It has been said that “faith is believing in spite of the circumstances and watching the circumstances change.”  This is a story of faith.

Contrary to popular perception of our community, which holds that every corner is dangerous, only a few spots actually warrant any caution.  One of those spots was once on a corner of a little street named Kraft Ave.  At one time, when one drove by this corner one found a decaying park, an abandoned home and drug sales in broad daylight.  Then Metanoia began an initiative to clean up that corner.

 We convened a meeting between concerned residents of Kraft Ave, officials from the City of North Charleston and the Water Company who owned the land on which the defunct park was built.  It was decided that the park equipment would be removed, that the Water Co. would give an easement for the area (which many cars drove through already) that would allow the city to eventually pave a short piece of the road there.  This would cut down on people loitering.  At the same time, Metanoia began to pursue the acquisition of the abandoned home on the corner.

Within a few months, the park equipment was gone and this cut down considerably on the amount of traffic on the corner.  Nonetheless, as Metanoia went about the rehabilitation of the home on Kraft Ave. there was still consistent activity going on around us.  On the front corner of the home sat a perpetual pile of garbage and crowd people, from the innocently loitering to the criminally transacting, continued to spend time there.

So it was with a significant amount of faith (see definition above) that Tatum Hamilton bought the home on Kraft Ave.  A month ago she began the process of moving into the property.  One of her first actions, before moving a stick of furniture into the home was to go and buy a garbage can and put it on the same corner that had become such a problem.  What has happened since is what we are calling at Metanoia “the miracle of the trash can.”  Within two weeks time, residents of the street reported that the problems on the corner have virtually vanished.  Whereas, before one would drive by and find 10 or so people hanging out, now there is no one and the good residents of Kraft Ave. are breathing a tentative sigh of collective relief.

Anthony Joyner, Metanoia’s Director of Housing Development has family living on Kraft Ave. as well.  He reports the change has been remarkable, “The level of people standing on the corner has decreased and is almost non-existent.”

Of course, Tatum had another theory about the change.  Her mom is a teacher at Chicora Elementary who taught many of those who were hanging out as kids – she put out the word that she would be keeping an eye on things.  Never doubt the power of a former teacher to get even the toughest of us to behave ourselves!  Indeed, eventually Tatum was able to put the trash can away and her corner is now as safe and quiet as ever.

While there is still much more work to do, and some days may bring challenges, we will continue working with Tatum to prove that with a little faith a lot can change.  With God’s grace and your help – Metanoia (positive change) is occurring all around us.