On the summer solstice, neighbors and friends gather under towering shade trees on the grassy lawn of Mid Shooks Run Park to connect over a table laden with taco fixings.
Holding paper plates piled high with tortillas and taco meat, neighbors sit on park benches and folding chairs to talk. Laughing kids run around their parents, play tag and climb on the nearby playground.
A community gathering for 150 Tables Across COS, the taco party is doing exactly what it is meant to do: build authentic connections between neighbors.
“It’s great for people to meet each other,” says Middle Shooks Run resident and taco party organizer Lisa Coray. “And everybody likes tacos.”
A spinoff of the statewide initiative, local nonprofit Hey Neighbor is on a mission to host 150 community gatherings across all of Colorado Springs’ 77 neighborhoods, as well as neighborhoods in Manitou Springs, Fountain and Monument.
Running May through October, the initiative aims to strengthen communities by building connection, trust, belonging and relationships between neighbors, says Kelly Bull, Hey Neighbor’s executive director.
How to Register Your Own Table Gathering
Those who register as organizers with the 150 Tables initiative receive a free guide and a checklist for hosting a successful event, assistance from community coordinators, assistance with permitting if needed and access to low-cost rentals for street barricades and cornhole sets.
Anyone who wants to host a gathering is welcome to register on Hey Neighbor’s website.
As of mid-June, 14 table events have been held, and 48 people have registered as organizers, Bull says.
Events have ranged from small potlucks of 10 neighbors to streets closed off for block parties containing dozens of people. One gathering was organized by a neighbor who opened her garage and set out a Mexican buffet-style dinner, Bull says.
Another fun table event was the sunrise social in Shook’s Run. Hey Neighbor Program Operations Manager Heather Briggs invited her neighbors to bring a breakfast treat. Neighborhood children played with sidewalk chalk while their parents chatted over coffee from a local coffee truck.
“Knowing Our Neighbors Is Going to Save the World”
When neighbors know each other, they’re more likely to look out for each other and share resources. In one neighborhood gathering, Bull says she witnessed two neighbors talk about the tools they could swap.
“Neighbors all have their own specialty,” Bull says. “Once you tap into each other’s personal strengths and resources, it makes the neighborhood a more fun and resilient place to live.”
She says social connection also combats loneliness and isolation.
“Knowing our neighbors is going to save the world,” Bull says. “It is a solution to all sorts of problems we are trying to solve. If you know your neighbors, it’s safer. You have people looking out for each other and people you can call. It makes the neighborhood more joyful, and it’s more fun to know neighbors.”
Hey Neighbor was formerly known as the Council of Neighborhood Organizations (CONO). Its mission is to inspire neighbors to create vibrant neighborhoods and “love where you live.” Its programs focus on making connections and building relationships between neighbors. Bull says as these relationships deepen, residents are more likely to work together to solve community issues and create a more connected neighborhood.
Other Hey Neighbor programs include The Neighborhood Leaders, a program that identifies residents who serve as trusted community liaisons to connect neighbors, share information and gather community feedback. The nonprofit offers Neighborhood University, a 12-week course that teaches El Paso County residents about civic engagement, local government, community building and how to create solutions affecting their communities.
Building Community, One Neighbor at a Time
Coray created the taco party four years ago because she wanted her children to have yearly traditions to build community. She invites all her friends and neighbors, and this year she registered the event as part of 150 Tables.
She moved to Colorado Springs in November 2021 to be near family.
“I’m starting to build a community in the Springs,” she says. “But it’s always a work in progress, and it takes effort.”
Drew Boa lives a few doors down from Coray. As he spoke with the other adults, his three kids and the other children played with Minecraft foam swords. He felt safe knowing that other adults at the gathering kept a watchful eye on all the children.
“It seems like it should be a given to know your neighbors,” Boa says. “It used to be about survival, but now it’s a genuine desire to have human connection and relationships off-screen.”
Boa’s friendships with his neighbors have improved his family’s quality of life. He knows the families he can call when he needs last-minute childcare. His kids run safely down the street to see their friends.
“To make a difference somewhere, the easiest place to start is next door,” he says.
Learn more or get involved at heyneighbors.org.
