Congrats to our survey participant winners, Gina from Bristol and Nikki from Burlington, who each won an iPad from FPF!
This survey, undertaken in late April, saw a huge response from our members… over 15,000 responses to a 22-question 15-minute survey! Thank you to each and everyone of you who participated.
The survey was undertaken when the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation offered a grant to help us study how Vermonters use FPF to build community. From the survey, conducted by an independent third party, we learned that Front Porch Forum is fulfilling its social mission of helping neighbors connect and build community! We look forward to sharing specific results in the near future.
Front Porch Forum is hiring! We are seeking a Ruby on Rails Developer to join our team. This position is full-time and based in Burlington, Vermont. Be part of a world-class team of software engineers, and help us fulfill our community-building mission. Check out the details and apply here.
“Thank you to the resident or visitor who found my credit card on the sidewalk and returned it to the police station! It was returned before I even knew it was gone. Love this town!”
• Rachel in Stowe
It’s wonderful to see stories of neighbors helping neighbors on Front Porch Forum, instead of hearing about a stolen credit card. Lost or found something of value? Add a post in FPF!
“Thank you very much to whomever returned my wallet to City Market customer service. A friend of mine at Mule Bar told me today that he had seen that someone had found my wallet on Front Porch Forum. I would like to offer a reward to this mystery person. Please contact me!”
• Daniel, joined FPF in Old North End of Burlington so he could post this
Some folks use their local FPF as a form of insurance… a safety net when things go awry. Send Vermonters to FrontPorchForum.com to sign up.
“I would like to thank all who inquired… all 4 Longaberger baskets have been sold. I meet the nicest people people on Front Porch Forum! DM, I hope you and your family get as much pleasure from them as I did. I may have more in the future.”
• Marie, Jericho FPF
“In the early morning hours of Monday, March 6, my life flipped upside down with the words ‘get out, get out, it’s a real fire!’ Running outdoors in one’s pajamas, into a windchill of -14, is not an experience I recommend to anyone.
“The heroes of our Burlington Fire Department were there in short order, and the Red Cross was behind them by just a few minutes. Wonderful neighbors opened their doors at once and kept them open all night through hours of the interviews, paperwork, and other mundane details of a waking nightmare. Other people’s gloves and heavy coats and bags for retrieving what we could when it was over appeared seemingly out of nowhere. A night that went badly but could have gone far, far worse was made bearable by not going through it alone. Vermonters are the best people in the world.
“I don’t know yet how long I will be displaced. There is a long period of friends’ guest rooms and daily conversations with insurance companies yet to come. There could have been a long period in a burn unit, and I am writing a Front Porch Forum post, not an obituary, so I am very grateful.
“Thanks for listening.
“P.S.–check your smoke detectors!!”
• Holly, Old North End FPF, Burlington
“Front Porch Forum is a wonderful resource for community involvement! The more members there are, the better it gets. Tell your friends about it and ask them to join!”
• Thomas, Windsor FPF
It’s wonderful to see what a difference one motivated volunteer can make. Thomas started spreading the word in his town recently, and lots of neighbors are responding. Do the same in your area. Here are some ideas and resources that have worked elsewhere.
“A successful first experience using Fix My Street is associated with a 57 percent increase in the probability of an individual submitting a second report, and the experience of bureaucratic responsiveness to the first report submitted has predictive power over all future report submissions.”
This jibes with what we observe with Front Porch Forum. People stick with it because, simply, it works. They post a request, question, call for support, etc., and they get results. So they keep participating.
Postings like those below (this set is from March 1) have become common on Front Porch Forum across Burlington’s South End…
“The two street-side tires were slashed on a pickup truck parked in front of our house on lower Lyman, we think sometime between last night (Wed 3/1) and this morning. We didn’t notice any activity or hear anything unusual. My husband called the police and an officer stopped by to say the usual – that this type of thing has been happening all over the city and they are trying to track down the perpetrator(s). The officer also said that he had already responded to another incident up the street.”
• Laura, The Addition FPF in Burlington’s South End
“Hey folks – I woke up yesterday morning to find 3 of 4 windows smashed (both street-side, one sidewalk side) on my car parked on upper Ferguson. Nothing taken that I am aware of, however, there was a strange addition of white rice in the front seats. The responding officer was also perplexed by the rice, but did indicate, as we know, that this type of vandalism has been occurring all over Burlington for a while now. Yesterday evening I did locate two BBs inside my vehicle. Wanted to post to let folks know that this vandalism is still occurring.”
• Kristi,The Addition FPF in Burlington’s South End
“Be aware – tires slashed on upper Spruce St. night of 3/1-3/2. Car parked on street.”
• Priscilla, South Union FPF in Burlington’s South End
“My tire was also slashed, Priscilla… I’m on South Union, a couple houses from Spruce. Sad to hear someone else went through this!”
• Kevin, South Union FPF in Burlington’s South End
Same thing happened on my street in the Five Sisters neighborhood a few weeks ago. If you have any information about these incidents, please notify the Burlington Police and post on your local FPF so neighbors can be aware.
“I believe that access to the financial records of our presidential candidates will help voters decide whether the candidate has a conflict of interest. When I arrived at this realization, it was too late to add this idea to the Town’s warned articles. I am using Front Porch Forum to give my neighbors advance notice of a motion that I hope will be discussed and passed at Town Meeting during the new or other business portion. The motion highlights the efforts already underway in our State Legislature (H. 243 and S. 77) and in the U.S. Congress (S. 26). Here is the proposed motion:
“‘The citizens of Jericho, Vermont support the efforts of our state and federal legislators regarding proposed laws that require the disclosure of federal tax returns before a presidential candidate’s name can be place on the primary and general election ballots and, upon passage, we request that our town employees and/or officials convey the vote to the appropriate persons in our state and federal legislative bodies.'”
• Bill, Jericho FPF
Town Meeting Day is March 7 this year (statewide… actual meeting dates vary by town)… how are you using your local FPF?
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more
