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ABOUT The Orchard NHN Project

In its most basic form, a community is defined as a unified body of individuals, a social state or condition, or society at large. The characteristic missing from this definition of community is compassion. The grassroots-based Neighbors Helping Neighbors Project inserts compassion into the conversation about how to address community needs at a local level. Bring our neighborhoods together to support their community, while having some fun in the process.

www.NeighborsHelpingNeighborsProject.org was started by Louis Godin in 2014 because he saw an immediate need in the South Burlington neighborhood where he lived. When a local motel was converted to temporary housing for the unhoused, instead of reacting, as many would, by protesting the change, Louis saw an opportunity for him and his neighbors to welcome and support their new neighbors. This act of kindness laid the groundwork for many, many more, setting the tone over a decade for a neighborhood where optimism, compassion, and volunteerism was the norm and helping each other was an ongoing pursuit.

At its core, community involvement is the act of participating and engaging in activities that benefit your local community. A neighborhood offers many resources, people and talents to bring neighborhood projects to life. Making volunteering and donation options easily accessible within the neighborhood makes a difference. We all have busy lives and creating opportunities within a neighborhood saves time and more people are willing to help.

Today more than ever mental health is a great concern in our society. Volunteering can be great for a person’s mental health. Volunteering reduces stress and increases positive, relaxed feelings. By spending time in service to others, volunteers report feeling a sense of meaning and appreciation, both given and received, which can have a stress-reducing effect. Making volunteering easily assessable within one's neighborhood makes for more participation and contributions within the community.

“I’m definitely an advocate for volunteering.” said Louis “For many years, I suffered from depression, struggling with my identity and processing years of extreme bullying when I was a kid. Volunteering has had a very big positive impact on my mental health journey. I am thankful and grateful for that.”

Ten years ago, Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) purchased the former Ho Hum Motel to provide housing and support services to individuals experiencing homelessness. Louis Godin, an Orchard Neighborhood, South Burlington resident, initiated the conversation about what we, as a small neighborhood, could do to support the CHT's efforts to address the challenges faced by unhoused residents in Chittenden County. Instead of crying "not in our backyard", the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Project formed with the launch of FoodDrivePlus.org to collect non-perishable food items and basic household goods for our future neighbors.

Louis was amazed by the difference his small neighborhood could make by working together, and by how working together built networks and fostered relationships that benefitted not only the homeless shelter, but also the whole neighborhood. This first action would lead to many more group efforts to give back.

Said Louis: "It's amazing the difference a small neighborhood can make. If it's hunger, mental health or just bringing a smile, love and kindness to others, it's all worth the effort. Our amazing neighbors' efforts have turned into great accomplishments in our community. More neighborhoods should get involved to support their community."

There are over 19,000 communities is the US. As a successful program the Orchard NHNProject.org helps encourage, support and educate other neighborhoods in conducting projects to give back to their community. As we have grown, our mission now is also to inspire and motivate others in neighborhoods across the US to organize social and fundraising programs to give back to their community, while having some fun in the process.

Grassroots Neighbors Helping Neighbors communities bring together like-minded individuals in neighborhoods all over the US to plan social events, volunteering opportunities and fundraising efforts directly in local neighborhoods. This incredible work helps support communities, counties and states, while bringing the neighborhood and community together for a common cause.

www.FoodDrivePlus.org continues today and has partnered with several local nonprofits in order to meet its Neighbors Helping Neighbors’ community with compassion and a mission to donate food and supplies to those in need, including Chittenden Housing Trust, Feeding Chittenden, Junior League Diaper Bank, and the Humane Society of Chittenden County. More than 66,000 pounds of food and products have been collected and distributed to these organizations. The impact of this volunteer collective has spread beyond its humble hyper-local roots. A model for neighborhood volunteerism, in 2016 United Way Northern Vermont recognized NHN Project with a Community Impact Award for its work with Champlain Housing Trust in support with Beacon Apartment homeless housing program. Neighbors Helping Neighbors has become a model program that other communities have adopted across the country.

