Neighboring professionally with Joseph Porcelli

After hearing that then-Mayor Cory Booker was shoveling out neighbors in need back in 2010, I got an idea – what if I could replicate his effort and coordinate multiple neighbors getting shoveled out simultaneously using technology — thus, the first version of #Snowcrew was born using Google Maps.

In 2015, while driving from DC to Boston and back shoveling out neighbors in need during my (not so famous) #Snowcresade, I realized that, while my efforts were noble, I only addressed the symptom of the more significant problem — neighbor disconnection. Neighbors surrounded every person I shoveled out, but they did not know their neighbors and told me that going door to door and asking for help made them uncomfortable.

This experience is one of the reasons I love working at Nextdoor, as we are solving the problem of neighbor disconnection – one in three households in the US is on Nextdoor.

In addition to connecting neighbors and making neighbors comfortable enough to ask for help, I felt strongly that we needed to productize and normalize this behavior. Thus, the product team added asking for help to our Help Map along with product marketing to drive uptake. 

During winter storms, this is especially true for neighbors who are elderly or have access or functional needs, as getting help shoveling reduces disruptions and stabilizes their lives. Otherwise, they’d be snowed in! The same applies to flooding and all kinds of disasters. 

This week, I had the honor of speaking to Lorraine, a Vietnam veteran based in Lackawaxen, PA, who recently underwent back surgery, restricting her mobility. 

Following heavy snowfall, she posted to Nextdoor’s Help Map, looking for a neighbor who could shovel her deck. Within minutes of posting, Lorraine received a response from her neighbor, Shawn, whom she had never met. Shawn arrived 20 minutes later with his teenage son to get the shoveling job done. 💚

“I was very happy that they did it,” Lorraine told us. “If I need help I’ll do it again.” She said, “I’ve always been self-sufficient, and it is kind of disheartening when you are not, so when you get someone who is willing to help you, right off the bat, no questions asked, it makes you feel really good.”

Lorraine and Shawn’s story is heartwarming, but they’re not alone – neighbors are helping each other all over the county as winter storms dump snow on states across the country. 

If you are in a snowy state and need help or can offer help, open up the Nextdoor app or log into Nextdoor.com and go to Discover > Help Map > and Ask for Help or Offer Help. 

Learn more here: https://nxdr.co/3vwTGZv

#Nextdoor #HelpMap #WinterStorms #StormCrew #NeighborsHelpingNeighbors