Keeping $$ in the Neighborhood

New Directory of Services urges Vernon residents to call on each other when contracted services are needed
By Nell Johnson
Want to know where you can get a massage, within walking distance? Want to know who can design your new kitchen while you have a cup of coffee in hers? Frame your artwork? Put an addition on your house? WE can!!!!
A new directory of services is being created just for “Vernonites,” listing the many talents and skills that we can provide each other. The directory will appear in the VNA monthly online newsletter and will be excellent way for us to get to know each other and strengthen our bonds. It’s also a good way to keep our hard-earned dollars in the neighborhood, giving work to our cherished neighbors. Bartering is encouraged. The possibilities for creative deal-making are limited only by your imagination. Teenagers may participate (babysitting, lawn mowing, computer help, etc.). Hey, I’ll trade you two hydrangeas for a Spanish lesson!
If you have a service that you can offer your neighbors--from dog sitting to web design—send an e-mail to vernonservices@hotmail.com and provide the following information:
1- your name
2- the service you provide
3- the phone number you would like clients to call
4- Optional: the e-mail address you would like clients to use to contact you
5- Optional: a link to your professional website, or a short paragraph describing your service and what you can offer Vernon residents
Look for the directory in the VNA newsletter as soon as we have ten or more services to post. The list will be kept up-to-date with services and contact information. Fees or other contractual details will not be a part of the database information. The directory is limited to Vernon residents. The Vernon Neighborhood Association accepts no liability for any service listed in the directory or any transaction between client and provider.
Background: The Vernon Neighborhood Association just keeps getting better and stronger. From the few meetings I have attended, I sense that just as we are coming together as a community to face issues, we are learning who we are, collectively. Just recently, my partner, Tom Thompson, and I dug holes, grunted and groaned on a beautiful late winter afternoon to plant a remarkable collection of parking strip trees for Friends of Trees that will benefit Vernon Neighborhood for decades to come. We got to know other volunteer tree planters and learned that there are remarkable people right here in our immediate surroundings who can help us with our daily work challenges. Thus sprang the idea for the Vernon Services Directory.