A Year of Neighboring. A Week to Celebrate It.

 

Missouri Good Neighbor Week began with a simple idea: honoring and inspiring everyday acts of connection between neighbors. In just a few short years, that idea has grown into a statewide movement that is changing how Missourians see themselves, their neighborhoods, and their role in building community.

Now, as participation accelerates and new partners join in, Missouri Good Neighbor Week is preparing for its next chapter — one that invites every resident, organization, and county in the state to help make Missouri the most neighborly place in America.

The new theme captures that shift: A Year of Neighboring. A Week to Celebrate It.

Instead of limiting engagement to seven days in late September, Missouri Good Neighbor Week will begin encouraging residents, cities, counties, schools, civic groups, and businesses to practice neighboring year-round, with the celebration week serving as the statewide highlight where we tell the stories, announce the winners, and share what we’ve learned.

This expanded vision is rooted in a core belief: ordinary, intentional acts of neighboring combat loneliness, build trust, and strengthen communities. And Missouri is well-positioned to lead. The official vision of Missouri Good Neighbor Week is to “make Missouri the most neighborly state in the nation and synonymous with the ‘neighboring movement’”.

To achieve that, the plan sets ambitious but attainable goals. By 2028, Missouri Good Neighbor Week aims to document 100,000 acts of neighboring statewide, engage every county, grow media visibility, attract sustainable sponsors, offer a Missouri Neighboring Summit, and become the national model for replication.

Counties, cities, schools, faith communities, and businesses all have new pathways to get involved — from hosting block parties and neighborhood events to granting proclamations to supporting youth-led projects. Cities can highlight “Neighbors of the Day,” faith communities can mobilize service Sundays, and businesses can offer mini-grants, cause-marketing campaigns, or in-kind support for gatherings. This isn’t just civic engagement — it’s civic joy.

To support this expansion, Missouri Good Neighbor Week will introduce county ambassadors, mini grants for neighborhood gatherings, a statewide storytelling effort, a revamped reporting system with real-time dashboards, and new award categories including Youth Neighboring Leadership, Most Neighborly Business, and Most Neighborly Neighborhood.

The message is clear: everyone has a role in building the kind of Missouri we want to live in.

Missouri Good Neighbor Week is no longer just an event — it is becoming the entry point to year-round programs such as Neighboring 101, Neighborhood Leadership Academy, and Show-Me Neighborhood Art Week, creating a pipeline for leadership development and civic renewal.

If Missouri succeeds, it won’t just change our state. Other states have already begun watching, learning, and asking how they can replicate the model.

There has never been a more important time for this work — and never a better time to get involved.

Neighboring doesn’t require perfection, just intention. And with a year to practice and a week to celebrate, Missourians can help make history one porch, park, and block at a time.

Together we can do this.

Written by David L. Burton

MORE INFORMATION

Take the Engaged Neighbor pledge and become part of a movement! The pledge outlines five categories and 20 principles to guide you toward becoming an engaged neighbor. Sign the pledge at https://nomoregoodneighbors.com. Individuals who take the pledge do get special invitations to future events online and in person. Contact the blog author, David L. Burton via emal at dburton541@yahoo.com.