Jane Mitchell, a former nonprofit development director and volunteer coordinator praised Louis for his skills in bringing people together: "Based on his own personal experience, Louis Godin understands how neighborhood volunteer efforts can have a broad, positive impact on our community at large. It's human nature to want to help others but, more often than not, people don't know where to begin. The Neighbors Helping Neighbors forum shows just how easy and convenient it can be to give back and have fun at the same time."

NHN Project has also worked to build community within the neighborhood. Social events are part of the group’s work, including the www.orchardglowparade.org, street parties, neighborhood luminaries, Colors and Cocktails, Lilacs Walk, Free McIntosh Apples, Cornhole Tournament, and more.

Tapping into resources and talents right outside our front doors helps give back to the community. Neighborhood events play a crucial role in empowering residents. They provide a platform for individuals to showcase their talents, skills, and cultural heritage, creating a sense of pride and belonging. By actively engaging in the planning and execution of these events, residents develop leadership skills, organizational abilities, and a deeper understanding of the needs and aspirations of their community.

While it’s no surprise charitable service benefits the people or organizations you serve, it can also serve to bring a neighborhood together over a unified cause. Additionally, volunteer and service work can help strengthen relationships among neighbors, as well as connect everyone with new interests, activities and resources.

Neighborhood events serve as a catalyst for fostering a strong sense of community. By organizing and participating in these events, neighbors can interact, get to know each other better, and nurture relationships that go beyond simply being neighbors. These events provide a platform for residents to come together, share ideas, and work towards common goals, ultimately resulting in a vibrant and united neighborhood.

Louis Godin planted the seed that has blossomed into programs that have nurtured a sense of community in the Orchard Neighborhood. An event planner by profession, Louis is a natural when it comes to bringing people together and making them feel welcome and included. It’s what he does for a living. But he also has a passion for giving back. Having grown up on a farm in northern Vermont, Louis understands that everyone needs to pitch in to make things succeed. And he’s not afraid of doing the heavy lifting to make things happen. He also has tremendous empathy for the suffering of others, having struggled as a child with depression and the effects of extreme bullying. Volunteering has been an important part of his mental health journey.

What started as one effort to welcome and support new neighbors in a homeless shelter, has grown into a series of programs all rooted in a collective desire to spread compassion and community. Those programs include:

"Operation Apple" harvests unwanted apples and distributes the fruit to local farm and community kitchens.

"Project Peonies" engages local florists to harvest local garden beds and deliver truckloads of blooms to senior living communities.

"Continue the Love" distributes flowers from completed events and weddings to local retirement communities. Thousands of bouquets have been donated to bring a smile to the community's seniors.

Annual social events include:

Orchard Neighborhood New Year’s Glow Parade" Residents dress up in lights and walk the neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, making ‘Cheers Stops’ throughout the neighborhood that provide a nosh of dessert for the parade goers, while each cheers stop host household makes a toast to welcome the New Year. (VIP reception prior to parade for cheers stop hosts, volunteers and grand marshal for the glow parade.) This event celebrates neighborhood accomplishments for the year.

Along with its many special projects, the Orchard www.NHNProject.org has participated in the Champlain Valley Walk to End Alzheimer’s for the past 11 years. Louis has served as Logistics Chair for the walk for 11 years. With Louis at the helm, the neighborhood has raised thousands of dollars and spent countless hours volunteering for this event.

To help raise Alzheimer’s awareness “Shoveling for a Cause” was created. The neighborhood supports those who may need some help shoveling their driveway during snowstorms. supporting those in the neighborhood with Alzheimer’s and other needs.

Louis is humble in taking credit for the many projects that have stemmed from the neighborhood’s initial project. Ten years ago, we started the conversation in our neighborhood. I wanted to do more for the community, and it turned out that others felt the same. The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Project took off from this shared impulse to do good. The power of the group turned out to be a force for positivity and change. It took a lot of committed caring people. It’s been incredibly rewarding and fun, too.

Community Impact Award Presented to NHN Project by the United Way of Northern Vermont