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At their first stop of the day Jennifer Barsamian and Monika Wilkinson find themselves climbing a staircase to a newly built house.
“Most people invite us into their home,” Barsamian says halfway up the stairs. “This is the first time we’ve been invited into a tree house.”
The homeowner, who is still in her pajamas, smiles and explains that her partner built the tree house for her two children. Barsamian and Wilkinson, both parents of three, admire the handiwork and the conversation quickly turns to Dedham schools and neighbors.
This personal interaction is the foundation of the Dedham Welcome Wagon. Back in Barsamian’s white SUV, Wilkinson tries to find the next house on her list of 10 they plan to hit on this month’s outing.
“It is about trying to make people feel like they are part of something … a community,” Wilkinson explains on the crisp Saturday morning. “And to give them the information I wish I had earlier.”
The two friends said the idea for the new resident greeting committee formed one afternoon in early spring.
“I think we were one the phone,” Wilkinson says. Barsamian works to fill in the blanks. She explains that she was working at Donahue Real Estate and had access to the list of all the homes sold in town.
“We really didn’t know what we should do,” Wilkinson jumps in, “We were joking that we didn’t want it like the Stepford wives, greeting people with a bundt cake.” Laughter erupts in the car that is packed with all the Welcome Wagon material: Needham Bank reusable shopping bags filled with an info packet provided by Donahue Real Estate and goodies from local businesses, like Mocha Java, Dedham Community Theatre, Yoga Energy, Sheep Skate, Our Favorite Dressings, The Dedham Exchange and The Blue Bunny. In the rear seat, there’s a bucket of colorful arrangements from the Dedham Flower Shoppe and on every bouquet, there’s a card with the Welcome Wagon’s contact information.
The two look like professionals, with their giant Dedham Welcome Wagon magnet decorating the driver’s side door.
Though their first outing “wasn’t nearly as organized,” Wilkinson explains. “We just had cookies and a packet (of information),” she laughs and Barsamian finishes her thought, “We were nobody back then.”
But through word of mouth and Facebook, the outreach has blossomed to include Donahue Real Estate and Needham Bank as sponsors and a host of local businesses donate gift cards and discounts to add to the bag.
At their first stop of the day Jennifer Barsamian and Monika Wilkinson find themselves climbing a staircase to a newly built house.
“Most people invite us into their home,” Barsamian says halfway up the stairs. “This is the first time we’ve been invited into a tree house.”
The homeowner, who is still in her pajamas, smiles and explains that her partner built the tree house for her two children. Barsamian and Wilkinson, both parents of three, admire the handiwork and the conversation quickly turns to Dedham schools and neighbors.
This personal interaction is the foundation of the Dedham Welcome Wagon. Back in Barsamian’s white SUV, Wilkinson tries to find the next house on her list of 10 they plan to hit on this month’s outing.
“It is about trying to make people feel like they are part of something … a community,” Wilkinson explains on the crisp Saturday morning. “And to give them the information I wish I had earlier.”
The two friends said the idea for the new resident greeting committee formed one afternoon in early spring.
“I think we were one the phone,” Wilkinson says. Barsamian works to fill in the blanks. She explains that she was working at Donahue Real Estate and had access to the list of all the homes sold in town.
“We really didn’t know what we should do,” Wilkinson jumps in, “We were joking that we didn’t want it like the Stepford wives, greeting people with a bundt cake.” Laughter erupts in the car that is packed with all the Welcome Wagon material: Needham Bank reusable shopping bags filled with an info packet provided by Donahue Real Estate and goodies from local businesses, like Mocha Java, Dedham Community Theatre, Yoga Energy, Sheep Skate, Our Favorite Dressings, The Dedham Exchange and The Blue Bunny. In the rear seat, there’s a bucket of colorful arrangements from the Dedham Flower Shoppe and on every bouquet, there’s a card with the Welcome Wagon’s contact information.
The two look like professionals, with their giant Dedham Welcome Wagon magnet decorating the driver’s side door.
Though their first outing “wasn’t nearly as organized,” Wilkinson explains. “We just had cookies and a packet (of information),” she laughs and Barsamian finishes her thought, “We were nobody back then.”
But through word of mouth and Facebook, the outreach has blossomed to include Donahue Real Estate and Needham Bank as sponsors and a host of local businesses donate gift cards and discounts to add to the bag.
The Welcome Wagon, Barsamian says, is an “effort to welcome new residents and to share information with them about the community” Wilkinson finishes, “and also make them feel like they are part of it. Because, when people feel more connected, then they want to invest in a community and feel more involved.”
Wilkinson pauses and looks down at her map, “We are just two people who care about our town.”
Barsamian, 36, and Wilkinson, 37, didn’t grow up in Dedham, but after living here for many years they’ve quickly become involved in the community.
East Dedham resident Barsamian splits her time between raising three kids, operating the DedhamRocks.com blog and meetings with the Dedham Square Circle, Dedham Education Foundation, La Leche League of Dedham and the Avery PTO. She is also a monthly columnist for the Dedham Transcript.
Wilkinson lives in Oakdale and is also a mother of three. She is on the board of Dedham Parent Time, a member of Oakdale PTO, and the Oakdale Square Alliance. She works part time as a middle school English teacher in Westwood.
The Dedham Welcome Wagon wheels out one Saturday a month.
“We try to do the early hours because that’s when people are home,” Wilkinson says and jokes that when she left the house her husband was at home cooking breakfast in his pajamas.
“I wonder what we are in store for,” she remarks. The clock on the dashboard reads 9:14 a.m. The two agree that Saturday mornings are early for most people, but “this is the window of time we’ve found people are actually home,” Barsamian says.
On this Saturday, the Welcome Wagon meets a young couple expecting their first child, a grandmother that moved from Dover and is planning a month-long tour of Europe and a Newton coffee shop owner that bought his home because of the guest house in the back. He says he needs the space to care for his ailing sister.
With every house where someone is home, there seem to be more that are empty. In this situation, they explain, they usually give the welcome package to a neighbor with a simple request, to give the gift to the new homeowner when they return.
Wilkinson jokes that many people think they are out to convert them or sell them something. But, “when they see the flowers,” Barsamian says, “everything changes.”
“It is about building a community,” Wilkinson adds.
As the afternoon hours near, the welcoming committee is exhausted and starts thinking about the future.
Barsamian says people have asked if they plan to branch out to include more volunteers.
“But, we want to be part of it,” Wilkinson says sipping a cup of coffee from Café Fresh Bagel. “I don’t want to miss a good house.”
“We are kind of protective,” Barsamian jokes. The Welcome Wagon is planning a new resident party later this fall, though the details still need to be ironed out, they say.
Wilkinson and Barsamian say they’ve both been asked why they do it, especially by their kids.
Their response is always the same: “We just love Dedham.”
Dedham Transcript editor Andrea Salisbury can be reached at 781-433-8322 or by e-mail at asalisbu@cnc.com.
