There’s something about neighborhoods: often we feel more connected to our neighbors, more interested in what’s happening in our immediate environments. Bellingham At Home’s Community Clusters program capitalizes on this commonplace experience to the benefit of the organization and its individual members.
Each member is assigned to a small geographic group, usually around 5 to 12 people who live in the same or nearby neighborhoods. Each cluster has a volunteer coordinator who serves as the contact person, calling members every four to six weeks, just to say hello and check in.
Some groups elect to forgo phone calls and meet periodically either via Zoom or in person so the entire group can socialize together. Other groups have some members who choose to receive phone calls and some who choose to meet up. There is no obligation to receive calls or participate in any cluster activity.
One of the nice things about the cluster program is that it gives you a feeling of connection with a group of familiar people—your neighbors!—at BAH events. Another nice thing is that it gives the organization a way to communicate important information to all its members quickly and efficiently. Also, it gives us a platform from which to provide support in the event of community-wide challenges such as periods of poor air quality from wildfires and our recent COVID restrictions. Led by Sarah Montoya.