Neighbors for Neighbors is a community empowerment program that connects people with the resources they need.
Neighbors for Neighbors is a program that offers resources, mentorship and training to help communities come together and develop ongoing support in the aftermath of a disaster.
We formed after the fatal and devastating floods in Oxford, Connecticut on 8/18/2024. Oxford had no time to prepare as there was no warning of the floods. After the storm, we quickly developed this program’s framework to coordinate volunteers, to share emergency information, resources, good news, mental and emotional support, and more.
In times of severe stress and trauma such as post-disaster aftermath, victims can’t think clearly, so we did the thinking for them: We collected the scattered information from many different sources and checked their credibility to try and minimize the risk of the victim being scammed. This created a valuable and trusted network through the use of social media and neighbor connections.
This model could help any community and our programs, such as Peer to Peer Support, Volunteer Labor Coordination and Request Aids, and Volunteer Upliftment, can be taught and implemented in any town. We have seen a great need, especially here in the Northeast, to develop such a network as we see a growing need due to fires, floods, shootings, tornadoes, hurricanes and more.
The biggest advantage to a program like Neighbors for Neighbors is that, because it is local and run by citizens, it will sustain in the affected town long after the hype has died down and the larger aid organizations reduce their support.
Our vision is to have chapters throughout the United States that can support their own communities, but also provide mutual aid to their neighboring chapters in times of crisis.