We have a neighbour in our complex who was in need of help. Made enquiries with agencies and charities, churches etc and was told that they could provide assistance – but the neighbours had to ask for it, we could not just get someone to go over. This was impossible as the neighbour did not think they had a problem.
This neighbour has no relatives close by. We did manage to inform his doctor of our concerns. It was not until someone in the complex found this neighbour in a terrible state and took him to the medical centre and then on to hospital that any real action could be taken in terms of his ongoing care.
There is a core group of neighbours who have looked out for this neighbour. But through the ordeals of the past 12 months or so, the rest of the “community” have not enquired or apparently noticed the obvious physical absence of this neighbour. The unit hasnt been sold, no for lease sign for the property (they would have noticed that!) this neighbour who went to every single AGM and always had something to say, who always stopped to say hello and wave to those who drove by has not been seen or heard from in months. But no one has expressed any concern.
In a place where you do live in close proximity, where when you leave your unit you walk past someone else’s front door and can see into their home, where you share garbage bins and walls, you would think that merely by this forced closeness there would evolve a sense of community and awareness of others. Not in this strata though.