Community Corner

'Dispatches: The Changing American Dream'

What issues and struggles do Middletown residents face every day in their strife to attain the American Dream? We want you to tell us.

We're excited to inaugurate a new occasional series for our Patch readers: "Dispatches: The Changing American Dream."

Every day, the national media is filled with stories about how American families, businesses, and neighbors are adjusting to these trying times. Changes seem to come at a dizzying pace.

National debates about unemployment, foreclosures, debt, religion, government and private enterprise all touch on fundamental ways in which we see ourselves and our communities. At Patch, we want to explore that conversation on a daily basis so we can better understand how our neighbors are adjusting to the challenges and opportunities that surround us.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The diversity in a community like Middletown, especially, lends itself to a plethora of perspectives on these issues that cross every socio-economic and community-oriented avenue.

We don't think there's one vision of the American Dream, but many. And a multitude of people are finding their own way. Looking out across nearly almost 900 Patch sites, we see college graduates returning home because they can't find jobs, senior citizens taking in boarders help pay their bills and local business people struggling to survive and thrive.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We also see displaced professionals trying to change careers, jobless people approaching the end of their unemployment benefits and volunteers who see trying times as a call to engage more, not less, in their communities.

Here in Monmouth County, Patch has recently reported on a whose dedication to helping people has prompted him to also serve as an emergency medical technician and volunteer firefighter, a to raise money for breast cancer research, a outreach to the homeless and an who brings hospital patients a creative respite from their illnesses.

The common thread in stories like these are the people in our towns who are working to fulfill some portion of the American Dream for their neighbors, their families and themselves. These are the kinds of stories we plan to continue telling in "Dispatches" and we invite you to help. Let us know about the issues, struggles and successes in your communities and the people touched by them.

Please email me at elaine.develde@patch.com with your suggestions.


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