I sat down to write a blog about the week, thinking I didn't really have anything to share. However, as I reflected on the week, I realized that I have gotten to interact with four neighbors on my block and one SoCe office neighbor. That seems like a good week! And it's only Friday!
Read MoreYesterday afternoon, we delivered 4 garden boxes in SoCe. It was great to re-connect with the neighbors who had requested these boxes in late March/early April. One of the neighbors plans to grow herbs and peppers in his box. The couple across the street have such faith in us that they have been nurturing a pepper plant, some sage, and 2 tomato plants in containers in their front yard, so that they would have plants ready for the box! Their neighbor also received a box, adorned with owls. When she saw the mural, she exclaimed,...
Read MoreIt was great to have some new volunteers come over this morning to help build the next batch of garden boxes. We have boxes in all different stages. Matt dismantled fence panels and cut boards to length. Our volunteers, Dylan and Bailey, caught on quickly and were happy to build box #30!
Read MoreThis week, AJ and I have been finishing the boxes that we built during the build event earlier this month. We paint the outside of the boxes to protect them from weathering and then stencil SoCe Life on the sides. We are down to...
Read MoreHighlight 2: The Abundant Community Network
Throughout the summer months we saw great connections happening between neighbors and we clearly saw the importance and power of our work, however...
On Thursday afternoon we had our first visitor to our Little Free Library. We looked out the office window and saw a woman with a stroller checking out our book collection. I went out to meet her. She said she was selecting books for the sleeping child in the stroller - maybe her granddaughter. She offered that she had some books...
Read MoreOur December craft day was a blast! Eight women came to my house for an enjoyable morning of telling stories, getting to know each other, and crafting. Four of my neighbors...
Read MoreI left the house around 1:10 pm on Saturday, November 5, 2016. Matt’s mom and Matt and Catherine and myself went out to New China Buffet at 47th and Broadway for my 60th birthday...
Read MoreWe had our November SoCe craft day today. Our topic was origami. We have a neighbor who invited her aunt to come all the way from Emporia because she has always wanted to learn origami! We did our best to live up to her expectations...
Read MoreOn Saturday, October 15 the South Central Neighborhood Association, under the hard work and leadership of Janet and Jackie, hosted the annual neighborhood clean-up. That doesn’t sound like much fun...
Read MoreYes, that's actually a trick question! On Saturday, Oct. 15th the South Central Neighborhood Association is hosting their annual neighborhood clean-up. It is a partnership between the neighborhood association and the city of Wichita. Volunteers start at...
Read MoreIn the gospel of Matthew, chapter 9, Jesus makes this statement:
...“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” For a long time, I’ve looked at this passage through the lens of consumer church-ianity.
Here is a little take on a class that Matt and I are attending, called Bridges out of Poverty. This program was developed by Ruby Payne in 2005. The training is designed to highlight mental and core concepts about how we approach poverty...
Read MoreWe had a contemplative, restorative craft morning visiting and creating collages. It was fun to flip through magazines - sharing stories and getting sidetracked by delicious-looking fall recipes.
Read MoreThese last few weeks have been a busy time of completing our 2016 garden box orders. It has not been the best weather - such high humidity that the paint runs when we try to stencil our logo on new boxes! However, we have been persevering and by tomorrow we hope to have a total of...
Read More¡Hola vecinos de SoCe! Esta es otra critica de comida.
Well, that’s as far as my Spanish goes because we have not learned past tense yet!
We ate at Las Garzas at the corner of...
Read MoreA big part of what we do is invite people to be neighborly. This can be as simple as waving to your neighbors, chatting with folks for a few minutes in your front yard, and sharing stuff like tools and food. Honestly, it is pretty small stuff...but it has a surprisingly big impact...
Read MoreHospitality is the welcoming of strangers, and generosity is an offer with no expectations of return. These are two elements that we want to nurture...
Read MoreIt was awesome! On Friday, August 26, SoCe Life hosted our first ever Final Friday event. We had photography on display by one of our neighbors: Brian Gray (you can find him on facebook here). We had snacks provided by friends and neighbors. And we had live music by Brutal Bear!
It was awesome! On Friday, August 26, SoCe Life hosted our first ever Final Friday event. We had photography on display by one of our neighbors: Brian Gray (you can find him on facebook here). We had snacks provided by friends and neighbors. And we had live music by Brutal Bear!
