As A Red Circle Executive Director Erica Williams drove her summer interns thru North County this summer, she listened to hear what they saw.  She wanted to know what they were seeing in terms of possibility.  Williams told us, “That day it was 100 degrees outside. One girl looked across the street and a man was sitting on the curb waiting for the bus, feet into the street, because there was no seating. She said, ‘What if you were waiting for a job interview?’  That’s the day we decided to start working on bus stop seating, shelter, and trash cans.”  Williams’ team wants to install six bus shelters and benches at bus stops along Pershall Road in Ferguson, MO. The bus riders are currently using a shopping cart at one of the stops (seen above) as a bench.  Williams’ team believes that benches and shelters increase the dignity and equity of the bus riders each day.  They have a vision for a new possibility. You can help Williams by joining the project.

We go through our days with fixed expectations of how the world works.  We’ve learned from tv and social media what to expect from government and industry.  Look carefully at your community.  Who is there and who is absent?  What are some of the characteristics of the physical space of your neighborhood?  What makes you frustrated?  When do your hear neighbors complaining? What can you imagine in terms of possibility? At Magnify we want you to think about the tension between what you observe and what you can see in terms of possibility – then we want you to share it with us.  Together we can build better neighborhoods and communities.