Blog exchange with the Tutor/Mentor Connection (Part 1)
Posted by habib on 03 May 2007 at 07:30 pm | Tagged as: Blog Exchange, Tutor/Mentor Connection
I’m engaging in a blog exchange with the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC). T/MC is a great organization based in Chicago that connects Tutors and Mentors with kids in high povery areas. For info on the Tutor/Mentor Connection, see http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/ and http://tutormentor.blogspot.com/. They’re having a conference coming up in May — for info, see http://www.tutormentorconference.org/.
It will not come as a big surprise that my focus in our blog exchange will be on Neighbor Networking as it relates to the Tutor/Mentor Connection.
From my perspective, while it is often “good” to have people from one part of a large city connect with people who are in another part of a large city, it is typically “better” if we can connect based on the general neighborhoods we live, work, and play.
I am not very familiar with the Midwest and East Coast. However, in the case of cities on the West Coast, it is my impression that there is always a possibility of connecting people who have needs with neighbors (in their broad neighborhood) who can offer assistance. Making these connections on a neighborhood level rather than all the way across a city offers a number of benefits including:
- Greater possible frequency of interactions (you don’t have to make a special trip way across town)
- Higher likelihood of familiarity with the culture, surroundings, and living situation of the kids who are getting help
- Less time wasted in travel across town
- Less gasoline wasted, pollution generated etc. (in situations where one or both parties are driving or being driven)
It is my guess that one of the best ways for people to get involved as Tutors/Mentors with T/MC is to know other people who are already Tutors/Mentors. So, the more Tutors/Mentors that get started in any general neighborhood, the greater the likelihood of finding additional people in those same neighborhoods.
I will give a couple examples/case studies of how Neighbor Networking might be applied to the needs of the Tutor/Mentor Connection in the posts to come. Looking forward to an engaging dialogue with Daniel of the T/MC !
3 Responses to “Blog exchange with the Tutor/Mentor Connection (Part 1)”
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Steve,
Thanks for joining the blog exchange and connecting your networks to the T/MC. I’ll look forward to discussing your networking ideas with you, and hopefully with others who will join us in this process.
Dan Bassill
Take a look at how http://vtmentoring.blogspot.com/ is blogging with us.
I think there’s a lot of value in connecting within a neighborhood, but I’ve found that in a big city, people in many of the same neighhborhoods don’t know each other, and people in isolated neighborhoods need to be connected to people in many different neighborhoods, in order to create better services for their own neighborhood.
Once the Internet became a resource, I’ve found that I can connect more frequenly with people who share the same goals by using the Internet, even if we’re in different states.
This blog exchange is an example of that. As we grow the number of participants, and the diversity (meaning donors, business, university, faith groups, different states, different occupations, etc) I think we’ll create an even stronger network of purpose than might be possible on the neighborhood level.
Thanks, Daniel. I’m going to take the liberty of copying this comment to the front page of my blog so that I can respond to it directly.