Quick: what’s your next-door neighbor’s phone number?
If you had to guess, most of us don’t know (BONUS POINTS if you have at least two neighbors’ numbers in your phone contacts!).
We wave. We nod. We smile at the dog. But if something happened — a tornado warning, a power outage, a health emergency — could you reach each other?
Johnson County’s Know Your Neighbors cards are almost embarrassingly simple. Print one (English or Spanish), write down your contact info, hand it to the people on either side of you, and ask them to fill one out for you.
That’s it. You’ve just created a tiny emergency network.
What I love about this is that it’s not really about emergencies. It’s about we’ve somehow built a culture where physical proximity doesn’t equal connection anymore. These cards are a nudge back toward each other.
When did you last have a real conversation with a neighbor? What would it take?
👉 jocogov.org/family-emergency-preparedness
Happy serving,
Stephanie Sharp
Resources for this newsletter:
Serve60Sharp is a weekly, read-in-60-seconds newsletter, which provides readers with actionable ideas to serve their communities.
What's your Serve60Sharp Idea?
Thank you for reading Serve60Sharp on Substack. This post is public so feel free to share it.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.