Creating a healthy and resilient city demands that we create healthy and resilient neighborhoods. We need caretakers in every neighborhood striving to preserve and improve the place where they live. Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County needs a greater pool of citizens, reflecting the diversity of their communities, who are knowledgeable and skilled in neighborhood organizing.

Since 1997, Neighbor 2 Neighbor (N2N) has equipped residents and neighborhood organizations with the tools they need to create better neighborhoods. Founded and led by neighborhood leaders, N2N is laser-focused on helping to form and sustain neighborhood organizations in order for residents to create positive changes right where they live. We do this by providing the following three essential services:

NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT TRAINING: We provide participants with the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to become more actively engaged citizens and effective neighborhood leaders and organizers. Residents are able to participate in a range of leadership development programs such as, The Emerging Neighborhood Leadership Academy, Disaster Preparedness and Response Training, and Policy and Zoning 101. Instructional programming includes a minimum of 6 courses (3-12 hours each), 24 workshops and panel discussions, and over 44 facilitated dialogues and presentations. The in-person and virtual training sessions represent more than two hundred classroom hours each year. 

NETWORKING EVENTS AND COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS: We bring together neighbors, partners, and other key stakeholders to build trust relationships and collaborative alliances. Participants are able to meet new people with similar neighborhood passions and interests, gain new perspectives, support one another, and work together on common issues. Some of our ongoing projects include the Davidson County Good Neighbor Day Festival, Neighborhood Passions Affinity Network, C4N Nashville, and the State of Metro Neighborhoods project.

CONSULTATION, FACILITATION, AND MEDIATION: We consult with neighborhood organizations on a wide range of issues including neighborhood safety; gentrification and affordable housing; diversity and inclusion; neighborhood preservation; disaster preparedness, response, and recovery; and, ensuring equity in government representation and services.  We assist residents in forming new, and restarting inactive, neighborhood organizations. We provide technical support for neighborhood organizations seeking to create association charters and bylaws, strategic plans, and neighborhood planning and development. 

Last year, we worked with residents in over 161 neighborhoods across Davidson County. Our program participants tell us we are making a difference in their work in neighborhoods across the metropolitan area. We provide them with first-hand knowledge and materials to assist them in neighborhood organizing and leadership. We inspire and rejuvenate participants seeking to create positive change in their own neighborhoods. We increase the capacity of participants to perform leadership roles at the local neighborhood level and even beyond. And, we connect participants with other neighborhood leaders and community partners.