Neighbor Night Elyria seeks to address community concerns

ELYRIA — Ideas are easy — the challenge is turning those ideas into action, which is how Neighbor Night Elyria can help. Held four times a year, these get-togethers offer an opportunity to connect with neighbors, support community projects and act on issues that matter, and the next event takes place Thursday. The Community Foundation of Lorain County organizes Neighbor Night in three communities — Elyria, Lorain and Oberlin, but the benefits stretch past those borders, reaching out throughout the county. "We have completed 29 projects in the past two years throughout Lorain County," said Britney Ware, community engagement associate with the Community Foundation and facilitator of Neighbor Night. "This is a night to meet new people, make connections and come together to talk about things we care about in the community." Projects have included everything from helping to fund a playwriting competition and getting the winner's play produced and performed to creating a memorial walk and funding a scholarship for a student interested in culinary arts for those affected by gun violence. The Community Foundation matches money raised through the crowdfunding platform the People's Project dollar for dollar to help make ideas a reality. The discussion on Thursday in Elyria is one of the last three of the year. Neighbor Night Lorain takes place 6-8 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Harrison Cultural Community Centre, 1922 Hamilton Ave., and includes a Thanksgiving dinner, and Neighbor Night Oberlin takes place 6-8 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Oberlin Enrichment and Activity Center, 36 S. Prospect St. While none of the Neighborhood Nights have a set agenda, timely and relevant topics often are brought up. "We will likely have a post-election discussion about how it impacts the community," Ware said. But the topic possibilities are endless and largely depend on who is in attendance. "We had one resident who really wanted to recycle and their apartment didn't have bins," she said. "Because of the people in attendance that night, they were able to come up with some numbers and the issue was resolved very quickly that same day." Another time, a discussion resulted in working to engage more youths in registering to vote. "These meetings have been taking place pre-COVID," Ware said. "They are a place to gain a lot of resources through people or funding or different organizations." The mission is clear: Foster connections, instill trust, ignite positive initiatives. While the dates for this year's Neighbor Nights are drawing to a close, the 2027 schedule will be available next month. In the meantime, anyone with an idea or concern about the community is invited to attend Thursday's discussion. Contact Christina Jolliffe at ctnews@chroniclet.com. IF YOU GOWHAT: Neighbor Night ElyriaWHEN: 6-8 p.m. ThursdayWHERE: Elyria Arts Council, 336 Broad St., ElyriaCOST: FreeFOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.peoplewhocare.org or find the Community Foundation of Lorain County on Facebook