It’s not just not-for-profit institutions that are making communities a better place. Many of the people to whom I spoke in small towns talked about how the changemakers in their communities were not any particular organization or even a single individual but the community as a whole. They felt that when someone needed a hand they could rely on the community to come to their aid. They spoke about the benefit (and, yes, the challenges) of living in a place where you know everyone:
“I’ve never been part of a community where I’ve seen so much of people taking care of each other…when there’s something traumatic, when there’s something wonderful to be celebrated, when there’s something unimaginable, it’s just amazing to see how they come (out)…it doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe, race or anything like that, they’ll just be there. And we’ve seen that.”
“It’s like a family, it’s not perfect…You can’t have road rage here, you’ll run into them at church or see them at the grocery store.” -Gabriella & Benjamin Nielson of Primm, UT.We’ll be posting profiles and photos of our interviewees with links to each organization’s websites and social media feeds so that you can find out more about them and connect with them directly.
And, of course, we’ll begin the process of editing the footage and putting the interviews together to present as multiple episodes of a documentary series and/or a documentary film.
Follow along, stay tuned, and stay in the conversation.
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