“Breathe Wendy, just breathe”, are words I heard a lot my first year leading our AmeriCorps program.  I had no idea what I was in for.   I was working as a full-time volunteer Executive Director and I hired 20 people almost all of whom were straight out of a drug treatment facility. ...

In June 2009, I fell while visiting in Hillside Court and shattered my wrist.  I had to have a plate put in my arm with several pins and skews to hold the various parts of my bones together.  I learned from the severity of my injury that I have osteopenia, which is a precursor to...

I have been coaching the missions director of an urban church that is seeking to be more developmental in their approach to meeting the needs of their neighbors.  The first question we had to answer is, “Who are your neighbors?” Over the past few months we have been meeting residents of...

photo © 2007 Wiros | more info (via: Wylio)My favorite way to spend a Friday night is to camp on the couch, set Pandora loose with one of my favorite songs and catch up with friends on Facebook and Twitter.  God always uses that background music to draw my attention to ordinary moments and...

photo © 2009 ZYG_ZAG | more info (via: Wylio)The one thing I brought back from my cruise that I would have liked to leave on the boat is a nasty little virus that has left me with a sore throat, runny nose and overall yucky feeling.   My husband caught it on Friday, I came down with it on...

Yesterday I escaped to our cabin in rural Virginia for much needed personal retreat.  I was lying on the picnic table studying the barren branches of the red oak tree above me, which appeared at first glance to be in its winter dormant state.  As I focused in on the branches, I realized...

“If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about your community in the next year, what would you change?”  This is the question we ask as a part of our initial asset mapping of our Hillside community.  I guess I should not be surprised to find that 100% of the individuals asked...

Earlier this week, I posted “Harmony and Gunfire”, a post in which I shared the blessings of our amazing MLK Day celebration and contrast it had with the gunfire that erupted just a few minutes after we left the community.  It was with fear and trembling that I hit the “post” button...

Monday we had more than 40 volunteers from 4 local congregations turn out to celebrate MLK Day with us in Hillside and Fairfield Court.  We had over 300 community residents participate in these celebrations.  It was wonderful to see black, white, people of means, people with limited means,...

Every time I teach Unity Works and people hear Charles’s story of how God set him free of addiction through an AA based recovery program, someone asks a question similar to this one from a participant a while back, “”I still have questions in my mind about the “God of my...

For the past several years Embrace has hosted a Christmas party for our volunteers.  We never really have much of a plan but somehow every year something amazing happens.  As I shared in my book, Becky and Cynthia met at an Embrace Richmond Christmas party which ultimately led to Becky...

photo © 2009 Kate | more info (via: Wylio)We live in Virginia but our family is in Texas.  Being apart from family can make holiday’s feel somewhat empty.  So this Thanksgiving, I decided to spend some time with my spiritual family in Hillside Court and I recruited my girls to go with...