Ready, Set…

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit in on the monthly meeting of a church group comprising people 50 years and above (although I qualify by age, I was a guest rather than a member).  These folks allowed us to spend time asking them some of the questions we’ve been posing on this blog…stuff about citizen engagement.  It was a room of about 80 people who come together each month to socialize, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, pray, eat, and work together to help others.  I was asked to facilitate discussion among a group of about 11 of these folks, who brought forth immense life experiences and a bounty of perspectives on citizen involvement.  The things I learned are too many to put forth here today.  However, my overarching learning from being part of this event and other dialogue sessions we’ve held is that no matter what age, race, ethnicity, gender, income, time of residence in this community, political affiliation or other differences we may have, Mecklenburg residents want to connect with other people and want to help make their community — their neighborhood — a good or even better place to live.  While perhaps much of this desire and energy is being tapped into, I suspect there is much more people are willing and able to offer if we can find ways to let them.