Find home. What does it really mean?
Now that I stand as the project manager for the project Find Home in Mid Northwest it feels like a reasonable question to try to sort out.
First of all. Find home in My Northwest is a brand new project aimed at helping houses that are empty today become homes for new people and dreams. The project wants to highlight and make use of the fantastic resource that the empty houses are, and work to ensure they continue to house life and laughter for many more years to come. We will work at all levels – from local associations to municipal offices – to spread awareness and get engagement for the empty houses in the area. Fantastic fun and so important.
So what is a home then?
I believe that the answer can look very different depending on who you ask and can also change over the course of life. One's needs vary over the years and that is perfectly okay; we humans can change and often do, whether we want to or not. But to clarify the question today, I will simply start from the perspective I know best – my own.
For me, there are several factors that make a place feel like a home, but the main one is a sense of physical and social security. Home is the place where I feel safe enough to breathe out, peel off all masks, and lie in the grass to rest. It is where I feel desire and joy in making long-term plans for the garden, renovation, and creation. It is where I plant my apple trees.
But a home is also shaped by the social context. It is where I feel a community and connection with neighbors and the local community and where I want to invest my time in local associations because it matters to me. It is where I know people by their first names and have a trust that I can help and receive help. In my opinion, the feeling of a home is shaped almost equally by the practical and external factors, such as a house and an association, as by the internal factors, those that cannot be touched – the feeling of meaning, belonging, and participation.
Where do I find this then?
My answer is that it exists in our rural areas. I am of course a bit biased as a rural dweller in soul and heart, but I believe I share this view with several others. I also think that many rural residents in our area would agree that their locality is the ABSOLUTE best place to live in the whole wide world, which I find so wonderfully delightful and cool! There is not one right answer, but many! Our rural areas have the potential to be pure gold dust for many of the people who long for a place to feel at home; we just need to ensure they have the opportunity to find a home there.
During the coming year, I will therefore work with soul and heart to help empty houses become homes for new (or old) rural residents. I have no illusion that it will be a walk in the park, but it will be worth it. Every house that once again becomes a home for new rural residents is a win, as every single one is needed. Since the rural areas do not have an overwhelming quantity of houses and inhabitants, each individual part and person becomes all the more important. The empty houses may not have a particularly large economic value, but they can be invaluable in the sense that they are a way into the community for people with commitment, ideas, and life to a place. These are things that cannot be measured in money, and that is why we are doing this project.
To find home
The image of a home that I painted above is largely the everyday life I live in today. It is therefore with a very special kind of joy that I now look forward to getting started with the project properly, to help more houses and people find home. I hope that you who are reading this will click into the project's page and send in tips on abandoned houses, reach out if you have a house that you can no longer manage, or express your interest in buying one. Or maybe you who are reading this have had your eye on an abandoned house for a long time but are unsure how to take the next step? Then I also think you should reach out to me!
Warmest regards,
Pernilla Björverud
Rural resident and project manager for Find Home in My Northwest