Let me start with a simple question. How many of you know the names of the people who live directly next door to you? Not just what they look like… but their names. Now—how many of you know something about their lives? What they do, what they care about, what’s going on with them? Here’s what’s interesting. We live closer to people than ever before. Our homes are packed into neighborhoods, apartment complexes, subdivisions… we’re surrounded by people. And yet, many of us feel more disconnected than ever. At the same time, a lot of people want to make a difference. We want to help, to contribute, to do something meaningful. So we often think: ‘I need to go somewhere. I need to sign up for something. I need to add something to my schedule.’ But what if the most meaningful, lasting way to make an impact… isn’t somewhere else? What if it’s right outside your front door?” CORE IDEA I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this idea, and I wrote a book called Neighborhood Missio...

  For years, the phrase   “bowling alone” —popularized by Robert Putnam—has described a quiet unraveling in American life. Fewer clubs, shared spaces, and relationships that tie us together. A new analysis from Nationhood Lab adds fresh data to that story—and the results are both sobering and clarifying. Their central question was simple:  Where in the United States is social capital strongest—and where is it weakest?  But the answer reveals something much deeper about the condition of our communities. How the Study Measured Social Capital Rather than relying on a single measure, researchers examined county-level social capital using a composite index built from multiple indicators of civic life. This included: The density of associational life (bowling leagues, churches, sports clubs, civic groups, labor unions) Voter turnout in presidential elections Census response rates The number of nonprofit organizations In other words, they weren’t just asking  what peo...