LINO LAKES, Minn. – (Aug. 4, 2016) – On a Tuesday night, instead of enjoying a quiet dinner at home with their family, hundreds of people come outside to spend the evening getting to know their neighbors better.
“This is our opportunity, our communities opportunity to get out and meet their neighbors, meet their public safety department, police and firefighters,” said Lino Lakes public safety director John Swenson.
On Night to Unite, communities across Minnesota get together for a simple evening together.
The evening gives neighbors a chance to sit down together. They get to know each other, and they talk about safety concerns in their neighborhood. In Lino Lakes, someone from the public safety department stops by every party in the city, and can address their safety concerns directly.
“One of our residents had a question about a crosswalk and it’s their opportunity to bring those questions directly to us and we can get them in touch with the right resources in the city to start to evaluate and potentially address what they would like to see,” said Swenson.
They address a lot of specifics throughout the night, but they also put a face to the police department.
“Our biggest goal is just breaking down those barriers. Not just the barriers in between police and firefighters and the community but within these neighborhoods. We want our community, our residents to know each other, look out for each other, and have good strong communities because it’s with good strong communities that we’re going to have safe communities,” said Swenson.
Every party in the city is organized by a volunteer block party captain, who provides a space to meet up and invites the neighborhood.
“We have two young kids and just wanted an opportunity for the neighbors to get together, for us to hopefully meet other neighbors,” said block party captain Melissa Averbeck. “We’ve only lived here for about five years, it’s a really quiet neighborhood so I was just hoping this would bring people together a little bit.”
Throughout the years, Night to Unite has changed, and it’s also grown.
“I’ve been public safety director for five years, just over five years now and through the years our block parties seem to take it up a notch. The planning starts in May for these events. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes by our staff coordinating all the different request for fire apparatus and police apparatus and canine and making sure that if their is a party in Lino Lakes, a block party for Night to Unite, their will be public safety personnel that will attend every single one of those parties,” said Swenson.
Ultimately, getting out of your house and taking the time to talk to your neighbors can have a lasting impact.
“If you know your neighbors you can watch out for them so it’s about as simple as you neighbor left their garage door open you know then to reach out and say hey you left it open or can I come through there and get that closed for you, it’s opening up those avenues. It’s through that communication through those relationships of neighbor looking out for neighbor that builds strong communities,” said Swenson.
