Neighbors Supporting Neighbors in Germantown
Penny Meads, along with church and community volunteers, is making a
difference in her Germantown, Philadelphia neighborhood. Since January
she has been serving as an AmeriCorps Member through Germantown Hope
Community Church, which is an NECT partner. However, being a community
organizer or "mother" to her Tacoma St. block is not a new role for
Penny. She has been a concerned and caring neighbor for the nine years
she has been living there. Six years ago Penny started attending
Germantown Hope where she has grown in her faith and is now a deacon.
The Lord is using her "gift of community" to draw others to Himself and
to each other as neighbors supporting neighbors.
Along with faithful volunteers such as Sis, Hanna and Donna, Penny is encouraging neighbors to work together. Flower pots are now seen alongside the row houses. A monthly clean up day has been established. Activities for the children such as a movie night are underway. Neighbors are meeting to discuss street crime issues.
The work is not always easy, as Penny and her team often encounter an atmosphere of apathy, despair and fatalism. Through it all Penny has been persistent, with a passion to make life better on Tacoma Street. She comments on what brings her joy; "Having the people respond and come together...helping neighbors and connecting them to resources...removing the drug trafficking...seeing our young people being productive."
Pastor Kyuboem Lee comments on the effect of the AmeriCorps program: "Not only has Ms. Penny grown, her supervisor, Scott, another deacon, also has grown in his leadership. Others in the church support the work through prayer and volunteering, especially the other ladies from the community who live on the same block as Ms. Penny. There is a growing awareness in the church and excitement over ministry with the community-and that means a growth in our appropriation of the kingdom life and in more fully living out our mission."
