March 8, 2012 10 Comments
Time spent building community results in unity, ownership, and action. Watch this video to see how neighbors can work together to make their community better for all.
Building Community: Unity. Ownership. Action. from CFA Videos on Vimeo.
March 7, 2012 1 Comment
The following post was originally published on March 2, 2012 by Sherry Johnson over at A Thread Of Connection. Sherry grew up with working-class roots and encountered poverty and racism. Passionate about equity and community, she recently attended a CFA training in Minneapolis, and lives and works in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood putting Asset Based Community Development principles into action.
I’m in an incredibly blessed place.
For about the last three years, I’ve been delving deeper into the subject of community: what it is, how it’s formed, how to sustain it, and why it’s so rare in this culture. I tried to form community through charity and nonprofit formation at my old church, which largely failed. I joined with a small but intrepid group of de-churched Jesus-lovers to make a community here on the Bluff. That’s still growing. I studied neighborhood leadership at the Wilder Center for Communities, and its history at Minnesota History Center. I read loads of books on the psychology of community. And I fell in love with asset-mapping at an Asset-Based Community Development Institute retreat in Chicago.
So what the heck is asset mapping? It’s what I’ve been doing on my own for over a year now. I’ve been systematically listing all the assets–all the good things–our neighborhood has. Its places. Its associations. Its institutions. Its churches. And most daunting but important, the gifts of its people.
And lo, in the middle of my scattered slips of paper and to-do lists and Google maps, I was offered a job. Do your dream in 12 hours a week with the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council. Recruit a staff of researchers from underrepresented populations in the neighborhood. Train them. Listen to the community you love.
I keep gratefully asking myself, “Who gets to create their own dream job?”
I also keep following up with the question, “What if you fail at your dream job?”
How on earth does one break through decades of institutional racism and cultural isolation and Eastside melancholy to build hope again? Everyone around me says they “love the diversity” of this community, but then why is most everyone around me Caucasian, despite my efforts to broaden my network of friends and acquaintances?
So I keep contacting nonprofits and churches and friends and clubs, asking for references: Whom do you know in the community that loves this community and wants to see it grow? I get silence and gracious referrals and suggestions of where else to look. And I go deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.
March 5, 2012 Leave a comment
Jay Van Groningen
Talk is action…it’s not cheap. How do you see your role in the story of your neighborhood? What would you improve about your street? If resources were unlimited, what is the first area you would address? What about your neighborhood keeps you up at night? How would you describe a good neighbor? A great neighbor?
Start with questions not answers, one of the many principles of Asset Based Community Development discussed on February 24th and 25th at a recent CFA training in Minneapolis, MN. Facilitators Jay Van Groningen and George Montoya spent two days with 18 participants presenting practical and powerful methods of ABCD as an approach to effective community development work. Participants included neighbors, nonprofit workers, church leaders, professors, agency leaders, and others seeking to develop more connected and engaged local communities. Topics covered included:
Twin Cities Training at Calvary Church in inner city Minneapolis.
In addition to covering the fundamental principles of taking ABCD and community building and organizing into action, the trainers and participants spent time dreaming and believing together. See CFA events page for upcoming training opportunities.
ABCD training activity
March 2, 2012 Leave a comment
ABCD asks “What can this community do itself to achieve its own goals and dreams?”
ABCD is a practice of engaging citizens in the things that can affect them! It involves finding out, through listening and asking, “What do you really care about? ABCD engages “learning conversations” to discover what neighbors care enough to act upon.
ABCD adds community development to individual development in order to effect sustainable, long-lasting change. Community mobilization uses learning conversations, the discovery of “motivation to act” and a connector/leader to bring all of the resources together.
February 29, 2012 Leave a comment
“Community ministry involves more than just starting another program or running another event. Effective community ministry requires working with a community to capture pictures of what could be different and better. Community vision that is effective grows out of long-term, sustainable, and relational interactions with community residents.”
Excerpt taken from page 28 of Communities First. Click here for more information on this resource.
February 27, 2012 Leave a comment
Kimi Zimmerman–Community enCompass
What is ABCD?
It’s simple really. At its best, Asset Based Community Development comes out in life stories.
Take Linda for example. I honestly don’t know much about her. She’s a retired nurse and new to the McLaughlin neighborhood. Judging by her kind disposition, I’d venture to say she was the kind of nurse that people remembered and wanted to thank because she made an unpleasant doctor or hospital visit more bearable.
