American Summer encourages communities to host at least 250 block parties between Memorial Day and July 4, timed to honor the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. The campaign responds to polarization and the mental health strain people experience from feeling divided and disappointed. The founder links healthier lives, healthier kids, and healthier democracy to in-person interaction among neighbors. The organization formed after a legislator described harassment online but a positive experience in person with the same constituent. The campaign promotes face-to-face connection with people nearby and treats block parties as a community-building practice that can counter individualism and restore a sense of community.
"“With America 250 coming, there's so much polarization, and people are really suffering,” said Vanessa Elias, the group's founder. “It is affecting our mental health; we're feeling divided and disappointed. And when we look at our history, we have become so independent and individualistic that we've lost this sense of community.”"
"“That was just a light bulb moment for me,” Elias says. “We need block parties; we need face-to-face connection with random people in our immediate proximity.”"
"Nonprofit Block Party USA recently launched its “American Summer” campaign to inspire communities across the country to organize at least 250 block parties between Memorial Day and the fourth of July. Timed to honor the 250th anniversary of America's founding in 1776, this push could catalyze not only interpersonal connections, but an overdue conversation about our country's divisions - and the role that neighborhoods can play in bringing us back together."
Read at Streetsblog USA
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