The Sparrow Community House

how the summer began

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:21:48 -0400

living in community is the hardest thing i’ve ever done. i say this weekly and mean it. but in may, i found myself repeating it almost daily. conflict plagued the house, reorganization became necessary, and a lot of the house members started asking “what the heck are we doing”?

june rolled around and though a house member had moved out, a communal meal plan had been organized, and planting was in full swing; i was expecting more of the same. my lack of faith in the community had drained me and was certainly taxing my housemates. i was kind of starting to feel like i had failed at this community-building thing. and then i took a moment to stop being obsessed with my own importance, my own reputation. this whole experience is about the successes and struggles of a group of people raised in a culture that undermines collective action. it isn’t about whether or not this community of people fit into my vision of what we should be. it is about our collective process, about the community we’re becoming, about the shared vision we’re living into.

it is so very hard to let go of popular ideas of achievement, to stop regarding so highly the opinions of people who don’t do this work, and to start listening to one another. but eventually, we have gotten down to that good work and found that we like what we are doing.

pear tree in front of the sparrow community house

“to be homeless the way people like you and me are apt to be homeless is to have homes all over the place but not to be really at home in any of them. to be really at home is to be really at peace, and our lives are so intricately interwoven that there can be no real peace for any of us until there is peace for all of us.” -Frederick Buechner

you need a ride?

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:03:05 -0400

you need a ride?:

tomorrow, folks in atlanta who rely on public transportation are facing a huge blow. marta (metropolitan atlanta rapid transit authority) service has always been spotty and unreliable at best. it can’t even begin to compete with bart in san francisco or the t in boston but it was what atlanta had to offer and a lot of people made due. but on april 20th, buses and trains that are going to be scrapped will be marked for elimination. facing a $120 million dollar deficit and a lack of state aid, marta will cut service. who will lose their job as the result of a lack of reliable transportation? which communities will be cut off from services? atlanta’s unmitigated onslaught on the poor pretty much answers those and a myriad of other questions.

check out act now’s website for updates.

the promise of april

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:10:46 -0400

there are eggs in the kitchen and shovels in the soil. april is shaping up to be an eventful and incredibly promising month for the house. we’ll be planting most mornings and having dinner together 5 nights a week starting next week. if you’re feeling lonely, bored, or just want to go to bed with that accomplished, tired feeling…come by!

we’re also planning to have the next house zine printed and distributed by the end of the month. if we have your address, we’ll be sending one your way. otherwise, drop by the house and pick up a copy.

and on one final note: we need need need a tiller. the soil in our yard is clay heavy and without a tiller we will have to scrap our dreams of a community garden in favor of a community pottery shop. or we’ll have to buy a mule, and we don’t want to be those neighbors. help us out.

our chickens are moved into place thanks to our helpers, big and...

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:02:00 -0400

our chickens are moved into place thanks to our helpers, big and small, who served during the work party! thanks to everyone who cleared privetts, picked up trash, dug up the driveway, and caught runaway chickens. above, larahna, teaches three little chicken wranglers about egg laying (the eggs are in the basket).

a mysterious fax machine showed up on our doorstep a few days...

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:03:00 -0500

a mysterious fax machine showed up on our doorstep a few days ago. if you have information about our new addition, give us a call or, for that matter, send a facsimile! we’d love to thank the donor.

save the date

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:42:00 -0500

it’s been decided…the work day will be march 14th! we’re going to try and get things under way by 11:30 am and work as long as possible. mark your calendars, friends. come for an hour or stay ‘til the sun goes down. we need your hands and your heart.

field labor #5 by michele ramirez

"Most of the people on earth today are paralyzed by what are said to be the consequences of their..."

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:28:00 -0500

“Most of the people on earth today are paralyzed by what are said to be the consequences of their sins. The destitute of the world have it hammered into their consciousness—by those who, like the scribes, have the power in our day to define sins—that they are poor because they are lazy; or that they are poor because they have mismanaged their resources; or because they have squandered opportunities; or because, in the most blatantly evil definitions of guilt, they are black or female or homosexual or members of whatever part of humanity the powerful choose to define as subhuman and sinful. Paralysis, hunger, homelessness and early death are, according to the rich and powerful, the direct consequences of the poor and powerless having sinned in one way or another…. [But] the paralytic walks away because he has become a new human being. Transformed within and without, he is freed from paralysis.”

