Good Community involvement with 55+

[Shawn Sisco]

Chrissy, I own a land-lease community that has a mix of age 55+ families and younger families. For the past 18 months I have been hosting monthly dinners on a Saturday at Noon. Also on a Tuesday night I have a neighborhood watch meeting with great help from our local Sherriff Dept. This has been a very positive experience for me and the residents that participate. Now, here is my concern: Nearly all of the residents that attend are 55+. I have many younger residents that will not attend. Any ideas as to what I should do to make them feel appreciated, and at the same time get them aquainted with each other?

[Chrissy]

Why don't they attend? That's the first question you need to ask yourself. If you can successfully answer that question, then you have a chance of getting them involved. In my experience, families usually don't attend a lot of community functions because they are too busy being a family and earning a living. Juggling school events, church events, work obligations, laundry, extra-curricular activities, music lessons, sports practices, etc. You may not be able to overcome those things in order to get them to attend any community events. However, one of the more sure ways to get parents involved is to recognize their children. There are lots of ways to do this. One way that worked for me was the "A" Train. We had copied pictures of railroad cars (each on an individual pice of paper). The children would bring in their report cards, and for each "A" on the report card, they got to either color a car or put their name on it. We ran the train around the office wall, around the clubhouse wall, or some other prominent place. In the spring (or quarterly) we held an "A" Train Banquet with them as the guests of honor. Lots of parents turned out for that! I have lots more ideas in my handbook, "Activities With and Without A Clubhouse" that is for sale on my website. Check it out at www.chrissy-jackson.com and good luck to you!

[Barbara Lawson]

Well, maybe they don't have child care or it's to early in the day for them to come. Or have you tried to have it on a sunday when almost everyone can attend. Having a family my self, when i get home from work the last thing i want to do is go to a meeting. Kids have homework and baths, by the time they get home. If your park can come together and make a family night with kids welcome you just might get more people to show up. Even if you can pervide child care.

[Shawn Sisco]

Chrissy, thank you for the ideas, I'll give it a try. In reply to Barb: Kids are always welcome at our functions. I understand busy schedules will always prevent full participation. What I am refering to is people who are at home and will not attend. I'm concerned that these residents will end up feeling disconnected to the rest of their neighbors and won't feel appreciated. Church attendance would conflict with Sunday gatherings.