I met Linda one day at Sacred Suds. She wasn’t doing laundry or showering. Instead, she was taking blood pressure for neighbors that were using the facility. She wasn’t doing it for money or in any official capacity. She was doing it because she cares about her community. She was doing it because she has a passion for people and for nursing. It’s in her DNA. She has a God-given gift and she can’t help but use it.
This is ABCD - neighbors using their gifts and talents to enrich, change, help, care for, and love the community they are a part of. Neighbors like Linda. But the story doesn’t end there. Linda used her own blood pressure equipment, but found she didn’t have the right size cuff for some of the neighbors. Another neighbor heard about it and contacted a local agency to see how they could go about getting a larger cuff. When the agency heard about the volunteer work Linda was doing at Sacred, they couldn’t help but support the cause and donate the equipment. ABCD is contagious!
This is a simple story about one person doing good by sharing her gifts with her neighbors.
What is ABCD? It’s neighbors sharing the best parts of themselves to help build a stronger community.
February 23, 2012 Leave a comment
Judy Van Dyke–Good Samaritan Ministries
Antonio has lived in Holland, MI for seven years and lives in the Westcore Neighborhood with his 11 year-old son, Marvin.
This fall, Antonio was wrongfully evicted from his apartment when the house in which he was a tenant went into foreclosure. This caused a great deal of turmoil in Antonio’s life as he had to scramble to pack up his and his son’s possessions and find a new place to live, while keeping the rest of his life in balance. When the foreclosing bank was notified that Antonio had been wrongfully evicted, they offered financial compensation to Antonio with the condition that he remove all the personal property on the premises in less than 5 days! He had neither the time nor the means to do this huge task but was willing to do whatever it took to get those funds into the neighborhood. So with his cooperation, and help from a local pastor and realtor, a group of neighbors and friends, 2 trips to the dump were made with all the debris. Within a few days Antonio had a check from the bank. ALL OF THIS WAS DONE BY THE COMMUNITY IN A WEEK, WORKING TOGETHER!
What did he do with the money? He gave most of it ($1,200) to Nuestra Casa!!!
Why would he do this!?! Antonio recalled a very difficult time of his life. He had recently been divorced, and was going through an emotional roller coaster ride. He was brought to his knees. When he looked up, Antonio realized that God had waited until he was crying out in anguish before showing up in his life.
Since that moment, Antonio has grown in his love of God, his neighbors and many friends. This unexpected windfall to him was one way he could give back to the community, and he is happy to do it.
(Excerpts taken from the Nuestra Casa blog)
Good Samaritan Ministries works with the Westcore Neighborhood group to do community transformation in the center city of Holland. We had the privilege of hearing Antonio’s story when he came to GSM with a neighbor and their Community Connector to give us his donation. Nuestra Casa is a vacant house that the neighbors are renovating into a community center. Antonio’s compassion and generosity is a great example of how neighbors in the Westcore area value their community and care for each other.
February 20, 2012 Leave a comment
Rebecca Lujan Loveless–POLIS Institute
The Community Center at The Palms Trailer Park bustled with life on a recent cool Saturday morning. This was unusual because up until that week the trailer that housed the Community Center was only open Monday through Friday. This Saturday, the neighborhood residents came in and out, using the computers, sitting to chat with a neighbor over a cup of coffee and I felt a deep sense of gratitude for the spirit of “togetherness” that was in this overlooked but much under-rated community.
The Palms Trailer Park is located between two highways on Orange Blossom Trail – “OBT” as it is affectionately referred to. OBT is notorious for the business of buying and selling women. So whenever I tell people where my office is located – in a trailer park on OBT- I am generally met with some kind of a joke about “working the Trail.” And while my work involves befriending women who do, in fact, “work the Trail,” it involves listening to the hopes and concerns of other people too: the former inmate who is unemployable because of his past, the older woman who has never worked a day in her life because of her crippling disabilities, and the young single mom who is passionate about her children having a chance to succeed in ways she never was given.
Recently, I have become friends with a young, single mom who has taught me so much about determination and a quiet patience. LaDeitra is curious and funny. She is hopeful yet cautious. She leads people with ease and yet is hesitant about being called a “leader.” She cares about her neighborhood and wants to be a part of creating a place where her kids can play safely, where she knows her neighbors well enough to understand their needs.
