Ep. 195 Amy Williams - Dealing Hope in a Gang Neighborhood

Published 2024-06-25

Often we look at communities which look broken and dysfunctional and we take them on as a problem to be solved. But long term change requires presence, love, and hope. In this conversation, Amy Williams, a hope dealer in Chicago talks about her experience living in a neighborhood with gang violence, visiting kids in jail, and doing youth ministry work for years. There is hope in the community and many of the solutions come from within that same community. We talk about the importance of listening to understand others, developing compassion, and finding identity and hope in God. So join us as we learn to see others like Jesus does – with dignity, worth, and compassion.

Youth ministry veteran Amy Williams ministers to teens involved in gangs and those lost in the criminal justice system with a key strategy of life-on-life mentoring. As a certified gang intervention specialist, she heard God's call to move into a Latino gang neighborhood in Chicago's Humboldt Park community to be a "Hope Dealer" doing street outreach and walking life with young people on her block. Amy is project coordinator at New Life Centers (newlifecenters.org/en/) , bringing in restorative justice programming to youth at juvenile prisons.

Amy has been a youth pastor, a reentry coordinator, and a youth mentor and advocate. She is a graduate of both University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and National Louis University. She resides in Chicago and loves salsa dancing and is a true beach baby.

Amy's Book:
Worth Seeing (amzn.to/3L1pBFC)

Amy's Recommendations:
It's OK That You're Not OK
Tattoos on the Heart (amzn.to/3VVFljY)

Join Our Patreon for Early Access and More: Patreon (www.patreon.com/ShiftingCulture)

Connect with Joshua: [email protected]

Go to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com (www.shiftingculturepodcast.com/) to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.

Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at
www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcast (www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcast)
www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/
twitter.com/shiftingcultur2
www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcast
/ @shiftingculturepodcast

Consider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link below

Send us a Text Message. (www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1764347/op…)

Support the Show. (allnations.kindful.com/?campaign=329535)