Do you even know who the newcomers are in your town?
One way to find out is to ask your realtors, they’ve sold them houses or condos. That seems like a lot of work to welcome newcomers one by one, after the realtor has shared the information, if they even will share it.
B
ennettsville, SC hosts a Newcomers Gathering every couple of months.
It’s a loose collection of people inviting newcomers to join the event one evening in town. The realtors invite people personally. They post flyers around town including the library, city hall where you set up new gas and electric accounts, in the bank – places newcomers will go.
The people who work on this project bring light food and drinks. It might not even be the same people every event! Someone will come from the city and the county. They answer questions like ‘can I burn in the city?’ and ‘where is the landfill?’. Sometimes someone from the library, the coffee shop, retail stores and maybe even a guest speaker (I was a guest speaker one).
This event is intended to bring newcomers together and share what the city has. AND to answer questions. AND to find out why they moved there, what they like to do, how locals can help them. AND of course to build relationships.
