Meeting Up and Neighborhood Activism

I joined a couple of groups on Meetup.com.  On of which was a historical outdoor tour group.  They forwarded an email from the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association.  The local president, Scott, does this once a year and turn out was quite good.  About sixty of us showed up:  a mish-mash of local residents, volunteers from Preservation Durham, and some visitors from out of town.

While walking, there was a very talkative lady named "Sara".  We got to talking.  She is a student of theology at a Mennonite Seminary in Indiana and was down here for a conference at Duke.  

While walking, Scott talked about  how some community housing groups were trying to renovate old houses as affordable, historical housing.  I immediately thought of my co-worker, Dan, who lives in West Durham and the group he is a part of.  While walking, on to the next stop, I heard Sara talking with a couple about Rutba House.  This was Dan's group.  His group had bought and restored four houses in a low-income community.  The goal was to form a Christian community with a bent on social activism, where anyone is welcome to stay.  


I started talking with those people and Sara.  Turned out that the couple also were active at Rutba House and knew Dan.  Instant connection.  We chatted about social activism and Dan and his family.  It really added dimension to the day.  Overall, a good experience of meeting new people based on a common interest.  Looking forward to football season when the Ral-Eagles meet up.