As week two comes to a close, I will share a little more about Cultivate. As I go over some of Cultivate’s history and its mission I will also share what I have done in the past two weeks and what is going on in my mind.

Cultivate originally began as an off-shoot of Veritas Community Church. With my history of trauma involving church menticide, I am always suspicious of churches and religions in general, but so far there have been no conflicts or boundary concerns for me – at least any that get in the way of my work. Cultivate so far seems very non-secular and the Veritas members working in the office don’t bother Cultivate. Interactions have been pleasant. To describe Veritas in a simple way – it is a white church and they’ve been engaged in outreach services in a predominantly black neighborhood. It honestly sounds sketchy to me, but church community services can make a positive impact. Cultivate’s board has also gone through changes to better reflect Milo. The current executive director is also a long-time resident as well. I am optimistic.

One of my projects at Cultivate is to further develop the youth programming and to facilitate it. Cultivate runs on three pillars: Know Neighbors, Foster Local Leadership, and Ensure a Vibrant Neighborhood For All. I can get behind all this. I want my community center to be based around these values! Authentic connections are important for people and communities to grow. We can learn so much from each other because of our unique identities. Leadership is important! Economic disparities need to end and that can’t happen if people don’t take a stand, unite, organize, and persist with their demands. It also looks like going out on your own to talk to or lend a hand to a neighbor. And to sustain all of this, people need to be healthy and thrive where they are living. One of the ways to do that is to offer green space! Parks, gardens, and nutritional food go a long way.      

As part of the leadership programming, I shared my input that although the kids have signed the agreements they were given after applying, to really be leaders, they should create their own agreements with each other and for the next co-hort. I do not like telling people what to do either. I will try my best to teach the kids about accessibility, inclusivity, keeping it real, and with their input, we will all get to make decisions. I think it’s important that the kids be more involved in creating the program they participate in.

A few other things I’ve done this week, which I hope to continue, is work with the new ‘empowerment coach’, attend a civic meeting, attend an area commission meeting, go on a few home visits to help folks living here, and I’ve been compiling and brokering resources. The later of which is a focus of mine as a social work professional and outside of my professional life. I have a history of using welfare programs and frankly, even though many of them are trash, they can sometimes make the difference between living and being dead. It isn’t right to hoard the resources. I am also trying to think of ways to stay engaged with community members and to persuade them to get more involved in Cultivate so Cultivate can be theirs. I am continually learning that getting others involved one of the hardest things about social service. People do not recognize their own power and there is such a fine line between empowering people and teaching them dependence or “learned helplessness.”