Pleiades: Justice for the City

My husband and I share a common dream to see justice in the city of Richmond. After graduating college, my husband moved into Church Hill, an inner city neighborhood in Richmond and living with Percy and Angie Strickland, the founders of Church Hill Activities and Tutoring (CHAT www.chatrichmond.org). CHAT seeks to be more than just an organization but a community of people committed to loving relationships that display the grace of God. My husband was so moved by what he saw during his year with the Stricklands that he decided to buy his own home in Church Hill. Once we were married, I moved into the home as well and together we pray and seek the peace of this city. Our desire is for God's plan to be

restored and his glory restored through education, health, families and ultimately salvation in Christ Jesus. I worked with CHAT as a summer intern in college at the University of Richmond which is where I met my husband. After graduation, I helped found and run CHAT's first alternative high school, Church Hill Academy. We recently had our first gradution of 3 students who will all be attending college in the fall. I currently work part time for CHAT as their communications director so I can stay at home with my son.

But, it is not about working for CHAT or the programs that CHAT has that will allow restoration of this inner city community. It is the people who live here and care deeply about its inherit beauty, its potential as a neighborhood, and its hope for a better future. That is why we came to this area and why we will stay.

Check out CHAT's website if you are interested in getting more involved Church Hill Activities and Tutoring

Why Pleiades?

Pleiades, my favorite constellation, is a summer constellation that displays the seven female children of Atlas, a Titan who held up the sky, and the oceanid Pleione, the protectress of sailing. Usually the naked human eye can only see six of the sisters during the summer months. The Greek poet Hesiod mentions the Pleiades several times in his Works and Days. As the Pleiades are primarily summer stars, they feature prominently in the ancient agricultural calendar. Here is a bit of advice from Hesiod:

"And if longing seizes you for sailing the stormy seas,

when the Pleiades flee mighty Orion

and plunge into the misty deep

and all the gusty winds are raging,

then do not keep your ship on the wine-dark sea

but, as I bid you, remember to work the land."

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Justice for the City