I didn’t know what to expect this summer.  When I read the placement descriptions there was something about Broadway United Methodist Church that caught my attention: their focus on conversation and community.  However, it was at a church and I was not a theology major or planning to go into ministry work.  When I arrived on my first day I very quickly realized that Broadway was different than any of the churches I’d been to, and that started with the building.  Valpo may be home to the largest collegiate chapel in the United States, but I was still overwhelmed by the size of Broadway, or at least the way in which the space is used.  Broadway has 9 kitchens; it is home to an architecture firm, artists’ studios, a pottery studio, a dance studio, and a boutique.  I’m still not entirely sure where to find everything.  Broadway uses its space for the community and to support the community.  If the space can be used for someone share a gift or talent, it will be used.  This is because Broadway is focused on gifts and talents.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and a lot of listening my first few weeks at Broadway to help me better understand their work.  Broadway practices Assets Based Community Development.  This means that instead of asking someone what they need, you ask them what they’re good at.  Sometimes I feel like I am having to un-train myself.  I think many people have become so accustomed to caring for needs and seeing volunteer work as servicing a need, that the idea that there is another way to approach work with those in poverty has never crossed their minds.  However, asking people what they need is also asking them what they don’t have.  Assets based work moves away from a needs approach and looks at what gifts or assets a community has.  As Rev. Mather told me in a story about some of his previous work on one of my first days, “we stopped asking people how poor they were, and started asking them how rich they were.”  This is about seeing worth; it’s networking and finding gifts in the community that can be shared to the benefit of others.  It is about communities that are invested in one another: people who watch out for kids and have skills that their neighbors can benefit from and vice versa.  Assets based work means that people have agency, and it also shows that communities already have the talent and tools to be stronger when people work together.  We all benefit from an assets based approach because we build relationships.

I’ve had many conversations and been introduced to many people in my first few weeks.  I’ve listened as an artist shared stories of his process, and shared insight into the power of observation.  I’ve interviewed students for the summer roving program—where kids go around to meet and bless their neighbors—and listened to them describe themselves and their neighbors.  This week we’ve been going to the homes of the students that were hired to get to know them and their parents.  As myself and the other intern and roving coordinators walk to these homes, I learn more about the neighborhood and the people I am working with.  The first visits in the neighborhood were intimidating.  Talking to strangers is not easy, but every conversation has taught me something.  Everyone is so friendly, and the conversations go in so many directions, pleasantly surprising me as I learn about the people in this community.  I find that I already recognize faces as we walk to the next house, and people are quick to say hello if you walk past them on their porch.  We live in communities and we benefit from remembering that, from having conversations and sharing our gifts.  When we start to build relationships we see people for what they have, and the idea that we can miss out on gifts because we focus on needs is a reminder of how important conversation and connection is.  We all benefit when we see our neighbor for their gifts and talents.