The Trudeaus are not city employees, but as neighborhood block leaders, they act as the bridge between the neighborhood and the city.

"We pass information to the neighbors and connect neighbors to each other through email," says Howard Trudeau, 65, the block leader for 24 homes on Merritt and Deodara drives. "We developed a neighborhood directory so we know how to contact our neighbors in times of emergency."

The Trudeaus are among 102 block leaders—a group that Mayor Sandy James calls "the eyes and ears of the community." They are representative of Cupertino, their ages ranging from late 20s to 81. Some are longtime residents and some are newcomers. They live throughout the city and include people from different ethnic groups. There are even some who cannot speak English.

The city's block-leader program was started in 1998 by the Citizens of Cupertino Cross-Cultural Consortium, a volunteer group of residents formed in 1996 to create an infrastructure to promote a harmonious yet diverse community.

But the program didn't gain momentum until after 9-11, when the city was inundated with phone calls from residents who wanted to know their neighbors.

"People feel the need to prepare for any emergency. They need to know whom they can count on, and they want to feel they belong together," says Laura Lee, who oversees the city's block-leader program and related projects.

City Manager David Knapp then launched the block-leader program again based on a similar one he established in Boulder, Colo. In Boulder, there was a block captain in each neighborhood to remind people of recycling schedules and garbage-pickup dates.

Here in Cupertino, block leaders' main responsibilities are to distribute the city's information to their neighbors and reflect their neighborhoods' concerns to the city.

"The quality of life is based on the quality of relationships. What happens in the neighborhood affects the quality of life in the city," Knapp says. "The purpose of the program is to build community at a grass-roots level."

"Democracy is a do-it-yourself business. People need to get involved to control their destiny," Knapp said. "My vision is that within five years, there is a block leader on every street in Cupertino."

Block leaders are all volunteers. But the city provides basic communication and facilitation skill training for all block leaders. Each one has a binder, which includes tips on how to start a neighborhood newsletter and how to meet neighbors. It also introduces block leaders to programs closely related to the block-leader program, such as neighborhood watch, neighborhood party and Community Emergency Response Team training. Many block leaders have taken classes in emergency preparedness and invite firefighters to organize disaster drills in their neighborhoods.

All block leaders meet three times each year to exchange tips and expertise.

They often help each other understand and deal with cultural differences such as an immigrant's reluctance to open the door to a stranger.

Many found block leader Bryn Oh's methods of knocking on a door—what she calls the "door dance"—amusing and helpful.

"When I first knock on a neighbor's door, some people only open a crack," says Oh, who has lived in Cupertino since the summer of 1999. "Then I tell them my name and where I live, explaining that I am not just a random person and am not asking anything from them. They open the door more and stand parallel to it. And as the conversation progresses, they open the door all the way and step out in front of the door to chat with me. Some even invite me into their living room."

Block leaders also help each other out. When block leader Yin Ying needed a letter in Chinese to introduce himself to his Chinese neighbor next door, block leader Sandy Ni, who doesn't speak English, volunteered to type a letter for him. That letter later became a format letter for block leaders who want to reach out to their Chinese neighbors.

During the past three years, the program has expanded rapidly. Some block leaders are responsible for many houses, like Don and Nancy Burnett, who are in charge of 260 residences in the Fairgroves neighborhood. And some are in charge of a neighborhood as small as five houses.

"The size doesn't matter," Lee says. "Once the neighbors see something is going on, it is going to grow."

The neighborhoods reflect the city on a smaller scale.

Many neighborhoods, despite their unique characters, face similar challenges such as language barriers, safety and the growing age gap between old-timers and newcomers.

Although the city provides translation services for block leaders, language can still be a problem.

Within Sharon Heyler's neighborhood of 60 residences—behind the sports center—residents speak at least six different languages. Some grandparents and wives in new immigrant families don't speak English at all.

"Children are great resources," says David Greenstein, block leader in the Monta Vista area. "Most children are bilingual. They can translate for the parents or grandparents who don't speak English."

Greenstein, 46, also suggests that block leaders can bring people together with positive things. His trick is a block party.

Greenstein became a block leader because he met many interesting neighbors while he walked his dog and thought that it would be fun if these neighbors knew each other. He then joined the city's block-leader program and held the neighborhood's first formal block party on Labor Day last year.

When he prepared for the party, he was worried that nobody would be interested. But the response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Two neighbors offered to have the party at their homes. One neighbor volunteered to make fliers. Another neighbor volunteered to distribute the fliers.

On Labor Day, about 80 people came to the potluck party. "We had more wine than we could drink, more dessert than we could eat," Greenstein said. "Although the party was supposed to end at 8, one kid proposed having all the children play in the pool at his backyard. So we went to another house and had another party."

At the party, many neighbors talked to each other for the first time, although they live next to each other. "We live in a garage-door society. There aren't many opportunities to meet your neighbors. A block party is a perfect excuse to meet them," Greenstein said.

Greenstein is planning another block party for this Memorial Day.

"I hope this time we can start talking about some issues like children's safety and whether we should have sidewalks in our neighborhood," Greenstein said. "I would prefer to bring people together and have them talk about the issues rather than wait for something sad to happen and react to that."

Mavis Smith, block leader for 136 residential units in the Westridge neighborhood, says the problem she has faced is the high turnover rate of her neighbors.

"Many of them are renters. They are busy with their lives and are not interested in building community," Smith, 81, said. "I believe people want to build community. They just haven't realized that yet. I am going to keep trying until people get together for their common good."

For information about the block-leader program, call 408.777.3331.