When I first met her at the Community Center she was shy and quiet. She would come in to use the computers and then leave as quietly as she came in. But over time she began to pick up on some of the conversations that were happening around her. As people would come in to the Community Center we would talk about their ideas about how to improve the neighborhood. She began to be curious. Eventually LaDeitra started contributing to these informal conversations. Finally, after several months of listening and observing she asked if she could come to the weekly meeting for our volunteer Hosts of the Community Center. Once LaDeitra was trained as a Community Center Host there was no stopping her. She began talking to her neighbors and listening to them dream about “what could be” in the neighborhood. She convenes people for Neighborhood Meetings and it was her organization and determination that allowed the center to start opening on Saturdays. 
The work of Asset Based Community Development can be very lonely. Am I the only one that thinks this neighborhood is great? Does everyone [including the residents that live here] think this place is a joke? These are admittedly my dismal thoughts on days when I feel heavy-laden with the reality of generational poverty. But LaDeitra reminds me, “Things take time.” She reminds me that there are others that care about this forgotten part of our city. She confirms my deep suspicion that when the talents of the poor are properly engaged, well-being improves. She engages my talents of leadership and organization and in turn allows me, even invites me, to engage her talents to influence her neighbors towards change.
Each Saturday, if you stop by The Palms Trailer Park, you will see LaDeitra with her notebook open, listening to the dreams of her neighbors. She writes them down, showing that what her neighbors have to say is important. She talks to others about these ideas and invites people to find ways to empower them. LaDeitra is hesitant to be called a “leader” and yet, each week she leads me to believe that change –even in the most unlikely place- is possible.
February 17, 2012 Leave a comment
Eric Smith–Think Tank, Inc. and Springfield Promise Neighborhood
The neighborhood work in the Lincoln area began with the planning for the launch of the Springfield Promise Neighborhood (SPN) initiative. It was decided that there should be an event held on the grounds of the partner school, Lincoln Elementary, that would get children, youth, and families out and being “community” together while connecting with the local school. The planning for the event was done in partnership with neighborhood residents. The event was successful, drawing 300 people for a festive day of food, games, and family activities. Later, the event would come to be called PromiseFest.
The group of residents, feeling empowered by the success of their first venture working together, continued to meet and plan other community events, such as a Christmas Banquet, a Spaghetti Dinner, and a Spring Fling Cookout. In the course of their journey together, the group decided to take steps toward becoming an official Neighborhood Association.
Once school was back in session, the Neighborhood Association began to plan for a second annual PromiseFest. The second annual PromiseFest proved to be an even greater success than the first, and drew out 13 community organizations to provide educational and support services to the families that attended the event.
Importantly, holding a second annual event proved to the residents that they had the staying power necessary to inspire change over the long haul. It was also a significant event because it was held in front of the school garden, which was another program of the residents in the community that had been developed in the preceding year.
February 16, 2012 Leave a comment
Clark Blakeman– Second Stories
Five kids ranging from 8 to 3 years old came rolling out of the metal door on a small building across the parking lot from the neighborhood church, a mother chasing behind. Rapidly fired words mixed with giggles, package shaking, and directionless walking made the mom’s work of corralling the kids difficult. But she was in a great mood and full of smiles. She gathered up all the gifts she had just bought and wrapped with new friends from the church while her kids played games and made gifts for mom out of construction paper and glue. In her limited English she expressed her thanks and hugs were given to everyone as the family made their way to the bus stop. She seemed to especially cherish a framed family portrait that she received as a gift from a photographer from the church who had set up inside the Dignity Christmas Store.
During the month of December a low-income apartment complex and a local church worked together, facilitated by Second Stories, to create the Dignity Christmas Store. This effort is an expression of a growing understanding of Asset Based Community Development and the relationship developing between the congregation and the residents of the apartments.
The idea had three objectives. One was to support apartment residents who could not afford to purchase Christmas gifts and preserve their dignity in the process. To do this they developed a Christmas tree lot fundraiser that would enable gifts to be purchased and offered at a 90 percent discount from retail. Attending to the lot was shared by many. In this way the low-income residents would experience the dignity of purchasing gifts themselves rather than being demoralized by an “adopt a poor family for the holidays” approach.
