Thank you to everyone who joined us on March 22, 2023 for a celebration of community!

Neighbor-of-the-Year: Rev. Dr. Jim Dewey

Words from Executive Director, Clare Wallace:

I have the privilege of honoring one person in particular. I should mention he doesn’t know we’re about to sing his praises because he would have told us not to. He would say that his dedication to this work is not for recognition, but simply an answer to a calling. While he is our Neighbor of the Year, it’s far bigger than that. It’s more like a lifetime achievement award.

48 years ago SLCM was founded, and on that Board was a visionary leader, Rev. Dr. James Dewey. Now he hasn’t been on the Board that whole time, but when I was getting started four years ago someone, to my relief, convinced him to join the board again, and I have been incredibly lucky to have his guidance.

I mean this deeply. I believe that South Louisville Community Ministries has had such a clear vision, one that is courageous yet constant, compassionate yet humble.

Now that’s a constant and challenging balance to maintain for 50 years, but from all that I’ve seen and heard, we have stayed committed to community ministry. And I think that has everything to do with Jim Dewey. He would say it’s not his vision alone, which I do not doubt, but his clarity around that vision is inspiring. It is not bogged down or muddied by self-importance or self-righteousness. Everything he does is centered around taking care without end. Each person who has been under his wing has felt this abundance, wondering how he can take such notice and deliberation in their own life when there seem to be so many people under that same wing!

I have leaned on his encouragement more than he knows. This work can be extremely heavy, but as if he knows I need it, reminds me of the profound truth that to create community around kinship is the most important piece of this work. At the center of it all, he reminds us that people need to be seen, and heard, and loved and cherished. And I have no doubt that his steadfast understanding of what it means to build a beloved community, is why we’re all here tonight. 

He is also a reason why SLCM and Lynnhurst UCC are such close partners. This small but mighty congregation has given so much of themselves to the community ministries. Dear friends, everything you’ve done for our families, all those volunteer hours and dollars given, have had an impact that we can’t begin to imagine or understand.

Tonight, it is a privilege to honor all that you have done for South Louisville, Jim. Many people who are here and who could not make it wanted to give a donation in your name so we can honor your service to the community by loving our community even more. More than $6000 was donated in your honor, and will change the lives of many, to be sure. 

I also hope we never lose sight of your vision and that north star that is our beloved community. To help make sure that happens, we’ve asked our friends at Little Loomhouse to create this artwork with a partnering plaque to always remind us of your kindness and encouragement to do the right thing. We are eternally grateful. 

Nancy’s Story

I’m from the Congo, but came to Louisville through Burundi. I moved here in June of 2012 and started at Newcomer Academy and graduated from Central High School. I spent a lot of time in South Louisville at Americana Community Center where they helped me a lot with homework and papers and things. I think through that support, I was able to get into Berea College where I finished my Bachelor’s degree in 2020. 

The last year at school was interesting with classes canceled due to the pandemic. We were coming back from spring break and arrived on Monday, and on a Tuesday three years ago, we were given less than a week to pack up and go home. I live with my mom, my sister, and my brother, and even when I was in high school, the water bill was my responsibility so I’ve been working since then. I started as a waitress in a nursing home, and then at Berea I cleaned the bathrooms, but fortunately moved up to some data entry work. 

After I graduated, the struggle really started. I applied to more than 30 jobs while I was working as a part-time caregiver, but they kept cutting my hours to where I couldn’t pay all of my bills. I also needed something close because I didn’t have a car so my mom had to drop me off and pick me up before and after she worked. 

That’s when I came to South Louisville Community Ministries to ask for some advice about what to do. While I continued to search for work, I became a Rosewater Fellow where I helped at the bookstore for an hourly stipend toward my most important bills. They also hired me to drive meals for the Meals on Wheels program, which I was only able to do because someone donated a car through SLCM and they gave it to me so I could look for better jobs. It’s a 2003 Toyota Matrix getting close to 200,000 miles, but I’ve named her Ferrari. 

After about a year of looking, I finally found a job. I now work at the Transplant Center at Jewish Hospital as a Department Support Assistant, which is a step in the right direction for graduate school. This May, I’ll be applying for dental school and one day I hope to be a dentist. I know that dental care is often not available to people who can’t afford it, and I know that dental care can be life changing. So one day, I hope to give back everything I’ve been given and provide affordable, accessible care. 

I truly don’t know where I’d be without South Louisville Community Ministries’ help. I wouldn’t have been able to help my family with bills or cover my own. I wouldn’t have a car which means I couldn’t have taken this job. It’s scary to think about. 

I’m just grateful for this kind of support. Sometimes it’s hard when you don’t see a light, but when someone gives you what you need to be okay, it gives you hope and strength to keep going. That’s an even bigger gift than the car or the flexible job. I was given a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Director’s Address: The Miracle of Community

I recently read that a family is a group of people who eat the same thing for dinner. So over our ham and collard greens, we have become a big, beautiful family. And I’m so grateful for it. You all are already a visionary community, to be sure, but more on that soon. First, I’d like to tell a quick story. 

Once a month on Friday’s at 4PM, I drive across town and head up to the third floor of what otherwise feels like an abandoned office building. And there to greet me are three retired ministers, one Presbyterian, one Catholic, and one Disciple of Christ. I know this sounds like the beginning of a classic joke, but these three men exist in real life. I have no idea why I was invited to join their gathering because I’m not an ordained minister and I’m twenty years younger than all of them. But God knows I have a lot to add to the conversation which is always around the Common Good. 