- James Douglass

a modest proposal...of fun

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:55:21 -0500

dear friends,

as the ground begins to thaw, we have been taking in the state of our yard and taking stock of what all needs to be done in the journey toward turning the jungle into a garden (hopefully, a community garden that can provide fruit, vegetables and flowers to the house and our friends/neighbors). Well, basically we’re a little overwhelmed.

the front of the yard looks manageable enough and we’ve started some work on it. we’ve contained the compost and started chopping wood for summertime fires.

our back lot, though, is out of control and we’re not so sure our tender little hands can do the work ourselves.

so, we came up with what we think is a fabulous idea and we want your feedback!

print by: meredith stern

the idea:

some saturday or sunday in late february or early march, we want to host a work day/party for our friends. this would be a lovely all-day affair.

we would work and tear up the land from 9-4 (or however long you can be there) and in return for our friends hard labor and solidarity, we would keep everyone after the work for a raucous, festive party!!! we’ll buy some beer, make some food and everyone would be invited to bring additional dishes or drink. We could have a fire, play some music and party like the old days until we’re too tuckered out to move.

if this suits your fancy, let us know! let us know any days that would specifically work very well for you or days that you definitely could not make it!

any additional ideas would be welcome!

love love love,

the folks at the house

community coffee hour

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:44:21 -0500

we feel out of touch with our neighbors. by this point, this is definitely somewhat of a national epidemic. but i’m referring specifically to our household. so to make things right and create the community we all deserve, we’re having a little get together at the house.

next saturday, january 30th from 9:30 am to 11:30 am we’re going to host a coffee hour (don’t worry, we’ll have tea too…heck, i may even throw some biscuits in the oven). besides our personal goals of outreach to homeless friends, we know someone, maybe a person right down the street, has a vision that simply needs a space to unfold.

childcare will be offered on saturday for the really little neighbors so bring the whole family. if you can’t make it on saturday, we will have a second coffee hour monday, february 1st from 7pm to 8pm. if you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email.

we’ve got the space. you bring the vision. let’s make it happen together.

image by:

josh macphee

dr. maxwell anderson, a mentor and advocate for the trans...

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:14:09 -0500

dr. maxwell anderson, a mentor and advocate for the trans community of georgia and abroad, passed away january 14th. his tireless efforts as a therapist and activist will not soon be overlooked.

maxwell was featured in the film southern comfort along with his best friend robert eads. over the past few years, maxwell had worked to complete a follow-up film entitled southern comforted: lives touched by the documentary.

his memorial service will be held this evening at 7pm at first christian church of decatur at 601 w. ponce de leon ave.

please keep dr. anderson’s loved ones in your thoughts.

"The beginning of healing is in solidarity with the pain."

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:14:31 -0500

“The beginning of healing is in solidarity with the pain.”

- Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out (via seeingthesacred)

jim and melissa, good friends of kris, came through town last...

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:58:29 -0500

jim and melissa, good friends of kris, came through town last week, did a few gigs at local nursing homes, and stayed with us at the house for a little while. this video was made in the common room of the sparrow house with the help of gulliver and lucy. many thanks to jim and melissa for sharing their music with us. for more of these good folks’ jams, check out youtude.

a beautiful movie made by a community friend, maria sykes, about...

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:39:00 -0500

a beautiful movie made by a community friend, maria sykes, about an awesome project for the people of greenriver, utah. great service anywhere should be celebrated everywhere.

dinner on 2nd ave.

