I recently had the pleasure of meeting Father Graeme Napier from St John’s in the Village about his perspective on the issues facing the Neighborhood.
Father Graeme explains his backstory prior to arriving in the Village in 2018.
He discusses the impact of the pandemic on the local community and how he used neighborhood social network, Next Door to understand what locals were talking about and what was missing. Understanding the need for connection and community he set out to address this need, with a particular focus on food insecurity those with limited internet access. Working with an organization called Invisible Hands, a voluntary delivery service, the Church set up a dedicated phone line to take people’s food orders. Father Napier sourced donations from beyond the US, to fund the purchase of food. Scaling it, at the peak, his team served all five Boroughs.
In addition Father Graeme’s team have helped local musicians and performers to use the Church theatre to live stream and sell tickets to audiences around the world.
Father Graeme shares his views of the needs of the community coming out of the pandemic and how St John’s can help address these needs. We also discuss what other needs that the Church could address moving forward.
Now over to Father Graeme.
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