On Monday, January 25th, we held our second community meeting for the neighbors that live around Susan B Anthony School at the Ted C. Wills Community Center. The neighbors created the agenda for the meeting based on topics they wanted to see addressed. Using the concerns they brought up as a guideline, we were able to bring in speakers to discuss those issues. Representatives from the Fresno Police Department presented along with the S.P.C.A. This allowed the community members to express concerns they had with regards to speeding traffic around the school, drugs, and violence in the neighborhood directly with the Police Department. Fresno PD gave some great advice on how to best protect their neighborhood, and it started with getting to know your neighbors… something we could all learn from.
Hopefully these community meetings can help create a culture where the neighbors can get to know each other and begin to band together. Even in sharing a meal together, they became better acquainted with each other as well as our team of volunteers. Our goal is to see leaders rise up in the community to take over these meetings. We hope to simply come alongside them and work together to see change happen. The Lord is continuously providing us with opportunities to form relationships and serve Him and we are so thankful for that!