erwin said, as I wrote notes of the stories shared by the families, "Maybe we could have a meeting out here."  We were sitting at a picnic table under the shade of a pine tree.

"Yes!  Good idea!" I said.

But since then this Covid 19 problem got worse and now people can't get together.  I'm thinking a lot about the stories I heard.  I'm thinking if these neighbors can get together and talk, they can make a plan to resolve these big problems.  In my neighborhood, several years ago, the police brought dozens of bicycles and organized activities for the children.  The city had a big event in the park with various activities, including walking on the Greenway and playing in a sandbox.  Some problems are too big for one person, but with neighbors working together it is possible to find solutions.

I have a lot of hope, which is why I work with Power Up.  It is a multiracial organization.  What's most important to Power Up is supporting people in organizing together to improve their lives.  Power Up is a part of League of Conservation Voters, a national environmental organization.  Many people contribute money to defend our planet, our only home.  Power Up (Poder Arriba) wants to ensure  that every family regardless of race, with money or without money, can live comfortably on this planet.  We begin with our neighbors.