Their theory is that, as a society, we are losing sight of our responsibility to each other and the joy that can bring. The Common Good is at risk, they say. When I was in Senegal with the Peace Corps, you could walk into any compound during lunch time and you would be fed. The crazy part is that it happened all the time! Life was slower and I had about three things on my to-do list every day and lunch was one of them so I would be hovering around the shared bowl, ready to squat as soon as my host mom handed me a spoon. So when people would wander in and begin the Senegalese greeting that takes no less than a full thirty seconds, I would try to make eyes with other family members like, who is this guy?! Why are we handing him a spoon too?! But we’d all scooch, somehow always fitting every person, shoulder to shoulder around that beautiful bowl. So I know what the Common Good looks like. They even have a word for it, Teranga, the definition encompassing the warmth, generosity, and sharing that is core to Senegalese life. It’s something I’m constantly on the lookout for because I believe that the Common Good, Teranga, can’t be lost. It’s a part of who we are as human beings. Sure, we can get distracted by all the stuff and our to-do lists. Even more-so, we’re told time and time again there’s not enough, not enough room around the bowl. 

Looking out at you all, I see more than 200 people who would scooch. You’d make some room and share what you have. And that makes sense because that’s what we do at South Louisville Community Ministries! We are a community of hundreds of individuals who give our time, our money, our patience, our listening ears, our embracing arms, our talents, our love to whoever walks through those doors. 

And that’s why I’m standing here in front of you all. I’m like that old metal device that can find natural springs (allegedly), being pulled in the direction of water. Except instead of water, I’m looking for Teranga, bursts of human spirit that gives more than it takes, knowing that’s where true abundance lies. And you all are bursting with that goodness. 

You may be thinking that I’m just saying this because it sounds nice, but I mean it. I have such an honor of knowing a good deal of you, and if I don’t, I know your names. I know what you’ve done for SLCM and the community at large. There are no big-wigs here. No high and mighty folks that we have to cater our speech to. I know that’s not a great fundraising strategy if no one in this room can write a big fat check, but I’d rather have big fat hearts, and brother, we’ve got ‘em. 

And my goodness, look at what we’ve been able to do with those hearts leading the way. 

We’ve transformed our food pantry to be a choice model, which allows our neighbors to choose the food they actually want to eat. Our brilliant volunteers have been with us through a multitude of transitions these past three years and this one tops all of them with challenges and changes, but they’ve stuck with us because they know how grateful people are for the added dignity. 

We’ve committed to offering cleaning and hygiene supplies to anyone who walks in. And people are so relieved for soap, we’ve decided to keep it stocked, requiring a new bulk order a couple of times a month. 

We have begun to offer case management services and are leaning on our Medicaid and nonprofit partners for necessary support. So now for Monica, a single mother of three young children, I can help her communicate with her landlord about the plumbing issue and put a little pressure on him to fix it so we can come up with a plan to pay for the $4000 water bill. I can help her find a job by filling out the I-9 form, which anyone can fill out, but she doesn’t have anyone. I can help her get a voucher for daycare by finding a workaround on the Kynect help line.  Most of all, she tells me that every time she sees me, she feels better, a surge of hope that all the hard stuff won’t last. 

We’re leading the program, StopMyEviction, and making sure thousands of people have access to rent assistance that they first applied for last year through the state.

We’re connecting people, stories, ideas together to address service gaps and barriers to resources across the city. We lead not individually, but collectively, creating and sharing space for new ideas and relationships. 

Most of my days are either spent deep in the weeds of someone’s urgent crisis, trying to prioritize and problem solve a multitude of complex challenges, or it’s trying to do the incredibly slow work of addressing root causes. Both tasks sometimes feel like I’m that hummingbird trying to put out a forest fire with a drop of water at a time, you know? Or bailing out the ocean with a cap of an acorn. You get it. It can feel impossible and hopeless and draining, but every morning, I get up, take my daughter to daycare and do what I can to move that needle. 

Why do I keep going? Because each drop is a beloved neighbor of mine and to them, it’s not just a drop, but their home. It’s their child’s smile. It’s knowing that they aren’t alone. It’s feeling safe enough to hope for better things to come. 

How do I keep going? You all! I’m a part of an incredible collective that is also moving water, drops at a time. I know Alix is making sure people have fresh produce. And Norma and Haja and Karen are taking care of our international community. And Tony is advocating for policy that allows more affordable housing. And Debbie started an after-school program. And Marvita and Todd and the team are delivering meals to seniors. And Ilse and Loren are cooking and delivering hot food. And Kim and Jasamine are taking care of all of us at SLCM. And Bill and Phoebe check in with hundreds of neighbors every week, meaning it when they ask, “how are you doing”? And Monica is packing food orders. And Terry is taking minutes and photos and is breaking down cardboard boxes. And Genene is gathering us hygiene supplies. And Amy is painting us a mural. And Alicia is knee deep in the fine print to turn a parking lot into safe housing. And Dan the Man is hauling food off the truck into shelves. And Don and Nedra and PJ are setting up the Farmers Market. And Rick and Moxxie is running the Rosewater bookstore. And Dawne! Dawne is sharing the good news, bringing us together: 

And what’s the good news? We are capable of whatever we can imagine. And it’s because we are taking such good care of each other. We are a family helping families!  And love only grows in one direction and that’s outward. I cannot convey how much of an honor it is to know you all. There is nothing more spectacular.