This article may include affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you shop through them.
There’s a word for neighbors in Latin America – vecinos. But in my homeland in South America, we don’t see vecinos in the same way we see them after we move here. Out there, they’re friends, they’re people who know all about your life, and you know about theirs.
For example, my grandma’s neighbor, a dentist, always helped her out after my grandpa passed. She sometimes even went over for tea. My grandmother knew the story of every neighbor in her cul de sac.
The last generation (when great grandma was in her mom era) was even more connected to the neighbors. They all knew each other, their kids played together, helped the seniors out with anything they needed, and knew who had passed, who was having babies, who was getting divorced, and whose kids were running amok in the streets like animals!
In America before the 1960s, neighbors were woven into daily survival. But in my homeland, during the communist takeover and the dictatorship that followed—when bread lines wrapped around the block and tanks rolled through the streets—neighborhood connections literally saved lives. Families traded food with each other as supply chains collapsed. Without those vecinos, some families many not have survived.
In our book, I talk about stories I had heard of my great grandpa bringing boxes of bread, pantry items, fresh food, and the adult kids would arrive to take their share and bring it back to their families. There were a lot of neighbors helping each other. Without this I think a lot more people would have perished during that difficult era. This scene was happening across the country and across the continent.
But, as I write out in our book, Radical Señora Era, today things are looking grim. Americans don’t like to know their neighbors. In fact, they are oftentimes scared or standofish. In the modern era, neighbors are not to be trusted.
According to recent research, for example, only 26% of Americans today know most of their neighbors. Seventy-four percent don’t feel a strong sense of community. And among young adults? 78% know only some or none of their neighbors. We’ve become strangers living next to each other — and it’s changing how we live and we potentially survive in times of emergency.
But there’s a big benefit to knowing your neighbors. You’ll live a happier life. Knowing just 6 neighbors can reduce loneliness, depression, and anxiety. It increases your odds of living longer — more than exercise or the flu vaccine. For people living alone, strong neighborhood connections reduce the risk of premature death by 55%.
And really, the benefit should also be that you can make other people’s lives better and more joyful.
The señoras of the past knew this intuitively – so why don’t we bring it back?
Here’s how you can “neighbormaxx” or create an optimized (very American lol!) routine for how to get to know your entire neighborhood, and reap the benefits.
START HERE (Low Effort, High Impact)
1. The Welcome Gift Show up food – from empanadas to pie – to introduce yourself. Leave a small note with your name and number. Bonus: If you see your neighbor outside, hand-deliver it instead of leaving it on the porch. The conversation matters more than the gift.
2. Learn Their Names (And Use Them) Make it a point to greet neighbors by name. Ask how to pronounce it correctly. Teach your kids their names too. This was non-negotiable for our abuelas — knowing who lived around you was survival and community, not optional.
3. The Porch Sit Spend time outside on your porch, stoop, or front steps or sitting in your front patio. Not scrolling — actually present. Wave. Make eye contact. Be visible and approachable. This is how connections happen.
4. Offer Real Help When someone’s getting groceries out of their car, help them carry bags. When their trash cans are still out, bring them in. When you see an elderly neighbor struggling, show up. Don’t ask permission — just do it.
NEXT LEVEL (Medium Effort)
5. Host a Block Party Pick a date, string lights, make a big batch of pozole or carne asada, invite everyone. Don’t overthink it. Tell people to bring a side or drinks. The point isn’t perfection — it’s gathering. This is what tías do.
6. Start a Neighborhood Group Chat Create a simple WhatsApp or Nextdoor group (or old school: a group email). Use it for real things: “Does anyone know a good plumber?” “My kid’s bike is missing” “I made tamales, come get some.” Not for complaining about bark mulch.
7. Organize a Dinner Rotation Suggest that neighbors take turns cooking for the block one Sunday a month. Someone makes their family’s special dish, sets up in a common area, people come eat together. This builds real continuity.
8. Create a Tool/Resource Library Leave a small unlocked box or shelf in your garage or on a common area with tools people can borrow: hammer, screwdriver set, pruning shears. Label them. Trust people. This is reciprocal.
9. Know Your Elderly Neighbors’ Routines Check in on them regularly. Bring meals. Offer rides to appointments. Ask about their family. Remember what they told you last time. This is honoring the elders — something our culture gets right.
GO DEEP (High Effort, Highest Reward)
10. Organize a Neighborhood Cleanup Pick a Saturday, get gloves and bags, walk your block together picking up trash. Talk while you work. End with drinks or ice cream. You’ll feel connected to the place you live.
11. Create a Neighborhood Garden Find an unused plot (church, school, community center) and ask if you can plant. Grow food, flowers, whatever. Invite neighbors to help plant and harvest. Share the bounty.
12. Start a Skill-Share Your neighbor who cooks teaches people to make her signature dish. Someone else teaches basic home repair. You teach whatever you know. Sunday afternoons in someone’s kitchen. This is how knowledge stays alive.
13. Know Everyone’s Story Ask your neighbors where they’re from, how long they’ve lived there, what brought them to the neighborhood. Write it down if you have to. Tell your kids. Create oral history. This is what makes a place sacred — knowing the people in it.
14. Be the Memory Keeper Take photos at block parties, neighborhood events. Print them and share them. Keep a neighborhood bulletin board (physical or digital) with memories, milestones, celebrations. Document your community existing.
THE MINDSET SHIFT
The real work isn’t the block party or the welcome gift. It’s deciding that your neighbors aren’t strangers to be cautious of — they’re your people. They’re the tías, the tíos, the primos you’re building with.
Our abuelas didn’t know their neighbors because they had an app. They knew them because presence was non-negotiable. Because community wasn’t optional. Because isolation wasn’t an option.
Neighbormaxing is reclaiming that. It’s radical. It’s Señora Era.