Communities in America

What is a community? A community is made up of a group of people who live, work, play, or worship together. Sometimes communities are formed when people share the same interests or characteristics. Oftentimes, people in the same community live near each other, but this is not always the case. A person can be a member of several communities depending on where they work, go to school, their cultural background, special interests they have, etc.

Community Spaces All communities have a place where people live together or gather. The place might be a neighborhood or it might be just one building. The community's space tells a lot about the people who belong to that community. Is the area large or small? Is it clean or dirty? Are the buildings new or old? Are people in that community friendly to people who are not from their own community?

Infrastructure Communities all have infrastructure. The infrastructure in a community may include roads, bridges, transportation (buses, taxis, airports, trains, subways, etc.), telephone service, Internet service, police, fire rescue, etc. Every community needs infrastructure even if it is only one building or a network on the Internet.

People in Communities The people who live in a community can tell us a lot about the community. There may be people who are all the same age or who are different ages. They may be mostly men or mostly women. People may come from the same cultural or ethnic background. Or they may be very different from each other, but they share the same interests.

Organization of Communities Communities can elect leaders (such as governors or mayors), have committees (a small group of people in charge), or just one leader. Decisions are made by the people in charge or when everyone agrees to make a change or a decision.

Types of Communities Religious Artistic African American Business Homeless Medical Gay/Lesbian Elderly

Meet Sean…. Sean grew up in the Santa Ynez valley (here). His mother was the nurse at Dunn School, and he was the football coach at Dunn. He loved all sports, especially baseball and football. He met his wife at Los Olivos Grocery where they both worked, and they got married last year. His wife Amanda is pregnant with their first child.

Tragedy Sean's job was as a firefighter. His grandfather, uncle and cousins were also firefighters. He and Amanda moved to Arizona for his work last year since there have been many wildfires in the American West these past few weeks. But sadly, Sean was one of 19 firefighters who died last week fighting a wildfire that was too fast and too big for them to control or escape.

He will be missed… "He always worked hard and was determined to be the best that he could be. Sean was a leader, an inspiration and an all- around good guy. He will be forever missed." "I will be involved in his son’s life any way I can. He will always have someone to play catch with and talk to. I will tell him how amazing his dad was and how he died a hero." --Sean's friend Nick

The Community responds

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Questions for thought Who are the people in Sean's communities? How did the community respond when they heard of Sean's tragic death? What infrastructure does the community have? Can you give an example of how a community has responded to your or your family's needs? How would people have responded in your country?

A Teenage Boy's Lesson What would you do if you returned home and found that someone had broken into your home? How would you feel? But what if the person who broke into your home accidentally left their cell phone in your house?? One woman in Seattle, Eliza Webb, found a stranger's cell phone insider her car. She guessed the person who had stolen things from her car was a teen but she decided to not call the police. Instead, she called the teen's mother because she found her phone number in the cell phone.

A Teenage Boy's Lesson “I think bringing the police and courts into something like this can have long-term, devastating consequences for kids,” said Webb, 29, of West Seattle. “I wanted to meet him, talk to his parents and see if there might be another way. I felt that if I could get him to own up to what he’d done and understand there were consequences, it could be a much better outcome.”

A Teenage Boy's Lesson When Webb and her husband got to the teen's house, she found the 19-year-old and his twin sister crying. The teen quickly owned up to what he had done, and admitted that they had done what they did because they had been drinking and had been feeling bored. He apologized for what he had done. The teen and his friend had stolen cell phones, laptop chargers, sunglasses, a hat, gym shoes, and other things from 13 unlocked cars. They had been drunk when they took all those things and did not remember what they took from each car so they did not know who to return the stolen items to.

A Teenage Boy's Lesson Eliza went with the boy and his friend to each neighbor's door so they could apologize and return the things they had stolen. The neighbors were very surprised that Eliza would take the time to go with the boy from house to house but they thought it was a very good idea. The teen felt very bad about what he had done but was very grateful that Eliza had not called the police. Instead, meeting the neighbors he had stolen things from made him decide to never do stupid things again.

A Teenage Boy's Lesson The teen said, “I was surprised how bad my judgment was when I was drinking. I don’t want to risk my freedom over something stupid.” His mother said, “I’m deeply grateful to Eliza for taking the time to become personally involved with my son and giving him the chance to go face- to-face with the people he victimized and make amends. “Kids need somebody besides their own parents looking at them and holding them accountable. She did a beautiful thing.”

Reflection If I were the teenager I would decide to… If I were Eliza, I would… Please write 3-4 sentences for EACH question.