This Month's Story
Involvement in Ministry
Gary Nachtigall
Community Activism as an Extension of Personal Faith
In the early 1970’s we purchased a house on Kerckhoff Avenue. The gentrification process was underway. Young, upwardly mobile persons found bargains in older deteriorating houses, fixed them up, and lived in them. For the first time, I began to understand the importance of healthy neighborhood life, not only to property values, but also for family life.
As the aesthetic and monetary values of our homes improved, it soon became apparent that houses are easier to repair than a neighborhood’s sense of community. On Kerckhoff Avenue, neighborliness had been replaced with crime, fear, and mistrust, problems that don’t heal quickly.
And so, I began investing time and effort, educating myself about the processes of neighborhood and community decay and revitalization. Then I sought out likeminded others. Together, we would improve the safety and appearance of the neighborhood we now shared.
Our project started with three families who made the commitment to a weekly potluck meal together. Shared food led to shared tools, and more importantly, shared life for our young families.
Today I serve as chair of a committee that oversees planning issues for southeast Fresno. I was recently appointed to a committee working on a major revitalization project for Fresno’s downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. This work is a continuation of my earlier interest in providing for a safe and healthy neighborhood for my family.
I have come to believe that healthy neighborhoods are vital to our democracy. They are the one place where persons with varied ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds find it in their personal and family interest to share the bonds of community, for the good of themselves and the good of the whole.
The command to love our neighbors as ourselves is more than a religious injunction; it is a requirement for a healthy neighborhood, a healthy city, a healthy nation, and a healthy world.