So there I was at 7 this morning, having a fantastic cup of coffee with Will Acuff, Operations Manager at Centresource Interactive. We were talking about faith, and the call to serve our fellow man.
If you don’t know Will, he’s an amazing guy; very devoted to inspiring change in East Nashville.
As he laid out a myriad of service needs and opportunities in my favorite part of Nashville, the hazy vision that’s been kicking around in my noggin for the past few months finally started to sort itself out.
That 20 minute car ride from Germantown to Green Hills might have been one of the most significant moments of clarity I’ve experienced in my adult life.
Backing up for the newcomers in the crowd, I am a residential real estate consultant. My business is the Silva Real Estate Group. Our mission is to go beyond simply helping people buy and sell houses.
In addition to providing amazing service, we strive:
- to connect neighbors
- to build communities
- to inspire a sense of neighborhood unity
Over the past 6 months, building community has become my modus operandi. I’ve been seeking opportunities to do just that in every arena of my life. One could say, it’s become something of a passion. Life is infinitely better when you can share it and experience with others.
Getting back to my moment of clarity and what may very well become my life’s work….
East Nashville is known as one of Nashville’s most ‘up and coming’ neighborhoods. On the east side, you’ll find amazing culture, restaurants, architecture, parks, and more. Spend a day immersing yourself in the culture of this urban neighborhood and you’ll see everything it can and will be. You’ll get a glimpse of the overwhelming sense of community and ‘neighborliness’ of all its citizens. This is the East Nashville I love.
Unfortunately, some areas of East Nashville still suffer from crime, gang violence, homelessness, drug use, and prostitution. A variety of societal, economic, and educational factors contribute to these issues.
These are the problems that make people think twice when you mention visiting the area.
These are the problems we need to address.
How Do We Do That?
Lots of ways. There are a ton of great programs already on the ground in East Nashville doing amazing work. Tutoring programs, after school activities, adult learning centers, community outreach, and so on. Neighbors and volunteers need to pour in to these people’s lives. We need to grow change from the bottom up.
What I’m talking about here is, you guessed it, community! Neighbors helping neighbors. People loving people.
So, how do we build community? I’m still figuring that one out. There’s no set recipe. No playbook. Just honest interaction and mutual effort. It’s not easy. Not even a little bit. You can’t make people get along. You can’t make people care for one another. To take a cue from Ghandi, you must be the change you want to see. Going one step further, you must lead by that example, and let people see it.
What if every business owner in the area took an active role in leading by this example?
What if every community leader inspired those around them to dive in and get their hands dirty?
What if each one of us came together, owned the problem, and worked to solve it?
So here’s my mission, as revealed to me this morning:
To organize and mobilize the business and community leaders of East Nashville into specific, meaningful action that will bring about significant economic, educational, and social progress.
I’m not exactly sure what that looks like just yet. I always identify time-flexibility and increased community involvement as my two favorite parts of being in the real estate business. Now, it’s time for me to put those benefits to good use. I plan to spend a lot of time with people much smarter and more experienced than me so that I can find out. I plan on getting in the middle of the mess and finding ways for us to truly inspire change. Do you have an suggestions? Ideas? Advice? I’ll take all the help I can get.
In the end, we’ll have a neighborhood beyond reproach. No one person will be responsible for it. We all will be. That’s how we build community.
So, who’s coming with me?
I was born to serve others. I spent my high school years as an emergency medical technician at Naugatuck Ambulance in Naugatuck, CT. The next 3 years were spent serving in the U.S. Air Force. After that, I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA; working full-time in a local restaurant to pay my rent. Followed by an all-too turbulent career in music; much of which was primarily financed by full-time restaurant work, I settled in to my current occupation.
