Program Spotlight
In the year since our last Gala, TNM has experienced much growth and opportunity. We are grateful to our excellent staff for their leadership, the board of directors for their service, and each of our supporters who make this work possible.
Good Neighbor Experiment
The Good Neighbor Experiment trains churches to get to know and love their immediate, literal neighbors. Using a worship series, small group curriculum, and coaching, churches form a neighboring team and work through the material in a cohort with other congregations. In addition to leading two GNE cohorts this year with churches from Kansas, Texas, and Hawaii, we have licensed our training materials to faith leaders in Arkansas and North Carolina who will be organizing their own cohorts. We are excited to roll out the Good Neighbor Church Certificate this year, awarded to GNE alumni who demonstrate deepening neighbor relationships.
Community Animator Network
The Community Animator Network trains individuals who want to build relationships and make a difference in their local neighborhoods and community! Animators are paid for the duration of their training during the initial 12-week learning cohort. They can then apply to our Community Builders Cohort, another paid opportunity where they launch a local initiative based on the assets they’ve discovered. Launched in 2020, CAN has had over 80 participants located around the state of Kansas. Our SoCe Neighbor Karen is an animator who has done a great job activating Lincoln Park through hosting monthly events such as Neighborfest!
We Care ICT
Despite a perceived friendliness, Wichita ranks low when it comes to neighboring. James Chung found that out of 108 cities surveyed, Wichita ranked eleventh-lowest on talking with neighbors frequently, ninth-lowest on doing favors for neighbors frequently, and lowest on seeing and hearing from friends and family frequently. TNM is committed to addressing this problem by creating a network of individuals who are committed to neighboring our city. This year, we are building the structure with a goal of 100 people hosting a neighbor gathering, but we hope to scale this system quickly and impact 20% of Wichita by 2030. By impacting 80,000 people, we will create a new culture of neighboring in Wichita.
What’s been going on in SoCe?
In January of 2023, a team of SoCe neighbors began meeting to brainstorm strategies for activating abandoned spaces in our community. This team has been meeting monthly since, and during that time, TNM has stepped into a lead role in economic development for the South Broadway corridor from Kellogg to Lincoln. For generations, Wichitans have said, “Someone should do something about South Broadway.” TNM is answering that call! We will launch several new commercial and residential spaces throughout 2025, starting with a development at Lincoln and Broadway called The SoCe Corner.