Good Neighbor Week 2026: Communities Across America Are Turning Neighboring Into a Movement

From Orlando to Omaha, Connecticut to San Francisco—and even smaller communities such as Bryant, Arkansas—Good Neighbor Week is becoming a way to turn a simple idea into meaningful community action.

September 28 is National Good Neighbor Day, but in 2026, communities around the country are taking the idea beyond a single day. The growing movement encourages residents to meet the people who live around them, volunteer together, celebrate local community leaders, and create opportunities for people to feel connected and included.

The National Good Neighbor Day movement encourages communities to make a plan, meet their neighbors and turn one day of connection into something that lasts throughout the year. 

Here is what is being planned (or is emerging) for five communities and regions in 2026.

Orlando, Florida: A First-Ever Good Neighbor Week

Orlando is preparing for its first-ever Orlando Good Neighbor Week, scheduled for September 28 through October 4, 2026. The effort is designed around a vision of an Orlando where neighbors know one another, communities are welcoming and accessible, and residents take pride in where they live. 

One of the most interesting parts of Orlando’s approach is its emphasis on making neighboring something people actually do, rather than simply something they talk about.

Plans include community events and micro-grants for neighbor meet-ups, giving residents an opportunity to create their own gatherings. Organizers are also planning Good Neighbor nominations to recognize people who are making a difference in their communities.

The broader goal is to develop a stronger sense of local pride and “we-ness” throughout Orlando—helping residents see their neighbors as people they know, trust and can rely on.

That could mean a block gathering, a neighborhood project, a shared meal, volunteering together or simply taking the time to introduce yourself to someone who lives nearby.

Congrats to the organizer in Orlando, Megan Ginn.

Chicago, Illinois: Introducing Good Neighbor Week in the Windy City

Chicago is joining the growing Good Neighbor Week movement with its first Chicago Good Neighbor Week, September 28–October 4, 2026. Its message is refreshingly straightforward: “Neighbors Make Our City Strong.” Rather than defining the week around one major event, Chicago is encouraging residents across the city to simply “do something neighborly.”

The ideas offered by organizers demonstrate how accessible neighboring can be. Chicagoans are encouraged to learn their neighbors’ names, welcome someone new, share cookies or extra produce, exchange phone numbers, create a neighborhood group chat or emergency contact list, or gather for conversation in a driveway, front yard or apartment lobby. The initiative also broadens neighboring to include volunteering with neighborhood organizations, supporting locally owned businesses, beautifying a neighborhood and thanking someone who has been a good neighbor.

Another strength of Chicago's approach is that it invites participation without making it complicated. Individuals can report what they plan to do and later share what they accomplished, while organizations can become partners by promoting the week, encouraging participation or hosting an event. An event isn't required. The emphasis is on making neighborly action easy enough that anyone can participate, whether that means organizing a block gathering or simply introducing yourself to the person next door.

Chicago also connects Good Neighbor Week to the larger issue of social connection. Congrats to Nate Tubbs for getting this organized and launched.

Bryant, Arkansas: Using the Neighborhood Playbook

In Bryant, Arkansas, the Good Neighbor Week idea is taking root in a different way. Rather than starting from scratch, community leaders are exploring how the Good Neighbor Week framework might strengthen and sustain work already happening through "Bless Bryant," an initiative of the City of Bryant focused on community engagement.

As Bless Bryant prepares to get underway, organizers are thinking beyond individual events toward a model that can be sustainable and transferable over time. Project strategist Margie Thompson reached out this summer after following the growth of Missouri's neighboring work, explaining that the team was reading "The Neighboring Playbook," exploring the Missouri Good Neighbor Week website and considering how some of those ideas and messages could be adapted for Bryant.

What makes Bryant's story especially encouraging is that it demonstrates another way Good Neighbor Week can spread. A community doesn't have to abandon what it is already doing and adopt someone else's program. Instead, Good Neighbor Week can provide a framework that strengthens existing efforts, gives them additional structure and connects local work to a broader movement.

That may ultimately be one of the most important lessons from Bryant. Good Neighbor Week isn't meant to create identical celebrations from one community to another. The goal is to help communities discover what neighboring looks like in their own context and then give residents practical opportunities to put those values into action. In Bryant, that could mean building upon the foundation already established through Bless Bryant and creating an approach that is distinctly their own.

Omaha, Nebraska: A Citywide Push for Connection

Omaha is taking a particularly organized approach. One Omaha, working with the Mayor’s Office and community partners, is leading a citywide Good Neighbor Week designed to strengthen relationships among neighbors, neighborhoods, businesses, organizations and local government. 

The initiative is ambitious. Organizers are looking to involve 50 or more neighborhoods, 10,000-plus residents, 1,200-plus volunteers, 75-plus organizations and more than 100 local businesses. 

The planned activities go well beyond parties and picnics. The initiative emphasizes: civic engagement, neighbor-to-neighbor connection, wellness, community service, neighborhood improvement, community conversations, volunteer opportunities, and partnerships among local organizations and businesses.

