Christian Air-raid

During the spring, summer, and fall, our neighborhood sees a steady stream of Christian evangelists coming from outside the city to minister for an afternoon or two to the people of Allison Hill. I find it interesting that so many churches and religious groups target our neighborhood as one desperately in need of God over others in the general region. They see the condemned houses in our neighborhood, the unemployed people sitting on their porches, hear about drug activity and shootings, and think that we must have a huge religious void here. Do you know how many churches South Allison Hill has? Over twenty. Over twenty churches between Cameron and 18th, Market and Paxton St. You can't stand on a main road in our neighborhood and not see at least two church buildings. It may be that our churches need to step up their ministries, but I think the issue is something different. While we have twenty churches, we have only one bank. What we need in our area is economic development to give people a chance to support themselves and their families. I think it is much more likely that the condition of our neighborhood and the people who live in it stems more from a lack of jobs than it does a lack of God.

Improvement before the improvement

The city of Harrisburg has gotten funds to fix up roads in the city- many in my neighborhood: Market St, 17th St., Berryhill. There are now stretches of Market Street that you can drive on without dodging potholes, etc. There have, of course, been fallings-out between city council and the group redoing the streets... I'm not really interested in the politics. The thing I think is funny is this... right now 17th St. is a mess: one group is working on updating something (plumbing, electric... don't know) in front of every house on the street. Part of the street is redone, part of it is not, and part of it has been stripped. The thing is, even in its stripped state, 17th St. is STILL in better shape right now than it was previously. The ride is actually smoother. How sad! (And I can't wait 'til it's all done!)

Food!

I know I haven't posted for a while, but today, I simply have to post about food. Yesterday, I picked up our very first share of the season from Allison Hill's own CSA (community-supported agriculture), the Joshua Farm. Kirsten at the farm works endlessly with the students of the Joshua Group to produce incredible food for members- yesterday we picked up strawberries, mint, bok choi, lettuce, sugar snap peas, green onions, and flowers for a bouquet. There's nothing better than eating fresh food produced organically that we walked to pick up from its growing place. I look forward to a whole summer of delicious veggies and fruit! Speaking of food... I have a confession about one of my favorite sounds of the neighborhood that I've been hearing more and more often. The ice cream truck. Who actually has ice cream trucks anymore? And yet, we do, and I feel nostalgic and hungry for ice cream every time I hear the tinkling music playing down the street. On a hot, sweaty day like the ones coming up, there's no better sound.

Our Future

Yesterday, my husband and I stood out in the chilly morning at 7:00am to attend our neighborhood's Easter Sunrise Service, located at 13th and Derry. Despite the cold, it's always a neat chance to see others from Allison Hill that you don't normally see, worshiping the risen Jesus. Seven girls from Center For Champions were there, to participate in the service by doing a dance. As I watched these seven girls of several hues, arms goosebumped in their short-sleeved outfits, intent upon creating beauty, it hit me again how fragile the future of our community is. These girls have a beauty and a dignity about them, and a strength that I pray will continue, as they continue their schooling. There is such a fine line between hope and despair, and the children of Harrisburg struggle to achieve success against so many odds, including the politics of their education and the socio-economic disadvantages handed to them from birth. I fervently pray that these girls continue to fight on for the betterment of their lives, and not give in to the hopelessness surrounding many people in our community. The world needs their beauty.