Ghost of Midnight

modern community-building tool filling need for neighbors

From Joanne today in South Burlington, in response to recent media coverage of Front Porch Forum…

I live in one of the neighborhoods served by Front Porch Forum (FPF), the electronic neighborhood networking tool described by Bill McKibben in the most recent issue of Yankee Magazine.

The article described how useful FPF is for finding lost cats, and borrowing cake pans and canoes.  In my neighborhood it allowed us to rally round a young mother who was dying of a chronic, progressive disease.  Because of the demands of her illness, she and her husband had not gotten to know many people. However, with FPF, we were able to arrange for someone to prepare and deliver dinner for this family every night for two months before she died, and for several weeks after the funeral.  Through FPF, the family also received a steady flow of cards and notes, and practical help with dog walking, errands, and driving the kids to after-school activities.

What struck me most during this period was the number of neighbors who expressed appreciation that FPF allowed them to find out about and participate in helping this family at a time of profound need.  As the Yankee article said: most people want to be neighborly, but we no longer have the local institutions and the time to do it the way we used to. FPF is a modern community-building tool that has admirably filled the need in the fortunate neighborhoods that have access to it.