Another goal was to further develop relationships between church members and apartment residents. They achieved this by sequencing each family’s shopping opportunity and pacing it so there was plenty of time for just hanging out. They wrapped gifts together, and sat for conversation over hot chocolate, coffee and snacks. Kids played foosball, made gifts or colored. Families were each offered the opportunity to get a family portrait, which was developed and framed while the parents shopped.
The third aim, and perhaps most important, was to listen for the gifts, abilities and passions of each other so as to discern what additional ways these two groups can work together for the common good of their neighborhood. Informal questions were developed and asked, designed to reveal motivations and assets to be given. Ideas were generated and new possibilities for working together have begun to emerge. Ideas were gleaned, like working to have sidewalks installed along the apartment complex that butts up against the neighborhoods’ busiest street, offering credit for use at the Dignity Store for anyone who volunteers at the tree lot, increasing the quality of snacks at the Dignity Store by utilizing the multi-ethnic foods represented at the apartments, and doing a jointly hosted international dinner at the local park.
This coalition of “workers for the common good” is young and still somewhat tentative. But already the quality of life for both church members and apartment residents is at a higher level due to the environment of dignity and inclusion being fostered. This is about healthy relationships on the small and larger neighborhood scale. And as the mother of 5 can attest, that’s exactly what’s being experienced in SE Portland.
February 15, 2012 1 Comment
Eric Smith–Think Tank, Inc. and Springfield Promise Neighborhood
I met George Young at the Springfield Promise Neighborhood Kickoff and Community Celebration, the first community event planned alongside residents, nearly one year ago. It turns out that George is a long-time resident of the Lincoln Neighborhood. As part of the listening process, I met with George for a one-on-one learning conversation.
It quickly became evident that George was interested in seeing the ethic of responsible fatherhood integrated into the fabric of his neighborhood. He also had a clear passion for developing the character of the youth of his community. However, George did not have an opportunity to exercise his gifts and passions.
I therefore invited George to attend a leadership training series on the principles of Asset-Based Community Development. Through the training, George’s vision crystalized. Another of the attendees, as it turned out, had a similar interest. So following the training, George invited a select group of his neighbors, also long-time residents of the neighborhood, as well as his colleague from the training, to a meeting.
The neighbors quickly decided that they could accomplish the corporate desire that they all had to impact others if they formed into an organized group. The initial meeting has led to the birth of the Lincoln Neighborhood POPS Club. The Club has been connected to Urban Light Ministries, the responsible fatherhood initiative in Springfield, to provide stability as needed.
As their first project, the Club leaders have worked to establish a safety patrol program at Lincoln Elementary. Though very much needed, Lincoln Elementary has not had a safety patrol program for many years.
What is inspiring and transformational about this story is the fact that now a core group of neighbors is more alive because they are able to give of their gifts and experience to influence the next generation. Even as they are becoming more alive and aware, they are instilling pride in the 16 youth that are part of the safety patrol. The patrol is quickly becoming an opportunity to nurture good character, self-regulation, and aspirational thinking in the lives of a select group of youth.
What was lacking before was merely the vision to see the gifts and dreams that connected the neighbors to each other and the Club to the youth. Imagine now what other opportunities exist just around the corner in a neighborhood of over 4,500 neighbors and youth!
February 13, 2012 1 Comment
CFA Executive Director, Jay Van Groningen, responds to a comment from a recent post, and discusses the idea of “In, To, or With:”
“How does one listen to neighbors in a way that: 1. Discovers what neighbors care about enough to act on it? 2. Discovers what gifts they bring to the things they want to work on? 3. Helps neighbors discover their neighbors who care about the things they care about – so they can work on them together?
Personally, I resist those programs and ministries that churches want to start, control and implement to/for their neighbors. I think it is much healthier when church comes along and supports the good things neighbors care about doing. Then the church and community can work together on how to sustain the good work. If ministry is done really well, the church does not need to own or control the ministry, it gets to support it in the ways that bless ministry and the congregation. If ministry is done really well, the community eagerly accepts and embraces the church members participation on a level, respectful, playing field (with respect to power in and control). They enjoy getting good things done together.”
Here are some further thoughts…
The Church “With” the Community:
(Communities First, p. 10) Go to the Store for more information on this resource.
February 10, 2012 2 Comments
Interested in Asset Based Community Development? Where do you start? First, consider your view of your neighborhood; your presumptions about your neighbors and your community influence how you will engage.
Communities First Association presumes the following:
1. God is already in the community–he was there first! This is God’s creation and God’s people. Ministry begins by looking for what God is already doing in a community.
