By Pamela Stringfield
“If you want to see a neighborhood flourish, put down the clipboard,” is something I often tell people when they ask me how they can do the kind of work FCS does. When we want to see change happen in a community, we need to look past spreadsheets and bullet points.
Ideally, healthy change unfolds by bringing together people and resources to come alongside the leadership of people rooted in the neighborhood. It takes a lot of time to build those genuine, mutual relationships with people in proximity. At FCS, we understand that not every partner or person can know neighbors directly. Yet each of us can practice centering the voices of neighbors, knowing that listening to their insights is the most effective and human way to bring healthy change to a neighborhood.
I saw the fruit of this slow, soft approach last December when I saw Ms. Betty’s smiling face at Pride for Parents, our local holiday pop-up shop. She had helped to organize, staff, and run the entire store alongside two other neighbors. To Ms. Betty, leading the store held a deeper meaning, too. She was also honoring the memory of granddaughter, a girl who adored Christmas and passed away several years ago. When Ms. Betty saw the families come into the store, ready to find that perfect gift to bring a smile to their loved ones’ face, she knew she was keeping her granddaughter’s spirit alive in South Atlanta.
No clipboard, no spreadsheet, can capture that depth of meaning. No strategic plan can force those moments. Ms. Betty came to run the store because she had already been connected to the food co-op, trusted FCS, and had a heart full of love for her community. And the Christmas store was better thanks to her leadership, too. I saw shoppers light up in a new way when they saw her warm, familiar face. Our connection to Ms. Betty made everything better – the store, the experience for shoppers, and Ms. Betty’s own sense of love for her family and her community. This is the power of lingering. Of putting down the clipboard. Of putting the idea of neighborhood engagement into action.
“At the end of the day, I’m a community activist. I saw an opportunity to create big smiles on everyone’s faces, and I had to jump in,” Ms. Betty said of her involvement with Pride for Parents. She had the heart and drive to see her community flourish. FCS just got to set the space and invite her to lead it.
