I love Wayne County. I’ve spent most of my life here, and don’t plan on leaving any time soon. It’s home.

I grew up in Gananda and was fortunate enough to live in a place with sidewalks and trees and walkable neighborhoods where a friend’s house was always just a bike ride away. It was a time before the internet had fully taken hold which is getting harder and harder to even remember.

But what truly makes a community?

You need access to amenities and services like shopping and doctors.

You need affordable housing options that cater to different levels of income.

Most importantly, you need people. 

You need community leaders to help plan and guide funding to where it has the most impact.

You need municipal employees to help carry out the plan.

You need emergency service personnel to keep your community safe.

You need teachers and coaches to help educate and mold your kids into the next generation of community members.

The key is that all these people are also your neighbors who have a vested interest in your community’s continued success.

In smaller communities, that means that many residents will wear several different hats. A teacher by day. A coach in the afternoons. A school board member in the evening.

It can often be a thankless endeavor, but without residents stepping up, the community will falter.

You need good people driven by a sense of civic pride and a desire to leave the place they live a little better than they found it.

But in today’s non-stop, hectic society, who has the time or energy?

We’re all busy, and the prospect of going to a town board meeting just to be yelled at by the same neighbors you’re trying to represent feels defeating.

So what can you do?

You give what you can.

Give your time when you’re able by volunteering or serving on local boards. At a bare minimum, attend the occasional board meeting to stay in touch with what’s happening in your town. Don’t like what they’re doing? Speak out. Write a Letter to the Editor and share your view. There are lots of ways to participate that don’t require you to run for elected office.

Give money or time to the local organizations who strive to make your community a better place to live. Wayne County has countless non-profits that are always in need of funding and volunteers. Organizations started by people who saw a need in their community and decided to do something about it.

Most of all, give empathy and understanding to those who do step up where you can’t or won’t.

I’ve often said that the smaller the town, the more difficult it is to be an elected official. You can’t hide behind your office like many federal officials tend to do. You are face-to-face with your constitutes every day. Shopping at the same stores. Eating at the same restaurants. Your kids playing on the same little league team.

Politicians and the media at large would have us believe we’re more divided than ever. Nationally, we might be. Truth is, we still have a lot in common, especially at the local level. 

With volatile international conflicts, endless news cycles and the wealthiest  Americans wielding unprecedented power,  it feels like many things are out of our control. So why not focus on the stuff that has the most actual impact in our day to day lives?

Our families. Our neighbors.

Our communities.

Regardless of whether you lean left or right politically, the key to a prosperous community is leaning in.