As part of a partnership with the Lucas Farms Neighborhood Association and Resurrection A/G, I served alongside Iowa City residents, local businesses, community volunteers, and church members to organize and host events that brought diverse neighbors together for good causes, friendly fellowship, and community engagement. Our “Lucas Farm History Day” helped celebrate the long and rich history of the neighborhood with food and drink, carnival activities for young kids, local music and scavenger hunts, and historic bus and walking tours of the neighborhood.
Summer grill outs, Wednesday night community meals, and food pantry drives every week helped keep our neighbors, mostly racially-diverse and economically vulnerable, well-fed and well-stocked with free resources when times hit hard to feed their families and support them through difficult times. In the neighborhood, we dedicated our time and energy toward serving Latinx, African immigrant, and African-American families that came to these events, as well fighting for housing justice on their behalf. Many families were financially insecure, month-to-month, and so we also pooled together money and resources to pay for their car repairs, clothing needs, housing items, and other basic requests when they arose.
We also hosted move nights, community events, and a holiday event known as the “Lights of Lucas Farms” where neighbors were invited to put up their own lights for the holidays at their houses and then take bus tours around the neighborhood to judge the best lights display.
Dr. Ryan David Furlong 