2. Ministry in a community always takes place in an asset-rich environment. What God put into the creation itself, into the people in a community, and into the systems and infrastructure of a community are all good gifts that can be used for the common good.
3. Effective community ministry is the art and discipline of recognizing, developing, and calling forth the gifts, talents, and resources God has already placed in his world for the benefit of all in the community. Community ministry is not meant to dictate a new reality for the community.
4. Effective community ministry is a way of life: living among and engaging neighbors, loving them enough to see God in them, and artfully calling forth and directing their gifts and resources for community benefit.
(Communities First, p. 10)
What presumptions have you made? How have they impacted your view of your neighbors and your involvement in your community?
To learn more check out the CFA store.
February 9, 2012 Leave a comment
The Muskegon Chronicle highlighted CFA member Kimi Zimmerman (Community enCompass) in a February 8th on-line article. Writer Dave Alexander describes the neighborhood transformation taking place in the McLaughlin neighborhood of Muskegon, MI, and focuses on the principles of Asset Based Community Development as the catalyst for change. He quotes member Kimi Zimmerman, “This neighborhood has grasped the concepts and put them to work here in Muskegon.” She continues, “We are seeing a beautiful transformation taking place.” Click here to read the full article.
February 8, 2012 Leave a comment
Al Santino-Northeast Community Transformation
CFA’s network has impacted over 450 neighborhoods across the United States. One example is Common Grace Community Connection in the rural town of Athens, Maine. CFA member, Al Santino, came alongside Tim Curtis as he worked to form this community action group. The group has grown in size and impact as they go about the work of community development. Some highlights over the past year have included increased participation in Common Grace, continued initiatives such as a local garden pathway project, and new working relationships being formed among four area churches. Training and exploration of asset based community development principles have led to more involvment and a neighbor led initiative called, “The Bridge.” This outreach benefits residents of a local women’s shelter who have the opportunity to learn skills such as gardening and canning while being encouraged spiritually. Excitement continues to grow as neighbors seek to impact their community in positive ways.
To learn more about the work of CFA members click here.
February 3, 2012 1 Comment
I have been mindful of the church being a potential community change agent for the Kingdom of God all of my ministry life. However, I have not had the skills or the language to bring about a transformational ministry in a meaningful or sustained manner in area neighborhoods. Learning about and being trained in ABCD principles through the Communities First Association for the past two years has given me hope and equipped me to engage area neighborhoods differently. But, I have remained frustrated by the lack of engagement on the part of the body of Christ in these communities.
Through a recent CFA recommendation I read, When Helping Hurts, and Toxic Charity. These books, and the detailed application of the principles they provide, have given me the tools I needed to think through the application of ABCD principles in my context. I have been able to evaluate my approaches to date and to jettison those strategies that have been ineffective or inappropriate to the specific community development efforts I have been making. This has transformed my thinking and my approach to reaching neighborhoods and area churches and Christians for the purpose of community development. In particular, I am recognizing my own resistance to applying ABCD principles even though I believe in them.
For example, my compassion for the poor and hurting leads me to get involved in to/for ministries even though I know these are temporary fixes and not solutions. I also realize my motivation to help, to serve, is often part of our corporate desire to feel good about ourselves; that we are doing a good thing in Jesusʼ name. It is truly difficult to recognize these feelings and behaviors as being potentially hurtful.
My concern at this point is how to champion ABCD in ways that will be helpful among area communities without alienating the many well-intentioned efforts of area ministries in the process. A recent change in my approach is to share these books and their concepts with several ministry friends. There has been a positive response to this so far. Steve Edwards and Tom Andrews, who are involved with the Breakthrough Center in Hampton, have asked me to meet with them to discuss community strategies. Our OneChurch board is also reaching out to the Lackey area of York County to explore with opportunities.
February 1, 2012 1 Comment
Wendy McCaig, Embrace Richmond
Most economically challenged communities experience scarcity of resources such as food, clothing, and especially things that cannot be purchased with food stamps like cleaning supplies, diapers and paper products. Over the past few years we have been experimenting with ways of providing for these basic needs of our community without fostering dependency.
