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April Doner

April Doner is a community connector, artist, and mother who is passionate about igniting the intersection between re-weaving neighbor relationships, strengthening local economies, and healing / reconciling inequities and injustices. She is a Steward at the ABCD Institute DePaul University and, while not practicing neighboring in her own neighborhood, she trains, coaches, and consults in Asset Based Community Development. April also documents local resilience as well as group processes through various creative means including writing, photography, video, and graphic recording. Since 2020, she has curated content for AbundantCommunity.com.
37 POSTS
Stories

Oakland’s Understory Restaurant Prioritizes People and Community

April Doner -
For decades, neighbors, social scientists and city planners have recognized the critical role of "bumping places" - spots where meeting new and old friends is made natural and easy - for a healthy and vibrant communities. Bumping places are typically...
Stories

‘There’s Good Everywhere:’ Neighbors Partner with Free Library of Philadelphia to Find and Connect Assets

April Doner -
From 2018 to 2021, I had the great joy of working with my colleague Joe Erpenbeck and a team of colleagues from the ABCD Institute in walking alongside an immensely creative, caring group of community members and project staff...
Latest Thinking

Nick Cave on Creating Sacred Space: Escape, or Engage?

April Doner -
What space do we need to create? Is it necessary to retreat from the world in order to give most fully of ourselves to a world yearning for our gifts? For over ten years, the musician and lyricist who has...
Friends & Neighbors

25 Ways to Love Your Neighborhood

Courtney Rose -
Strengthening neighborhoods often comes down to the simple habit of performing neighborly acts of care, love, and attention, again and again over time. This approachable list from The Hopeful Neighborhood Project gives us some practical ways to tap into the...
Friends & Neighbors

People’s WPA (cont’d): Prisoner’s Apothecary & SIPP Culture

April Doner -
As a continuation of our spotlight on the People's WPA by the US Department of Arts & Culture, the following are two stories of artists working within their communities to foster transformation toward a more caring, nourished, just and...
Stories

Kwanzaa in Philly: How neighborhoods celebrate the African-American holiday

April Doner -
The article below tells the story of how one neighbor generated unity, learning and joy within her neighborhood by bringing fellow community members together around the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa.   Kwanzaa in Philly: How neighborhoods celebrate the African-American holiday by Michaela...
Podcasts

How to Find Personal Gifts without Buying New during the Holidays

April Doner -
As the holidays unfurl, bringing hopes and promises of special flavors, cozy traditions and connection, an urgency also begins to brew within our minds and homes: to buy. At our best, we buy out of our desire to concretely demonstrate...
Friends & Neighbors

People’s WPA (cont’d): Turn the Page Movement & Auntie Sewing Squad

April Doner -
As a continuation of our spotlight on the People's WPA by the US Department of Arts & Culture, the following are two stories of artists working within their communities to foster transformation toward a more caring, nourished, just and...
Friends & Neighbors

Social Lessons from Transformation: Starfire Council

Tim Vogt -
Sometime in 2007 or 2008, Tim Vogt, who directed an award-winning agency serving people with disabilities, had his journey interrupted years ago by a visit from three people who were unknown to him who got up and spoke at...
Stories

Artists Transforming Society: the People’s WPA

April Doner -
    Despite its name, the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC) is not a government agency. Rather, it is an independent organization formed around the importance of arts and culture to the health of communities (and, by extension, to any...
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