One Omaha has also been holding information sessions throughout the city to help neighborhoods, families, businesses and organizations learn how they can participate.

The effort fits into Omaha’s broader Year of the Neighbor focus for 2026, making Good Neighbor Week part of a larger conversation about community belonging and neighborhood pride.

Congrats to Kimara Z. Snipes for getting this organized!

Connecticut: From a Single Day Toward a Statewide Culture of Connection

Connecticut is taking an interesting approach by building a Good Neighbor Day framework that can grow from community to community. This year, Governor Ned Lamont signed a bill making Good Neighbor Day (September 28th) an official day of recognition in Connecticut. A very special shout out and thank you to Senator Ceci Maher and Representative Savet Constantine for their leadership and support in helping make this happen. 

The Connecticut Collaborative to End Loneliness describes its initiative as a place-based model in which communities across the state can create their own opportunities for connection, belonging and collective action around September 28.

One major 2026 event is already planned for Thursday, September 24, at UConn’s Waterbury campus. Called “Good Neighbors, Great Communities,” the event brings together residents, college students, community organizations and community leaders. The day will combine education about social connection and community well-being with a community lunch and hands-on volunteer projects in Waterbury. 

The concept is significant because it treats neighboring as more than an occasional act of kindness.

The Connecticut model asks communities to think about connection as something they can intentionally build—through volunteerism, relationships, shared experiences and local action.

And because communities can create their own activities around September 28, the Connecticut effort has the potential to become a collection of local Good Neighbor celebrations rather than one centralized event.

San Francisco, California: A Week of Events, Awards, Neighborhoods and Innovation

San Francisco may have the most developed Good Neighbor Week program of the five.

Following its inaugural celebration in 2025, San Francisco Good Neighbor Week returns September 26 through October 4, 2026. The organizers are inviting residents, neighborhood organizations, the city and community partners to participate across neighborhoods throughout San Francisco. 

The 2026 program is organized around five major tracks:

Making it official. Organizers are working with city leaders and partners around official recognition of Good Neighbor Week.

Good Neighbor Awards. Residents who make significant contributions to their neighborhoods can be nominated for recognition. 

Neighborhood events. The week will feature activities throughout the city, including volunteer opportunities, potluck dinners, neighborhood photo walks, discussion groups and opportunities to connect with local merchants. 

Resources for block leaders. San Francisco is also developing resources for residents who want to become more active in their neighborhoods and help people connect with one another.

Technology and innovation. Perhaps the most unusual feature is the city’s neighborhood technology track. San Francisco’s Good Neighbor Week includes a citywide hack-night concept focused on developing technology and other solutions to neighborhood problems. There is also a strong emphasis on reaching socially isolated residents, including seniors who live alone.

The result is a Good Neighbor Week that combines old-fashioned neighboring—sharing a meal, volunteering, talking with people on your block—with newer approaches involving technology, civic innovation and community problem-solving.

One Idea, Many Different Communities

What is happening in these places illustrates how flexible the Good Neighbor Week concept can be.

Orlando is starting its first citywide celebration with micro-grants, events and recognition of good neighbors.

Omaha is building a large-scale initiative involving neighborhoods, volunteers, businesses, nonprofits and local government.

Chicago has rolled out its first good neighbor week!

Connecticut is developing a community-based model centered on social connection, belonging and service.

San Francisco is combining neighborhood gatherings and awards with civic engagement and technology.

And Bryant, Arkansas, is blending the neighboring efforts into an already existing effort known as "Bless Bryant."

That’s perhaps the most important message behind Good Neighbor Week: it doesn’t have to look the same everywhere.

A good neighbor week might be a block party. It might be a cleanup project. It might be delivering a meal to someone who lives alone. It might be a business giving back to the neighborhood, a church opening its doors, a library hosting a community gathering or simply a family deciding to introduce themselves to the people next door.

The Bigger Goal: Making Neighboring Last Beyond One Week

National Good Neighbor Day was first proclaimed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and is observed each year on September 28. The growing Good Neighbor Week movement is an attempt to take that single day and turn it into something more lasting.

That matters because strong communities aren’t created by one big event.

They are built through repeated, ordinary interactions: knowing someone’s name, checking on an elderly neighbor, sharing resources, volunteering together, supporting a local business, welcoming a new family or simply saying hello.

Good Neighbor Week provides a reason to make that first connection.

And perhaps the best outcome of all would be for the activities planned for late September and early October to continue long after the signs come down and the events end.

Because the real measure of a successful Good Neighbor Week isn’t how many events happen.

It’s how many new relationships begin—and how many of them continue throughout the year.

WRITTEN BY

David L. Burton

For more information, visit the Engaged Neighbor website. Take our pledge and become part of a movement! Or subscribe to our newsletter. Access some of the research documents written by David Burton, the author of this blog. Or better yet, purchase one of his books off Amazon. Contact David L. Burton via email at dburton541@yahoo.