In Asset Based Community Development the first question we ask is, “What does the community have to work with?” In our community, the answer to this question is time. Less than 30% of the residents are employed. This reality led us to experiment with various forms of time-banks over the years. In a “time-bank” system, participants earn “service credits” when they serve in the community. Those credits are then redeemed for goods and services. We are just getting our time bank off the ground in Hillside Court, but we used this approach extensively for our furniture bank program. The advantages to this approach, which is very similar to a co-op model, are very exciting.
We have found in our use of time banks over the years, that it is a good way of insuring fair distribution of goods as well as developing relationships. Given that depression brought on by isolation is one of the key issues facing our community, relationships are often in shorter supply than basic goods and services. By requiring an investment on the part of the recipient, this approach increases the recipient’s sense of ownership, and enhances the relationships between the residents as they serve together in the community. Time Banking utilizes what people have, while allowing them to access what they need.
Giving out food, clothing, and other goods is not a bad thing, but it should be seen as an emergency response and not as a long-term solution. Research shows that participating in feeding lines, food pantries, and other forms of charity that require nothing of the recipient can actually devalue a person’s sense of dignity, create dependency, and fuel a spirit of entitlement if it becomes a way of life. What I love about a co-op/time bank approach is that the need gets met, and the person is actually investing in the ongoing development of the community. This act of giving actually increases self-esteem and fosters a sense of community pride.
I know this type of approach will be messy. It is far easier to give away stuff, but I have seen how the hard work involved in setting up an Asset Based Community Development system pays off in the long-run as the residents take ownership of their future and that of their neighborhood.
January 30, 2012 1 Comment
A Better Way from CFA Videos on Vimeo.
January 26, 2012 Leave a comment
Wayne Squires-Partners In Neighborhood Transformation, a ministry of The Other Way
Story by Kurt Reppart, Director of Family Development at The Other Way
Some of our most satisfying work at The Other Way happens around food and tables. Throughout the year on Monday evenings, 8-10 families get together in the Family Center to share a meal. Each family brings a dish to pass, and we literally get to taste the variety of cultures represented. The experience is rich. The goal of these gatherings is to build a community of trust and support. We do this by listening to each other, sharing our stories, playing games, and reflecting on God’s Word together.
After the meal is finished, the children are dismissed for enrichment activities so that the adults can have some focused conversation. This fall these adult conversations centered on the topic of “passing on our values to our children”. We broke up into 3 groups, and the atmosphere was full of joy and discovery as our discussion narrowed to how to foster responsibility in our children. Represented in the room were a wide range of values, ideas, and practical wisdom. The variety of experiences was rich. Several important things happened as we shared: we learned from one another, our love for our children was affirmed, and we all left with new insights and new ideas to try. The conversation will continue, but this particular conversation provided solid ground to build upon; to build community and to build hope.
January 24, 2012 Leave a comment
Monika Grasley-LifeLine CDC of Merced County
Winton, California is known for unemployment, drug abuse and gangs, but for a growing number of community members it is becoming a community of hope, caring and working together. Several years ago a number of community members decided to “Put Winton on the map for something good” for a change and so under Ernie Solis’s leadership (who is coached in Asset Based Community Development) more and more people are working together for the common good.
This Christmas a neighbor donated a Christmas tree to the small community center that is the hub for many activities. Since there was no money for fancy decorations every community member who entered the center received a plain blank Christmas ornament and was asked to write on it one of their gifts (skills, abilities, passions) that they are willing to share with the community. The end result was a beautiful tree decorated with gifts.
As part of the ongoing conversation several people wanted to put a Christmas dinner together for the homeless of the community, but then decided it should be open to everyone. The word got out; people volunteered. Some purchased turkeys and supplies, others were willing to cook them, some wanted to help with decorating, others brought what they had. And so on December 29 a beautiful feast was spread out: Turkey, mashed potatoes, beans, stuffing, dessert, coffee, and cider. Everyone brought what they had and shared in this amazing feast.
Over 100 neighbors filled the room as Christmas music played in the background, and laughter and conversation filled the space. Gang members and seniors, young and old, undocumented community members and old-timers, homeless and business people all sitting beside each other and enjoying a beautiful time while the Christmas tree filled with gifts of community members stood in the corner of the room.
People who would never interact with each other under normal circumstances now heard each other’s stories. People who had prejudices against each other sat beside each other and broke down some walls. LifeLine CDC has a saying that “Everyone no matter how rich has a need. Everyone no matter how poor has a gift. That is why we build and celebrate community.” It was a beautiful sight to see this happening and know that it is one small part of community transformation.
