For the past several months, as part of Civic Nebraska’s Collective Impact Lincoln partnership with Nebraska Appleseed and the South of Downtown Community Development Organization, we’ve been occasionally featuring neighbors across Lincoln, along with their stories.
With Stories of Impact, storyteller Gabriella Parsons is spending time with everyday people who live and work in the city’s core neighborhoods — like the Lemus family, who have lived in the Everett Neighborhood for five years.
Adolfo, 19, notices the misconceptions people have of his neighborhood. “People say this side of town is bad, but it’s not as bad as people say it is,” Adolfo says. Meanwhile, Adolfo’s younger brother, Andres, says he likes the different cultures he sees in his neighborhood.
Stories of Impact highlights the city’s richness, vibrancy, and diversity. You can see where we’ve been so far by searching #ImpactLNK on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
By providing a glimpse into ordinary Lincolnites’ lives, Stories of Impact bridges cultural, social, and neighborhood gaps in Nebraska’s capital city. It shows how, at the end of the day, we are all more alike than we are different. And it reminds us that being neighbors is so much better than remaining strangers.
Which is, of course, the mission of Collective Impact Lincoln. When Woods Charitable Fund awarded our three organizations with its first-ever Breakthrough Initiative Grant in 2017, Collective Impact Lincoln went right to work in six of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, conducting deep canvassing, organizing events, and delving into the civic fabric of these important communities. The thousands of people who we have met have confirmed to us that Lincoln is a unique and special place, with engaged and engaging people. It’s also shown us that if we put our collective mind to something, there’s nothing we can’t do.
If you haven’t yet, feel free to join Collective Impact Lincoln on Facebook. There, you’ll find information about upcoming events and workshops for neighborhood advocates. And go here for more about the multi-year initiative.
This is shaping up to be a big year for the city’s core neighborhoods and for Collective Impact Lincoln. We’re eager to see the further stories of impact that will be written in 2019.