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 23:59:00 -0500

serving dinner in south decatur on new year’s eve didn’t happen as i pondered resolutions or radical exertions that we were fighting the system. i didn’t want to be hasseled by the owners of the parking lot and i really didn’t want to answer too many questions about why i was serving chili off of an oldsmobile.

despite not maintaining a very new years-y, forward thinking posture during our service, there was a new resolve after we packed up everything and left. “the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones”, is one definition of resolution and that is what had greater meaning on the first day of a fresh year.

this mission is simple. serve and love those who receive that service. complexity is added by a world that wants poverty to seem normal, deserved. and the christian voices made public, nourish the confusion by creating moral distractions. jesus was a homeless man from a forgettable town who died as the result of a death penalty that the state, obsessed with war and money, just couldn’t get enough of. if ever there were a scenario that seemed relevant, it is this one. christ’s life, documented and preached about by millions, is lived out every day in this very city by people we can no longer face.

we are told that “they are simply not trying hard enough and to allow them what they need to thrive would be too costly and complex.” but with great certitude, i feel it’s the opposite: “how they arrived at this fearful juncture may indeed be complex but serving them is simple.” it is far past time, for each of us to stop making this work into a cumbersome obligation and start looking forward to the simple service we have before us. i’m resolved to simplicity as this year breaks. here’s hoping i’ll be in good company.

employment discrimination for the young and non-traditionally gendered

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:36:00 -0500

employment discrimination for the young and non-traditionally gendered:

(via thegang)

in the spirit of the season, a little carol by the folks from...

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:39:00 -0500

in the spirit of the season, a little carol by the folks from food not bombs atlanta. this song was sung last year outside a bed and breakfast owned by an atlanta politician who supported the city’s anti-panhandling ordinance.

a possible change for mortgage laws in georgia

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:34:00 -0500

a possible change for mortgage laws in georgia:

“10,000 foreclosed homes land on the auction block in Fulton County every month. As a result of so many people losing their homes, Georgia ranks number seven in the nation for foreclosures.”

"It would be nice if the poor were to get even half of the money that is spent in studying them."

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:09:12 -0500

“It would be nice if the poor were to get even half of the money that is spent in studying them.”

- Bill Vaughan (via simplicitycounts)

another excerpt from the latest zine

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:15:00 -0500

The Sparrow Community House was formed in the face of incredible need. As a group of people, we needed to feel like part of a community and we wanted that community to thrive on service. But before that thirst was placed the need of those alienated by a culture that sees homeless people, poor people as the enfleshed fear that the American Dream, in its most superficial sense, fails.

So six young people, worn out on liberal individualism and the highly-touted prosperity gospel came together and formed a home with a vision. Some of us had worked for and with folks experiencing homelessness. Others of us knew the statistics (Atlanta is the fourth “meanest” city for homeless people, Atlanta is the poorest city for children, on average 68,000 people a year will experience homeless in this city alone) and had felt paralyzed by the gravity of the situation. A few of us have been homeless. But we all had ideas about what a redistribution of resources meant for creating community and meeting unmet needs in the midst of economic hardship and hunger.

We decided to do our work in phases. As of November, we find ourselves at the onset of the first: serving meals. The money and resources to make these weekly meals possible are quickly being made available to us. And now we are searching for an accessible place within the Decatur community to make what we’re calling a potluck (to avoid the widely used term “feeding”) available to folks missing meals.

The second portion acknowledges that dignity and personhood are pulled from poor people along with other tangible resources. Focusing on emotional and physical wounds incurred through that disenfranchisement via counseling, massage therapy, and yoga is more than healing, it is empowering. We have the space and the volunteers to make that service available to those who have been denied access.

Lastly, we will open our doors to homeless friends without any other option in the state of Georgia. Transgender women who are negative for HIV and are over the age of 21 are left out of Georgia’s shelters due to institutionalized transphobia and sexism. This genocide has to stop and we believe that the work to end it falls squarely on the backs of those who cherish justice and mercy.

To serve those broken by the capitalist system is the very least required of each of us. And it is not long before we see this task as a blessing. For it is by meeting the brokenness in others that we recognize our great distance from wholeness. It is through the cracks that the light of reconciliation and peace finds its way. Our solidarity and service to one another will allow us to see beyond this darkness.

-hillary

will the real peacemaker please stand up?

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:48:00 -0500

will the real peacemaker please stand up?