By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Powell family (from left) Shannon, 9, Daniel, 13, mother Eileen, David Jr., 15, and Mackenzie, 7, are grateful for the help of Hamilton Township neighbors while father and husband, National Guard Lt. Col. David Powell, has been on duty in Afghanistan. The Cincinnati Enquirer/GLENN HARTONG

HAMILTON TWP. - It started with a large basket of gift cards: to restaurants, car washes and the movies.

Then neighbors in the Fosters Pointe subdivision began stopping by to hang pictures for the family of Lt. Col. Dave Powell. Neighbors pitched in to do yard work, to baby-sit his four children, even tune up the family car.

And on Friday nights, during the weekly social gathering for a neighborhood dotted with yellow ribbons, they ask how Powell is doing in his 10-month stint in Afghanistan. And, they ask, is there anything else they can do?

That kind of neighborhood support, which experts call "neighborhood social capital," has been going on since the 40-year-old left with the Ohio National Guard's 416th Engineer Group in September. And the family says it helps them get them through his first long deployment since the children were born.

"They've given all kinds of support that the husband usually does but wasn't here to do," Powell's wife of 17 years, Eileen, said. "You just can't even imagine the generosity."

The Powells always knew that Dave, who works with computer software and went to Toledo once a month with the Guard, could be called to active duty.

The former Army engineer had gone on shorter tours of duty to such places as Honduras and Costa Rica. But those were before the couple started a family.

When they learned last fall that he'd be leaving Sept. 14 for war-torn Afghanistan, Eileen says her first thought was that she'd be left all alone to raise their four children: 15-year-old David Jr., 13-year-old Daniel, 9-year-old Shannon and 7-year-old Mackenzie. Eileen's family lives in Pittsburgh.

"You never think it will happen to you, and it was a shock when it did," Eileen said. "That was probably the most difficult day for us."

That's when their neighbors of 21/2 years stepped up to the plate. They collected money and presented the family with a large basket of gift cards at Powell's going-away party and a digital camera so Dave could see pictures of the big events - such as Shannon's first communion - and smaller, daily family happenings.

Then, without the Powell family asking, people began dropping in to hang a picture or shovel the driveway or fix the car. They'd even watch the kids or pick up groceries at the store.

Neighbors say it wasn't long before Eileen had "the three husbands" - Tony Handorf, Phil Weinrich and Craig Howell - stopping by regularly, even cleaning out the garage and helping with yard work.

"I want him to come back and the house look as well as when he left," said Weinrich, a 44-year-old father of two.

It was the least anyone could do, neighbors say, for Dave Powell, who helped establish their Friday-night parties before he left and volunteered, via e-mail, to hold one in Afghanistan.

"I could almost cry," next-door neighbor Dee Handorf said, thinking about the last 10 months. "Her husband is over there, serving our country and she doesn't have an extra set of hands. They would do the same for us."

For all this, Dave Powell is very grateful, according to family and friends who keep in touch with him via e-mail and an occasional phone call.

"I am very proud to be an American, to have this opportunity to serve my country," he wrote them. "I feel fortunate to be associated with all of our patriotic friends in Fosters Pointe."

Close bond

The experience has brought the group closer together and also brought the war on terrorism closer to home.

"This isn't just happening in someone else's backyard. We're not spectators anymore," said Jackie Handorf, 39-year-old mother of three and Dee's sister-in-law.

Belying the stereotype of faceless suburbs, it's not uncommon for neighbors to rally together when there's someone in need, such as with a single parent, according to Jeff Timberlake, an assistant sociology professor at University of Cincinnati who studies urban sociology.

This neighborhood social capital - the social ties between neighbors that turn into favors and a willingness to help out - is actually more common in a suburban subdivision where people own their own homes and already know each other than in urban areas where renters live.

"It's an important feature of local community," Timberlake said. "There's all sort of talk about virtual communities on the Internet, but this is one thing that side-by-side living with the neighbors promotes, this spontaneous helping."

Dave Powell returns to the United States today, but won't be home for at least another week. Neighbors say they're planning a large party for him.

"He's looking forward to coming home more than they know," Eileen Powell said. "This is a small area, but compared to what he's living with, this is a slice of heaven."

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com