You can’t walk away when you have a relationship
Standing up, standing together
There is incredible power in standing together. Dr. B. Charvez Russell, Senior Pastor at Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, has a long history of leadership, partnership, and community building. When Rev. Emily Goldthwaite, Director of Congregational Organizing at Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative (Beacon), reached out to Pastor Russell to invite his congregation to officially join the collaborative, the reignited work together meant something personal and professional to him. Pastor Russell exclaims, “Something that my dad said all the time, ‘we are better together’ speaks to the moment we realize that we can make our communities better.”
A strong orator, Pastor Russell was invited to influence a different kind of audience: those gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol. Beacon’s Ben Helvick Anderson, VP of Policy and Organizing asked Pastor Russell to encourage our state leaders to increase funding for supportive housing. “Legislators hear every day from lobbyists and insiders about what needs to happen. When people of faith and clergy come, they break through that noise. Their values-centered message creates clarity and recenters decisions on real people and the impacts they have on our communities.”
Pastor Russell, his faith community, and some of the other 70+ Beacon Collaborative members defended supportive housing at the state capital this year. He explains, “Having shelter is a basic right. It is something that stabilizes the community. It gets us to a point where you are less about survival mode and can get more into thriving mode. I felt honored and privileged even to be asked and given the opportunity. I think everybody who needs housing should have housing, and we have enough resources in our city and our state to do that. We can be a model for the country.”
Donating most needed items, responding to local need
Pastor Russell’s congregation also responded when they were asked to collect diapers, wipes, and other household supplies like laundry soap, toilet paper, and paper towels for Beacon resident families living on limited incomes. “[I said], hey everybody, we need to donate some diapers and wipes and things like that for the residents of Emerson Village. We got a great response and made two trips, and we still have a collection going on right now.” Beacon’s Rev. Emily Goldthwaite, recalls the congregation’s efforts with gratitude, “To move into a brand-new apartment after the experience of shelter is a critical transition for families. Their new, safe apartment creates stability. When congregations help in this way, our onsite service providers tell us residents express feeling surrounded by a caring community. This gives families and children a big boost as they get settled into their new homes.”
Choosing a trusted partner who is responsive and effective.
Pastor Russell encourages other faith communities to get more deeply involved as well. “These organizations that are aligned with our faith or aligned with the work that we do every day and the work that we want to do, it’s already here; all we have to do is just partner and work together. It’s a cyclical way of serving one another, that’s how we’re going to get there. You’ve got somebody who was homeless helping somebody else who is homeless.” When you build relationships with your neighbors and when you partner with other people who are doing good work, you build community. And the Beacon community is a compelling connection of people in relationship with one another, bound by faith, hope, and love.
Pastor Russell concludes, “You can’t walk away when you have a relationship.”
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