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Southeast Quality of Life <br />Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan <br />creation of The Neighborhood lnvenrory. <br />The Neighborhood Inventory would be just that, an inventory of the businesses, <br />services, institutions, families, and individuals in the neighborhood; and, the <br />products, skills, and services they are willing to share as a volunteer, for a fee, <br />or in return for some other product or service. Individual skills might include <br />story telling, child care, yard work, home repair, painting, tax preparation, <br />tutoring, homework, transportation, or gardening. The Inventory may be a loose <br />leaf binder, perhaps a spiral bound notebook with ample places for notes, or a <br />computer data base at the partnership center. <br />Information for the Inventory could be gathered by a questionnaire administered <br />through the mail or in person. It might be the first project of the next strategy <br />Block Captains. Possible partners may include churches, school groups, or <br />neighborhood clubs. The cost of printing and materials could be covered by the <br />sale of advertisements to local merchants or individuals wishing to promote <br />their services. Additional interest in the Inventory could be generated by the <br />availability of discount coupons to all who complete the survey. <br />It is important to remember the point of this Inventory. It is not simply an <br />opportunity for self -promotion, rather it is an opportunity to create self and <br />neighborhood awareness. For example, transportation to the grocery for an <br />elderly resident may be traded for an afternoon of stories for one's children. The <br />Inventory presents an opportunity to get to know your neighbors, appreciate <br />their skills, and become more neighborly. <br />One potential problem exists for the use of bartering if made a formal part of <br />this strategy. Formal bartering, though an accepted practice in many cultures, <br />and active in some locations in the U.S. is scrutinized by the IRS where the sale <br />of goods or services would have resulted in revenues paid to the IRS. This <br />issue would have to be resolved at some point in the future. <br />3. Improving Neighborhood Structure and Communication: SFQL Block <br />Captains <br />Neighborhood structures are generally informal, made up of a vast network of <br />communicators (some would say busy -bodies) who carry the news of the <br />neighborhood to others within their own grouping. Groupings are made up <br />59 <br />