Community Corner: Forge Equity

The following post is courtesy of the neighborhood group Forge Equity.

The holiday lights in Rodgers Forge, along with the beautiful message, “Love Lives Here,” got more attention in 2021, and they certainly reflect much of what so many of us love about the neighborhood. How can we make sure we are living up to that message?

There is a lot of love in Rodgers Forge, for sure. Neighbors come up with creative ways to cheer each other up and help each other out when they are struggling. We look out for each other’s kids. Our teachers, crossing guards, and letter carriers go above and beyond.

But what if we took some time to think about whether or not everyone in our community is benefitting from it?

People of color in our community are sometimes stopped and questioned for no reason. Families of color pull their kids from our schools. Others hesitate to move here. Why? What could we be doing better to make sure our community is as welcoming as we say it is? And let’s take that one step further: how can we celebrate our community’s increasing diversity of all sorts: with respect to race, gender, sexuality, religion, age, ability, neuro-diversity, wealth, language, culture, citizenship, and other dimensions?

The neighborhood group Forge Equity seeks to do just these things. In the coming weeks, we will be sending a survey your way to ask about what equity-related concerns you have about our community, and soon thereafter, we hope to host a Town Hall on the same subject. Please let us hear from you, as we seek to make sure love really does live here.

To receive emails from Forge Equity, fill out the form at https://tinyurl.com/forgeequity. Please also feel free to follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/144669747003826 or send us an email at rfneighborsequity@gmail.com.