Can being a good neighbor combat loneliness?
Studies have proven that knowing just six neighbors can reduce loneliness, and helping a neighbor is even more beneficial for those who are experiencing issues associated with isolation.
A 2020 study by NextDoor, in conjunction with Brigham Young University, found that knowing one’s neighbors has been linked to lowered depression, social anxiety and financial concerns, especially as it relates to the fallout from COVID-19.
Acts of kindness were also linked to improved mental health, even with the smallest gestures like waving or greeting those who live nearby.
But what happens when neighbors decide to take it a step further, beyond just saying hello? Grassroots efforts to help each other, studies have shown, benefit the giver equally as much as the receiver. It’s the power of neighbors, whether it is done in an organized manner, or as an informal effort, that makes a community better.
The power of one becomes a community of support
Two years ago, Susie Griffin, the owner of Dunwoody Hair Salon in the Mt. Vernon Shopping Center, came to work early one morning to find a homeless man sleeping on a bench near the entrance to her business. Instead of shooing him away, she took an interest in him.
“Ken, I came to find out, had grown up in Dunwoody,” Griffin said. “He never bothered anyone or threatened anyone or asked for anything. I felt quite safe when he was around.”
While not fully comprehending Ken’s history, but learning that he was estranged from his family, Griffin decided to help him. It was obvious that he suffered from a variety of mental issues, but Griffin decided to help. She brought him clothes and food regularly. He wasn’t always near the shop, but he was around enough that it became a habit for her to provide him with a meal, snacks, or water.
Soon her clients and friends became engaged. When it was cold, they gave him a sleeping bag, when rough weather was predicted, they brought him a raincoat and umbrella. It soon became a community of helpers. Several of Griffin’s clients and employees would text her that they were stopping by the shop to drop off food and other items for Ken. The act of giving back was as much of a comfort to them as it was for Ken.
Ken told Griffin that he felt safe in Dunwoody, as he had roots in the community. He would disappear for a few days and then show up again. Once, when he had been missing for several weeks, Griffin drove around Atlanta, finally spotting him on a street corner in Decatur.
“He said he just decided to walk there,” she said.
Ken returned to Dunwoody and the community outreach continued until a month ago, when he was hit by a car while crossing Dunwoody Village Parkway. He suffered pelvic fractures and significant head injuries. Griffin said it has become obvious that Ken can no longer survive on the street, and she and her community have been working to get him to a rehabilitation facility. It’s not easy.
“He needs a place to recover that specializes in homelessness and mental health issues, and there’s not a lot of them around here,” she said. “He’s 56 years old, never been on disability, and he needs an advocate.”
Griffin and her community of helpers said they are committed to helping Ken.
“I can’t do a lot to help people, but I can help Ken,” she said.
The power of soup
What started as a project to help children at the former Inman Middle School has turned into a city-wide effort honoring the legacy of a man who inspired others to embrace philanthropy.
Jenny Levison, the founder of Souper Jenny, found herself in a dilemma. Her teacher friends told her of school children whom they believed had academic issues because of their poor nutrition and food deficits. Levison knew that providing help using conventional methods would mean a myriad of paperwork and red tape, so she teamed up with the school’s social workers, delivering to them fresh soup to give to those who were in need.
“There were plenty of organizations that provided packaged foods in backpacks, which is great, but we wanted to give fresh, nutritious meals as well,” she said.
That humble start has blossomed as part of Levison’s non-profit organization called The Zadie Project, (Yiddish for grandfather), which was inspired by her father, Jarvin, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 95. Each week, the project provides soup to school programs, neighborhood community clubs, children’s homes, senior citizen facilities, homeless food banks, and homeless youth outreach programs. Since its inception, the Zadie Project has packaged and distributed more than 100,000 quarts of soup to those in need.
Today, an all-volunteer team works to assemble about 800 quarts of soup per week at its Westside location, one of five stores in the Souper Jenny fold. The group is mostly comprised of Levison’s actor friends and neighbors.
“It’s just people helping other people, neighbors helping neighbors,” Levison said. “It’s truly a grassroots effort.”
Levison said giving back to the community gives her comfort in a chaotic world where it seems little can be accomplished by individuals.
“There are so many problems in the world that I can’t solve,” she said, “but I can focus on helping people in my back yard who are hungry.”
For more information about the program, visit thezadieproject.org.
The power to help communities rise up
On paper, LaTonya Gates didn’t have a chance.
Born in prison, the daughter of a heroin addict, Gates struggled with all the issues that often affect children in those circumstances, including learning and behavioral challenges.
“I was kicked out of every school in DeKalb County, “she recalled. “Being born a heroin baby meant I had a lot of issues.”
It was only with the help of her grandmother, and a group of “strong African American women,” that Gates turned her life around, culminating with her being elected the president of her student body as a senior in high school.
It inspired Gates to put her energy and time into the community that helped her, and more importantly, needed her.
With the support of a predominantly Black church Paradise Baptist, and majority-white Atlanta Westside Presbyterian, Gates bought “the largest drug house in the neighborhood,” renovated it, and started an after-school program called PawKids for children in the Grove Park community on Atlanta’s Westside. It has now grown into a community enrichment program providing family services, medical and mental health care, food and wellness resources, and learning support for families in need.
“Some called it a crazy idea, but I wanted to give back to the community that saved my life,” Gates said. “We are forming relationships with these children that will allow them to break boundaries.”
Most of the 50 children who attend the after-school program come from Title 1 schools that are the lowest rated in the city. But Gates said she isn’t discouraged.
“Poverty is a mindset that we are working with these children to overcome,” she said. “This isn’t a babysitting club. The children who come here want to work to be better.”
For more information about Pawkids, click here.
